Duānwǔ Jié or Dragon Boat Festival is a national Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifth lunar day of the fifth lunar month. The legend is that when a famous poet and statemen, Qu Yuan revolted against the Zhou Dynasty by opposing the alliance to Qin, he was accused of treason and was banished. During his exile, he attempted to commit suicide in 278 BCE by drowning himself in the Milou River. The local people who admired Qu Yuan began searching for his body in dragon boats, beating drums to fend away the fish who might want to eat his corpse. Just as they discovered his body, a large fish was about to eat it, so the people began throwing Zòngzi into the water, a traditional Chinese rice ball dumpling. The fish ate the Zòngzi and was so full that it swam away without touching Qu Yaun’s body.
Traditionally, Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by preparing and eating Zòngzi, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats in the river, in honor of China’s first renown poet, Qu Yuan.
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