The Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival originated in China. This festival occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese date or late May or June in the Gregorian date. The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional celebration integrating worship of gods and ancestors, praying for good luck and warding off evil spirits. UNESCO officially approved its inclusion in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in September 2009, it became the first Chinese holiday to be selected. The most popular activity of the Dragon Boat Festival is racing dragon boats. This folk custom has been held for more than 2,000 years throughout southern China, and now it has become an international sport.
The Dragon Boat Festival was meant to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, who died during the Warring States period, he drowned himself in the Miluo River in Hunan province. Legends said, locals raced out in their boats to try and save him, and threw balls of sticky rice into the river to protect his body from being eaten by fish. The way locals who admired him racing in their boats to retrieve his body in the river became the modern days festival activity called Dragon Boat Race, meanwhile the attempt to protect his body from being devoured by the animals in the river by dropping sticky rice into the area became a custom where people make and eat zongzi or sticky rice dumpling to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
Dragon boating is one of the festival activity that related to water sports. Teams compete in boats with ornately carved dragon’s head and tail. While in the race, each team has a drummer who will lead the paddlers using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the synchronization of all the paddlers' movement. The rest of dragon boat crew will paddle harmoniously at a pace that is set by the drummer and working together to win by their teamwork in synchronized efforts in paddling. Locals said that the winning team of the race will have a lot of good luck and a happy life in the following year.
Another important custom in the festival will be making and eating zongzi or traditional Chinese sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves with a form of a pyramid shape during the festival is on going. Zongzi fillings are different in each different region of China. People in the northern region prefer sweet zongzi with bean paste or dates as fillings, meanwhile people in the southern region prefer mixed ingredients that made zongzi savory, for example like meat, sausages, and eggs as fillings. This custom is also exist and used in Korea, Japan, and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Other popular customs to do are hanging calamus and wormwood on doors to repel insects, flies, fleas, and moths. It is also believed the shapes of the leaves symbolizes dispelling evil and bringing health to the family, especially children, some people also wear hand-sewn bags filled the same items on their neck for the very same reason. Next will be drinking realgar wine to drive evil things away and to promote a healthy life, as it is believed that realgar could be an antidote to any poison and able to dispel evil spirit. Last custom to do is braiding silk threads of five colors and tying them on their children's wrists, it is believed it would help keep bad spirits and diseases away in some regions of China.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most popular culture celebrated in China. As it was originally celebrated to commemorate the tragic death of the patriotic poet, Qu Yuan it became a loved culture by the people of China in modern days with more purpose and beliefs where custom that locals do in the festival will bring great luck and drive away evils like disease and bad luck to the people who celebrate it, of course without forgetting the history behind the festival Qu Yuan's name and his story will always be remembered by the world.
Clarisse. Ponn, 2022, What You Shoulds Know About Dragon Boat Festival, youngpost, seen at November 4th, Source available at https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/lifestyle/article/3180027/what-you-should-know-about-dragon-boat-festival-its-origins
Cindy, 2023, Dragon Boat Festival Traditions: The Top 7 Activities, China Highlights, seen at November 4th, Source available at https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/dragon-boat-festival-custom.htm
