The Dragonboat Festival Story

In the factionalized kingdom era before the Qin Dynasty, there was a royal advisor named Qu Yuan serving in one of the kingdoms. He was the embodiment of patriotism; the kingdom was his life. When it came to giving advice about the kingdom, he would be the best source.

But, being this good during such a suspicious time was not good. Some of the other advisors were getting jealous of Qu Yuan and plotted against him. They would tell the king that the advice Qu Yuan was giving was for Qu Yuan's own benifit. The king was very upset and threatened to kill him , although never did.

One day, the Qin state invited Qu Yuan's king to come to have talks, offering beautiful women in return for the meeting. Of course the emperor wanted to go, but Qu Yuan pointed out to the emperor that it was a trap. The emperor did not listen to Qu Yuan and went anyway. The Qin trap had worked and the king was killed.

Qu Yuan was devastated. He knew he should have been more assertive. So, he jumped into a river and died a watery death. The people of the kingdoms heard of Qu Yuan's plight. They respected what he had accomplished and decided to commemorate his death. They wrapped food up in lotus leaves and threw it in the river. To keep the fish away, they raced dragonboats and beat drums. This allowed the food to reach the bottom, where Qu Yuan's spirit was waiting for the food. That is what the dragonboat festival symbolizes.