Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is called Duan We Jie in Mandarin. Jie means festival. It is one of the major holidays in Chinese culture. The summer festival was originally a time to ward off bad spirits, but the Dragon Boat Festival is now often referred to as a celebration of the life of Qu Yuan, a Chinese Poet. The story about Qu Yuan has been deeply rooted in Chinese culture and this festival, so it is definitely a very important factor for the origin of the festival although well-known traditions of the festival existed even before Qu Yuan.

Qu Yan

Qu Yuan was a minister to the Zhou emperor during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). He was a wise man who strongly opposed the corruption in the imperial court. He was a strong opponent of this corruption and eventually his fellow ministers plotted against him and he was exiled to his home town. During this time he collected legends and folk tales and wrote poetry. His works, the Lament (Li Sao), the Nine Chapters (Jiu Zhang), and Wen tian, are masterpieces and invaluable for studying ancient Chinese culture. From afar he witnessed the gradual decline of his mother country, Zhou. And on the fifth day of the fifth month when he heard that Zhou had been defeated and overthrown by the Qin, he was so despaired that he ended his life by flinging himself into the Miluo River.

Legend says after people heard he drowned, they were greatly dismayed. Fishermen raced to the spot in their boats to search for his body. Unable to find his body, people threw zongzi (rice dumplings), eggs and other food into the river to feed fish to prevent the fish from eating his body. It is suggested that since then people started to commemorate Qu Yuan through dragon boat races, eating zongzi, drinking Xiong Huang wine and the children wear fragrant silk pouches to guard against evil.

Duanwu Jie (Mandarin) or Duen Ng (Cantonese)

Dragon boat races are traditionally held as part of the annual Duanwu Jie (Mandarin) or Duen Ng (Cantonese) observance in China. 19th century European observers of the racing ritual, not understanding the significance of Duen Ng, referred to the spectacle as a “dragon boat festival”. This is the term that has become known in the West.

Duanwu Jie literally translate to mean “double fifth festival”. This speaks to some views that the festival is originated from the taboo of evil days. The fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is traditionally considered an evil month and the 5th of the month is particularly a bad day, so a lot of taboo had been developed.

Dragon Boat racing originated in China over 2000 years ago.The actual boat that is raced is one of a family of Traditional Long Boats found throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Traditions

Many traditional rituals of the Duanwu Festival emphasize the avoidance of disease. The desire to prevent health hazards associated with the mid-summer months may have been the primary original motive behind the holiday.

Three of the most widespread activities for Duanwu Jie are eating and preparing zongzi, drinking Xiong Huang wine and racing Traditional Long Boats decorated with dragon heads. Other common activities include hanging up icons of Zhong Kui (a mythic guardian figure), hanging mugwort (common wormwood) and palm plants, taking long walks, and wearing perfumed medicine bags. The ancients regarded all of these activities as effective in preventing disease or evil and promoting health and well-being.

No June Celebrations in the Bay Area

The Duanwu Festival is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture and although it takes place on June 6, 2011 there will be no June celebrations for this holiday. The annual San Francisco Dragon Boat race takes place in September.

Thousands of paddlers from all over the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands power dragon boats through the waters off Treasure Island in what is advertised as the largest competitive dragon boat festival in the country with more than 110 dragon boat teams racing.

The San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival and other dragon boat races in North America and the rest of the world are held at different times so that major teams can travel and compete in several of them. Additionally, San Francisco’s weather is usually at its best around August and September.