With the coming of Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, people are busy preparing
for the celebration.
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth
month according to the Chinese lunar calender in the Warring States
Period more than 2,200 years ago.
There are several different opinions on its origin. The most
accepted is in memory of Qu Yuan, a famous poet and virtuous
official of the Chu Kingdom (Hunan Province) at that time.
As the king refused his suggestion and when the capital of his
nation was occupied by invaders, Qu wrote his final poem beside
Miluo River in today's Hunan and drowned himself on the fifth day
of the fifth month according to the Chinese lunar calender in 278
BC.
People were sad over the patriotic poet's death. They tossed
rice and meat into the river to feed the fish, which would protect
Qu's body.
To prevent the food from being eaten by dragons, they wrapped
the meat in reed leaves and bamboo. That was the original glutinous
rice dumpling. In later, wrapping dumplings during the Duanwu
Festival became a tradition.
Ancient people believed rivers and the sea were both controlled
by dragons. They were also worried Qu's spirit would be harmed by
dragons. So they produced some boats with a shape similar to
dragons and held races on the river to the thunderous beat of drums
to warn dragons not to damage Qu's spirit. The race then became a
custom.
There are many other customs attached to the Dragon Boat Festival.
Drinking rice wine on this day is believed to make people
healthy and keep insects and snakes away.
People also grind traditional Chinese medicine into powder and
put it in special bags called "xiang dai" or (sachet). The scent of
the medicine is disliked by insects.
It's also a very welcome present during the festival. Different
sachet designs can express various feelings such as love or
friendship.
(Shanghai Daily May 29, 2006)
