Facts About the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, commonly called Duanwujie in Chinese, as it is celebrated on the 5th of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Duanwu means the 5th of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, and jie means festival, hence the name. For thousands of years, this traditional festival has been passed down from one generation to the next. It has been marked by eating Zongzi (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) and racing dragon boats.

The Origin of The Dragon Boat Festival

About the origin of the Duanwu Festival, the most popular explanation among the ordinary Chinese people is that it was derived from the activities of commemorating a great patriot poet, Qu Yuan. The story about Qu Yuan has been deeply rooted in Chinese culture and this festival, and passed down for more than 2,000 years. So it is definitely a very important factor for the origin of the festival.

But since some of the well-known traditions of the festival already existed even before Qu Yuan, other origins of the festival were also suggested. One explanation is that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from people's worship of dragons. In ancient China, people believed the dragon was the god in charge of water, which was vitally important to daily life and agricultural production. On the way of Duanwu, people raced dragon boats to entertain the god and offered him Zongzi as