Dragon Boat Festival: The Ledgend.

TALE:

At the end of the Zhou Dynasty (221BC - 206BC) there was a wise man from a humble family who had risen to be respected by local leaders. His name was Qu Yuan and he was loved by the people of China.

His Dynasty was challenged by the powerful state of Qin. His King was offered a deal with the large Qin State in exchange for their support and cooperation. Qu Yuan advised against this, saying that their people would be overtaken. Yet the King chose to sign a treaty with the the Qin State. Because of his lack of support for his king, Qu was sent into exile.
While in exile, the Qin State overthrew Qu’s State. He felt so helpless and responsible for the downfall of his people that he killed himself. This was on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 B.C., when he grasped a large rock and threw himself into the Miluo River.
Local fisherman raced to their boats to recover his body, beating drums and splashing their paddles on the water to scare away the fish and evil spirits. Locals began throwing rice in the water in an effort to keep the fish from devouring Qu Yuan's body.
Many nights later the spirit of Qu Yuan appeared before his friends. He asked his people to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon, the controller of all water, that lived in the river. These packages became a traditional food of the festival known as Zong zi.
Every year people remember Qu Yuan and his love of his country by holding Dragon boat races and eating Zong zi.

OTHER FUN TIDBITS:

• In order to show his love and passion for his country, while in exile Qu began writing poems about his country and people and is now regarded as a famous poet in Chinese history.He is said to have inspired much of the Romantic movement of Chinese art, including the Sao style of verse.
• In Chinese the Dragon Boat Festival is called the Duanwu Festival- 端午节/端午節. Since it is held on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, many refer to it as the “Double fifth.”
• Though the original Zong zi were wrapped in silk, they are now wrapped in reed leaves.
• The festival is held during summer when diseases can be prevalent, so people clean their houses and put mugwort leaves and calamus on the top of the doors to help prevent disease spreading. It is said that the stem and the leaves of these plants give off a special aroma which can repel mosquitoes and flies and help purify the air.