Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu)
Dragon boats race and zongzi are eaten in honor of the loyal minister-poet Qu Yuan.
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, usually between late May and late June.
When Is Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu)?
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, usually between late May and late June.
Because the Gregorian date changes from year to year, check a calendar published by the tradition or your local community for this year's date.
Why It Matters
The Dragon Boat Festival honors Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BCE), loyal minister-poet who, according to tradition, drowned himself in despair after his state of Chu fell to Qin. According to legend, the people threw rice into the river to protect his body, the origin of zongzi dumplings and dragon boat racing.
How It Is Observed
Dragon boat races to drums, eating zongzi (sticky rice in bamboo leaves), wearing five-colored silk threads, hanging calamus at doorways, reciting Qu Yuan's poetry.
Sacred Text
“On and on stretched my road, long it was and far, I would go high and go low in this search that I made.”
, Li Sao (Encountering Sorrow), Qu Yuan, trans. Stephen Owen ↗