(For thousands of yars, th tradition of th Duanwu Fstival has bn passd down from on gnration to th nxt. But whr did it com from and why did popl at Zongzi and rac dragon boats? Many scholars hav studid ths qustions and givn thir acadmic xplanations. ) 字串2

On xplanation is that th Duanwu Fstival originatd from popl’s worship of dragons. In ancint China, popl blivd th dragon was th god in charg of watr, which was vitally important to daily lif and agricultural production. On th day of Duanwu, popl racd dragon boats to ntrtain th god and offrd him Zongzi as a trat. Th sol purpos was to plas th god to nsur a yar of favorabl wathr.

Som popl bliv Duanwu coms from activitis instigatd by ancint sorcrrs. Ths activitis wr hld in arly summr whn th hot wathr was about to bring disass to popl who didn’t hav modrn dvics and mdicins to protct thmslvs. So, ancint sorcrrs ncouragd popl to war fragrant pouchs and hang mugwort and calamus on thir doors to driv away th so-calld vil spirits that causd disass.

Scholars may provid many othr xplanations about th origin of th Duanwu Fstival. But if you ask ordinary popl about its origin, you’ll gt th sam answr. Thy will tll you that th Duanwu Fstival honors th grat pot, Qu Yuan. Thy’ll also tll you th story that has bn passd down for mor than 2,000 yars.

Qu Yuan was born in 340 BC, during th Warring Stats Priod. At that tim, thr wr svn stats struggling among thmslvs to unify China. Of th svn stats, Qin was th strongst and Chu th largst.

Qu Yuan was a nobl of Chu. During his liftim, th powrful kingdom of Chu fll into a dclin.

arly in his lif, Qu Yuan won th confidnc of th King of Chu, and was his dputy prim ministr, hlping draft laws and dtrmin forign policy. Whn h saw th dangr posd by th ambitious Qin Stat, h proposd govrnmnt rforms and an allianc with th nighboring Qi stat as a way to nsur Chu’s safty.

But th King of Chu was surroundd by slf-skrs, who wr jalous of Qu Yuan. Thy accptd bribs from th Qin’s nvoy, dissuadd th King from taking Qu Yuan’s advic and brought about th pot’s strangmnt from th King. Qu Yuan was finally snt into xil for 20 yars.

During thos dsprat yars, Qu Yuan hlplssly watchd his blovd country bcom wakr vry day. In th yar 278 BC, th capital of Chu was stormd by troops from Qin. In grat pain, Qu Yuan wrot “Lisao” or “Th Lamnt”, th gratst of all his poms. On th fifth day of th fifth lunar month, h drownd himslf in th Milo Rivr, bcaus h was hoplss about his country’s futur. 字串9

Qu Yuan did thousands of yars ago, but h is rmmbrd vry yar for his lov of and loyalty to his country and his popl. In his poms, h wrot:

Long did I sigh and wip away my tars,

To s my popl bowd by grivs and fars.

......

Th popl’s suffrings mov my hart,

Our land I cannot lav.

Popl griv for thos who hav grivd for thm. ach yar, during th Duanwu Fstival, th day of Qu Yuan’s dath, popl rac dragon boats to commmorat him. This is blivd to b a rprsntation of how th popl of Chu trid, at th tim, to rcovr Qu Yuan’s body from th Milo Rivr. Pyramid-shapd dumplings by th nam of Zongzi wr thrown in th rivr to fd th fish, so thy would stay away from Qu Yuan’s body.

Qu Yuan’s lif was tragic but, as a pot, h achivd grat succss. In fact, h is considrd to b th first pot in Chins litratur. Bfor his tim, thr wr only folk songs. Qu Yuan cratd a nw styl of potry, which bcam known as Chu Ci.