🏮 Xiaoyu Land

The Dragon Boat Festival

Over 2,000 years ago in ancient China, there lived a great poet named Qu Yuan (屈原). He loved his country, the State of Chu, very much and always gave wise advice to the king.

But the king listened to bad advisors who were jealous of Qu Yuan. They told lies about him, and the king sent him away.

While Qu Yuan was in exile, he wrote beautiful poems about his love for his country. His most famous poem is "Li Sao" (《离骚》) — which means "Encountering Sorrow."

Sadly, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan heard that his beloved country had been conquered. He was so heartbroken that he jumped into the Miluo River with a heavy stone in his arms.

When the local people heard what happened, they rushed to their boats and rowed out to save him. They beat drums and splashed their oars to scare away the fish. They threw sticky rice dumplings into the river so the fish would eat those instead of Qu Yuan's body.

Every year since then, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people race dragon boats (龙舟 — lóng zhōu) and eat zongzi (粽子 — zòng zi) — sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. This is the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 — duān wǔ jié)!

🐉 Fun Facts

• Dragon boat racing is now a global sport! There are dragon boat teams in over 80 countries.

• Zongzi can be sweet (with red bean paste) or savory (with pork and egg).

• The Dragon Boat Festival is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.