The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, Wuri Festival, and May Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar each year. "Dragon Boat Festival" is one of the statutory holidays in China and has been included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of the world.
The Dragon Boat Festival originated in China and was originally a festival for the Chinese people to ward off diseases and epidemics. Before the Spring and Autumn Period in the Wu and Yue regions, there was a custom of tribal totem worship in the form of dragon boat racing on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Later, it became a traditional festival for the Han people in China to commemorate Qu Yuan, a poet who died on this day. Some regions also have legends about commemorating Wu Zixu, Cao E, and others.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, people eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), drink realgar wine, and hang calamus, mugwort, and wormwood leaves. They also have the custom of dragon boat racing.
Legend of Qu Yuan, the Great Minister of Sanlu
Qu Yuan lived during the Warring States period. He had great ambitions from a young age and showed remarkable talent. He gained the trust of King Huai of Chu and became a high-ranking official. According to Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian," he was responsible for "discussing state affairs with the king" and "dealing with guests and handling vassals," serving as a minister in charge of internal affairs and diplomacy.
The Warring States period was a chaotic period of competition for hegemony among the seven powers of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin. After the State of Qin implemented the Shang Yang's reform, it became increasingly powerful and frequently launched attacks on the other six states. At that time, only the states of Chu and Qi could resist Qin. Given the situation at the time, Qu Yuan advocated for internal reforms and external alliances with Qi to resist Qin, which infringed upon the interests of the ruling class. As a result, he was ostracized and framed by Zheng Xiu, a favorite concubine of King Huai of Chu, and the officials Shangguan Dafu and Lingyin Zijiao, who were bribed by the State of Qin.
The foolish King Huai believed the slander and distanced himself from Qu Yuan, exiling him to the north of the Han River. As a result, King Huai of Chu was deceived by the State of Qin and became a prisoner for three years before dying in a foreign land.
Seeing all this, Qu Yuan was extremely angry. He firmly opposed surrendering to the State of Qin and suffered even more severe persecution from his political enemies. The newly enthroned King Xiang of Chu was even more incompetent than his father and exiled Qu Yuan to an even more remote place than the north of the Han River.
During his long period of exile and wandering, Qu Yuan suffered great mental and physical torment. One day, while walking along the riverbank, he met a hermit who was fishing. The hermit saw that Qu Yuan looked haggard and emaciated and advised him to "not be bound" and "go along with the flow" and compromise with the powerful. Qu Yuan replied, "I would rather throw myself into the Xiang River and be buried in the belly of the fish. How can I be covered in the dust of the secular world with my pure and noble character?"
In the year 278 BC, the capital of Chu was captured by the Qin army. The poet was mentally devastated and, despite the difficulties of the country's collapse, was unable to exert his own power. In extreme despair and pain, the poet came to the Miluo River on the east side of the Yangtze River and embraced a rock to sink himself. He died at the age of about sixty-two, on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.