{"id":14409,"date":"2018-06-18T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14409"},"modified":"2018-05-22T10:18:18","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T14:18:18","slug":"dragon-boat-festival-history-and-customs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/dragon-boat-festival-history-and-customs\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Boat Festival History and Customs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, which is known in Chinese as the\u00a0<strong>Duanwu Festival<\/strong>\u00a0(\u7aef\u5348\u8282 \u2013 du\u0101n w\u01d4 ji\u00e9). This holiday is celebrated every year on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, and although it has only been an officially recognized public holiday in mainland China since 2008, it has been celebrated for thousands of years. This traditional Chinese festival has both an interesting history and some unique customs associated with it, so let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>History<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_11345\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427.jpg\" aria-label=\"DSC02427\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11345\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11345\"  alt=\"Dragon Boat Festival History and Customs\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427-350x233.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11345\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dragon boat races are pretty amazing.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The best known story surrounding the history of the Dragon Boat Festival is that of the poet\u00a0<strong>Qu Yuan<\/strong>(\u5c48\u539f \u2013 q\u016b yu\u00e1n). As legend has it, Qu Yuan was both a poet and a statesman for the\u00a0<strong>Chu kingdom<\/strong>\u00a0(\u695a\u56fd \u2013 chu gu\u00f3) during the\u00a0<strong>Warring States Period\u00a0<\/strong>(\u6218 \u56fd\u65f6\u4ee3 \u2013 zh\u00e0n gu\u00f3 sh\u00ed d\u00e0i). He served in high office and he advocated a policy of aligning with other kingdoms against the dominant Qin. Sadly, the King decided to ally himself with the Qin, and thus he decided to banish Qu Yuan.<\/p>\n<p>During this time, he wrote some of the most famous poetry in all of Chinese literary history, expressing his love for his kingdom and his concerns for the future. Upon hearing that his kingdom\u2019s capital had been overtaken by the Qin, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the\u00a0<strong>Miluo River<\/strong>\u00a0(\u6c68\u7f57\u6c5f \u2013 m\u00ec lu\u014d ji\u0101ng). As he was adored by people everywhere, the local people did everything in their power to try to either save Qu Yuan, or at the very least, to protect him in the afterlife.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s believed that people paddled out into the river on boats, either in an attempt to retrieve his body or just to scare the fish away. They also dropped sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the water so that Qu Yuan would be well fed in the afterlife. The bamboo was meant to ensure that the fish would not eat the famous poet\u2019s rice. Fast forward a couple of thousand years, and you can see how this story has shaped the festival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Legend behind the Dragon Boat Festival\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VzFDHluxxp8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Learn more about the history behind the Dragon Boat Festival.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Customs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_14411\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/05\/DSC03366.jpg\" aria-label=\"DSC03366\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14411\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14411\"  alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/05\/DSC03366.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/05\/DSC03366.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/05\/DSC03366-350x233.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Making zongzi.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There are two main customs associated with this holiday, both of which are clearly connected to the story of Qu Yuan. The first, and the most popular, is the making and eating of sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, known as\u00a0<strong><em>zongzi<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>(\u7cbd\u5b50 \u2013 z\u00f2ng zi). Making these traditional treats is a family affair, and recipes are passed down from generation to generation. Glutinous \u201csticky\u201d rice is used, and is combined with a variety of fillings, wrapped in the leaf, and then steamed or boiled for several hours. In the week or so leading up to the holiday, you\u2019ll see these just about everywhere you look. Rather than throwing them into the water to save a poet who died a few thousand years ago, most people prefer to scarf them down these days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How to Wrap Zongzi\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IOMzCNftkQE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Learn how to wrap zong zi yourself in this video.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The other notable tradition of this holiday should be obvious \u2013 dragon boat races! The\u00a0<strong>dragon boat\u00a0<\/strong>(\u9f99\u821f \u2013 l\u00f3ng zh\u014du) is traditionally made of wood, with a decorative dragon\u2019s head and\/or tail. One boat can have a crew of anywhere from 10 to 80 people depending on the location. Regardless of the size of the crew, the idea remains the same. Each crew has a drummer who serves as the heartbeat of the boat, using his drum to lead his team by indicating the speed and frequency of their paddling. The paddlers sit facing forward, and their most important task is staying synchronized with their counterpart on the other side of the boat. Finally, there is the sweep (also known as the steersman) sitting at the back of the boat, whose job it is to steer the boat. Teams compete in races that vary in length, with a typical festival event being a 500 meter sprint. These days, dragon boat racing is popular all over the world, including in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dragon Boat Festival (\u7aef\u5348\u8282)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZOltbWxbcXU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Check out a short video on Dragon Boat Festival.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Some of the best places in China to see the dragon boat races include the Qingshui River in Guizhou and the Xixi Wetlands just outside of Hangzhou. Of course, the place where it all started is also a great choice. The Miluo River in Hunan where Qu Yuan met his fate hosts a traditional Dragon Boat Festival celebration every year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p>So get out to the races, munch on some <em>zongzi<\/em>, and read up on Qu Yuan and his fantastic poetry (some of his\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shigeku.org\/xlib\/lingshidao\/hanshi\/quyuan.htm\">most famous works are in English here<\/a>). From all of us here at Transparent Chinese, Happy Dragon Boat Festival everyone!<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">\u795d\u4f60\u7aef\u5348\u8282\u5feb\u4e50\uff01<br \/>\nzh\u00f9 n\u01d0 du\u0101n w\u01d4 ji\u00e9 ku\u00e0i l\u00e8<br \/>\nWishing You a Happy Dragon Boat Festival!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Dragon Boat Festival History and Customs\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/DSC02427.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, which is known in Chinese as the\u00a0Duanwu Festival\u00a0(\u7aef\u5348\u8282 \u2013 du\u0101n w\u01d4 ji\u00e9). This holiday is celebrated every year on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, and although it has only been an officially recognized public holiday in mainland China since 2008, it has been celebrated for thousands&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/dragon-boat-festival-history-and-customs\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":11345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11529,292657,127393,36310,127395,378602,36312,378603,272904,36314],"class_list":["post-14409","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-chinese-festivals","tag-chinese-holidays","tag-dragon-boat","tag-dragon-boat-festival","tag-dragon-boat-racing","tag-dragon-boating","tag-qu-yuan","tag-realgar-wine","tag-zong-zi","tag-zongzi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14409"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409\/revisions\/14413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}