The Dragon Boat Festival
The story of the Dragon Boat Festival
is a well-known one in Taiwan and China. Nowadays, people all over the world
celebrate the festival by holding races.
Duanwu Jie, is held on the 5th
day of the 5th Lunar month and has been followed for close on 2000
years, if not more. With all the information out there, it’s hard to decipher
the actual date. Many legends surround the Festival but one stands out and is
more commonly remembered.
The legend surrounding Qu Yuan is that
he was the advisor to the King and because he was popular, people became jealous
and said nasty things about him. The King believed these nasty things and
exiled(sent him away) him from the kingdom. It is said that to show his love
for his country, Qu Yuan wrote many poems and is regarded as a famous poet.
After his last masterpiece, Embracing
the Sand(hugging the sand- which everyone who’s
tried knows is quite an impossible task), he decided
to drown himself in a river. Not a smart idea.
The many customs surrounding this
legend include, dragon boat racing, eating zhongzi (rice dumplings), wearing a
pouch with perfumed on it, tying knots and hanging mugwort leaves on their
doors.
Fragrant pouches
Balancing an egg
Zhongzi
Dragon boats and the race
Mugwort Leaves 
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