Dragon Boat Festival story and custom

Dragon Boat Festival端午节

Joanne Chen2015

DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

Dragon Boat FestivalMay 5 of Lunar Calendar

•端午节•Duān wǔ jié

“端”字有“初始”的意思，因此“端五”就是“初五”。而按照历法，五月正是“午”月，因此“端五”也就渐渐演变成了现在的“端午”

Duān Beginning noon

Wǔ Sounds same as 5Festival

• Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on May 5 of the lunar calendar. (Georgian Calendar – June)

• The Dragon Boat Festival is also known as "Double Fifth Day".

June 9, 2016(Lunar calendar - May 5)

On this day, activities people often do1. Eating (and preparing) zongzi, 吃粽子2. Drinking realgar wine, and 雄黃酒3. Racing dragon boats. 划龍舟

Story of Qu Yuan • Commemorates the death of the poet

and minister Qu Yuan (340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, who committed suicide by drowning himself in the MiLuo River.

• The boat races were inspired by the villager's valiant attempts to rescue Qu Yuan from the Mi-luo river.

• The village people threw the rice ball into the river to prevent the fishes eating Qu Yuan’s body.

Dragon Boat Race赛龙舟• Competing teams drive their colorful dragon

boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. • Races can have any number of boats competing, with the

winner being the first team to grab a flag at the end of the course

Boat Racing

Rice Dumpling - Zongzi

• Traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival

• Zongzi consists of rice dumplings filled with meat, peanut, egg, beans, dates, sweet potatoes, walnuts, mushrooms, or a combination of both.

• Steamed and wrapped in bamboo/corn leaves. 粽子

Variety of Zongzi

Making Zongzi

Breaking the evil spirits

• Hanging up icons of Zhong Kui (a mythic guardian figure) 貼鍾馗像驅瘟疫、瘟神

• Hanging mugwort and calamus 懸香草（菖蒲、艾草等）• Tie colorful strings on the arms 纏五彩絲線• Wearing perfumed medicine bags佩香囊

12:00 PMStanding Eggs

“If you can balance an egg on it’s end at exactly 12:00pm it is believed that you will have good luck for the rest of the year.“

Discussion Time

Compare a festival in your culture to the Dragon boat festival.

What is the history behind?What are the activities people do?What types of food are eaten?