Dragon Boat Festival in Dailymag

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday originating in China,and occurring on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is also known by many other names such as Duanwu, Duanyang, Fifth Day Festival, Double Fifth Festival, Fifth Month Festival,Yulan Festival, Daughter’s Festival Dragon’s Day and so on.

The Chinese have celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival for over 2,000 years.Since China is a vast land with many ethnic groups and numerous stories and legends,this festival has been given many names and has been celebrated in different ways in different parts of China.

Many believe that Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet, and minister known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry, who eventually became a national hero. Qu Yuan was a patriotic poet and exiled official during the Warring States Period of ancient China. He drowned himself in the Miluo River on the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month, when his beloved Chu State fell to the State of Qin.Local people desperately tried to save Qu Yuan or recover his body, to no avail.In order to commemorate Qu Yuan, every fifth day of the fifth lunar month people beat drums and paddle out in boats on the river as they once did to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body.