The Legend of 端午节 (The Dragon Boat Festival)

Today is the day when many Chinese people eat sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves while enjoying dragon boat races. How did this come to be?

Legend has it that over 2000 years ago, one of China’s greatest poets, by the name of Qu Yuan, lived by telling it as it is and opposed the advocacy for the most powerful kingdom in his era. The King and his officials angrily charged him of slander and exiled Qu Yuan. He was eventually banished to the south of the Yangtze River, where he spent the remainder of his days writing and grieving over his failure to serve his people. Out of despair, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River.

The now famous Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year, when his supporters searched for the poet’s body. Loved and cherish by his people who were unable to find the body, they threw rice into the river to prevent the fish from eating his body.

Today, we celebrate the life of Qu Yuan for his selflessness, courage to speak his truth, and determination to battle the corruption that plagued his kingdom. Eating zongzi and enjoying dragon boat races are ways for people to pay an homage to the late great poet. So there you have it; if you are seeing plenty of photos of pyramid-shaped sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, now you know why!