Traditional Chinese Festivals - Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival, also named "Chongwu Festival", "Calamus Festival" or "Daughter's Festival", takes place in May 5 in the lunar calendar. It is a folk festival widely passed down with a history of over two thousand years, and one of the most important festivals as well. There are various celebrating activities on the day of Dragon Boat Festival, among which eating rice dumplings (zongzi, the steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) and dragon boat race are important customs.

There are many legends on the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Some people say it is to commemorate the poet Qu Yuan, while some people think it is to memorialize Wu Zixu, a famous official in the Warring States Period, still there are some others regarding May 5 in the lunar calendar as the date when the Wuyue people held a memorial totem ceremony in ancient times. However, the legend on Qu Yuan is the most widely spread. People praise highly the lofty sentiment and outstanding talent toward this patriotic poet and take more pity on the finale that he drowned himself in a river. In the mind of most Chinese people, the conventions of eating rice dumplings and Dragon Boat Race in the Festival are all closely related to the commemoration of Qu Yuan. Besides, there are also different conventions like drinking realgar wine and wearing sachet.