Chinese Festival · Summer
A poet drowned himself in protest. 2,300 years later, we still row boats for him.
Origin & Story
Qu Yuan (屈原, 340–278 BCE) was a poet and government minister of the Chu state who was beloved by the people but hated by corrupt court officials. When King Huai of Chu was lured into the rival Qin state and imprisoned there (where he later died), Qu Yuan — who had warned against exactly this — was exiled in disgrace. When Qu Yuan learned that the Chu capital had fallen to Qin, he tied a large stone to his body and threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.
The villagers rushed out in their boats to rescue him. They beat drums to scare away fish and threw zongzi (rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) into the river to keep the fish from eating his body. They searched for days, never finding him.
The dragon boat race and the zongzi are both over 2,300 years old — born from grief over one man who loved his country more than his life.
How the Day Unfolds
Families hang calamus (菖蒲) and mugwort (艾草) on doorframes — both plants with strong scents believed to repel insects and evil spirits in the summer heat.
Trying to stand a raw egg upright at noon — tradition says it's easier at the exact noon hour of this day. Those who succeed will have good luck all year.
Dragon boat races on rivers, lakes, or wherever there is water. Teams of 20-80 paddlers race long narrow boats carved to look like dragons.
Families eat zongzi and drink realgar wine (雄黄酒), traditionally used to ward off summer insects and disease.
Traditions & Customs
Long narrow boats, dragon heads at the prow, drums beating rhythm. Teams race to honor and symbolically rescue Qu Yuan. The races are now international competitions.
Calamus, mugwort, and other aromatic herbs hung on doors and windows. Both insect-repelling (practical) and spirit-repelling (traditional).
Children wear bracelets woven from red, yellow, blue, white, and black threads — the five element colors. Worn from the festival until the first summer rain, then thrown into a river.
Wine mixed with realgar (a red arsenic mineral). Historically drunk to repel summer insects and disease. Painted on children's foreheads in the shape of the character 王 (king) for protection. Modern practice has declined as realgar is known to be toxic.
Traditional Foods
Glutinous rice stuffed with various fillings, wrapped tightly in bamboo or reed leaves, and boiled or steamed. The great regional divide: sweet (南甜北咸 is actually reversed — south tends to have the savory pork varieties). Northern zongzi: typically sweet, filled with red dates or sweet bean paste. Southern (Cantonese, Shanghainese): savory fillings — pork belly, salted egg yolk, mushrooms. Fujian: oyster and pork. Sichuan: Sichuan-spiced pork.
Associated with the festival particularly in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The yellow yolk of a salted egg is said to represent the summer sun.
Yellow rice wine, particularly in Jiangnan region. Drunk warm, associated with the summer festival season.
Around the World
The great zongzi debate: sweet vs. savory is the most passionate food argument in Chinese culture. Northern China: sweet red date zongzi. Cantonese: savory with pork belly, salted egg, mushroom, lotus seed — wrapped tightly in large lotus leaves. Shanghainese: savory, smaller. Hoklo (Fujian/Taiwan): savory with pork and mushroom in alkaline lye water (碱粽). Dragon boat racing: particularly spectacular in Guangdong (especially Guangzhou's Dragon Boat Festival is UNESCO-listed) and Hong Kong, where teams race in Victoria Harbour.
Today
Dragon boat racing has become a global sport — there are dragon boat clubs across North America, Europe, and Australia. The Dragon Boat Festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009. The "zongzi war" — savory vs. sweet — generates enormous social media engagement every year in China, with celebrities and corporations taking sides. China's Dragon Boat Festival is a public holiday, creating one of the year's Golden Week travel rushes.
Questions & Answers
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