The Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat races are held at different times all over the world. In China the Dragon boat festival is on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar year. The Dragon Boat Festival is the 3rd largest festival in the Chinese calendar along with Chinese New Year and The Mid Autumn Moon Festival. There are some foods in the festival that play a symbolic and important role in all of the festivities.

One of the food is Zong Zi. This is a rice dumpling with meat wrapped in bamboo leaves. Another food is Tung Tzu. This is a Taiwanese dish that is kind of like Zong Zi except with a Taiwanese twist to it. The Zong Zi is thrown in the ocean for the fish to eat the rice.

There is a story about the meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is a story about a man named Qu yuan who lived in481-221bc. He was a Minister of Law and Ordinance and a poet of Chu in southern China. One day the Qin in the nourth gave the king of chu a peace treaty but Qu yuan told him not to. The King was threatened by Qu yuan because he was famous that he signed the treaty and banished him to Hunan and Chu was defeated.

After Qu heard this, he comitted suicide on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month in 278 bc. A local fishrman tried to save him but it was too late.They were throwing rice to nourish the spirit.That same night Qu Yuan gave a fisherman a dream that the fish were eating the rice that they threw so the fisherman wrapped the rice in silk as a sacrifice to Qu Yaun.