Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu or Tuen Ng Festival, is a traditional holiday observed annually over 2,000 years in China to commemorate Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), an ancient Chinese patriotic poet. Originated from south China, Dragon Boat Festival enjoys higher popularity in southern areas, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian Provinces.
Chinese: 端午节[duān wǔ jié]
Date: 5th day of 5th lunar month
History: more than 2,000 years
Traditions: eating Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), dragon boat race
Defined by Chinese
lunar calendar, the date of Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar
month according to lunar calendar, so the Gregorian date varies every year, and
hereunder is the holiday schedule from 2016 to 2021.
Year |
Date |
Holiday |
2016 |
June 9 |
June 9 - 11 |
2017 |
May 30 |
May 28 - 30 |
2018 |
June 18 |
June 16 - 18 |
2019 |
June 7 |
June 7 - 9 |
2020 |
June 25 |
June 25 - 27 |
2021 |
June 14 |
June 12 - 14 |
Why is the Dragon
Boat Festival celebrated? With a history over 2,000 years, it used to be a
hygiene day when people would use herbs to dispel diseases and viruses.
However, the most popular origin is closely related to the great poet Qu Yuan
in the Warring States Period (475 – 221BC). To engrave his death on the fifth
day on the fifth lunar month, people celebrate the festival in various ways.
Great people like Wu Zixu and Cao E also died on the same day, so in certain
areas, people also commemorate them during the festival.
As a minister in
the State of Chu - one of the seven Warring States, Qu Yuan was a patriotic
poet who wrote a lot of works to show his care and devotion to his country.
Composing masterpieces like Li Sao (The Lament), he was regarded as one of the
greatest poets in Chinese history. After he was exiled by the king, he chose to
drown himself in the river rather than seeing his country invaded and conquered
by the State of Qin. He died on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, thus
people decided to commemorate him on that day every year.
Many traditional customs and activities are held on the specified day by people in China and even by people in neighboring Asian countries. Dragon boat racing and eating Zongzi are the central customs of the festival. In some regions in China, people also wear a perfume pouch, tie five-color silk thread and hang mugwort leaves or calamus on their doors.