Saturday, 3 October 2015

Dragon Boat Festival by Jade Kimberley du Preez

DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

We all know what the dragon boat festival is, but do we know why we celebrate it?

There are many stories behind the festival, but the one that stands out most is that of Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan was a poet who loved his country and hated to see his country fall into ruins. He was a wise man who was loved by most of the people in China.

Before becoming a poet, he was an advisor to the king of Chu. He warned the King to ally with Qi (one of the seven warring states) so that they could work together to defeat the powerful and feared state of Qin. However, jealous officials accused him of treason and, persuaded by the officials, the King exiled Qu Yuan.

He started writing many poems while in exile, but when the state of Qin conquered the Kingdom of Chu, he fell into great despair and committed suicide by drowning himself in the Mi Lou River.

On hearing of this tragic event, the people living there went out with long boats and threw food such as ‘zong zi’ (rice dumplings) into the river to distract the fish from his body, which was never found.


People continue this tradition on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which was when Qu Yuan died. They also race on long, dragon-shaped boats and eat rice dumplings as a part of tradition.



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