Chinese Folktales II: The Death of Qū Yuán 屈原-The Story Behind the Dragon Boat Festival

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the day of the Dragon Boat Festival (Duānwǔ jié 端午节), people eat zòngzi 粽子 (although people also eat them at other times, since they are delicious). This year, the Dragon Boat Festival will be held on June 18. So why do people eat zòngzi on this day and how did this Chinese holiday originate?

Well, the association of zòngzi with this occasion is said to be in memory of the poet Qū Yuán 屈原, an official of the state of Chǔ 楚 during the Warring States Period (period of 200s and 300s BC). The famous warring states included Yān 燕, Qí 齐, Zhào 赵, Wèi 魏, Hán 韩, Chǔ 楚, And Qín 秦, as well as the diminutive Lesser Wèi 卫, Dōngzhōu 东周, Sòng 宋, and Lǔ 鲁 (where Confucius lived). Among all these, the state of Qín was by far the most powerful and sought to dominate or absorb the others. (Eventually it succeeded. That’s where the Qín dynasty came from.) The state of Chǔ was the southernmost of the major states, and quite large, but weaker than its size would suggest.

Qū Yuán was a descendent of an aristocratic family and because of his independent thinking, he was a trusted counselor at the court of King Huái 怀 of Chǔ. Also, because of his independent thinking, Qū Yuán was heartily hated by most of the court, and especially by an envious competitor for the king’s attention, the unscrupulous Zǐ Lán 子兰.

Qū Yuán was a strong advocate of close alliances with the other states in the hope of quelling Qín’s expansionist ambitions. In the late 280s BC, the state of Qín 秦 broke its alliance with Chǔ, and many battles ensued. Eventually Qín suggested that the Chǔ monarch go to Qín for peace talks. Qū Yuán counseled against doing so, for he did not trust Qín and had a bad premonition about the trip. Nonetheless, King Huái’s son Qǐng Xiāng 楚顷襄, and well as Zǐ Lán and many other courtiers, argued in favor of the trip, and in the end King Huái embarked on his journey to the Qin state.

As Qū Yuán had predicted, King Huái was arrested, held in exile in Qín for three years, and ultimately executed. Meanwhile, his son Qǐng Xiāng became monarch in Chǔ, and selected Qū Yuán’s old enemy Zǐ Lán as his prime minister, who immediately persuaded him to have Qū Yuán banished. Qū Yuán moved to his old home in what is today northern Húběi 湖北 and spent his time collecting folklore and writing poetry.

In 278 BC, Qín forces, under the command of the famous general Bái Qǐ 白起, occupied Yǐng 郢, the Chǔ capital (in modern Jiānglíng county 江陵县 in Húběi).

Qū Yuán was in despair partially because of the injustice of his exile, partially at the death of King Huái, and partially at the loss of his homeland to the Qín conquerors all because his advice had not been followed. He commemorated his sorrow in a long poem still widely respected, called “Leaving the Tumult” or “The Sorrow of Leaving” (Lǐsāo 离骚) (usually translated “Encountering Sorrow”) and in many other melancholy poems, often including the word “lament” (passionate agreesion of grief or sorrow) (āi 哀) in the title, such as “Lament for [the Fall of] Yǐng” (Āi Yǐng 哀郢).

Eventually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, overcome by his depression, Qū Yuán committed suicide by jumping into the nearby Mìluó river 汨罗江.

The common people, upon learning of his suicide, rushed out on the water in their fishing boats to the middle of the river and tried desperately to save Qu Yuan. They beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles in order to keep the fish and evil spirits from his body. Later on, they scattered rice into the water to prevent him/his ghost from suffering hunger. Another belief is that the people scattered rice to feed the fish, in order to prevent them from devouring the poet’s body.

However, late one night, the spirit of Qū Yuán appeared before his friends (that is, he resurrected from the dead) and told them that the rice meant for him was being intercepted by a huge river dragon. He asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon. This has been a traditional food ever since, known today as zòngzi or sticky rice wrapped in leaves, although they are wrapped in leaves instead of silk. In commemoration of Qū Yuán, it is said, people hold dragon boat races annually on the day of his death.

Although people do not throw rice into rivers any more, the custom of preparing and eating rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (zòngzi 粽子) is still associated with the fifth day of the fifth month. Today, dragon boat festivals continue to be celebrated around the world with dragon boat racing. These events are still culturally associated with the traditional Chinese Duen Ng Festival in Hong Kong (Cantonese Chinese dialect) or Duan Wu festival in south central mainland China (Mandarin Chinese dialect). The countries around China, such as Vietnam and Korea, also celebrate variations of this Dragon Boat Festival as part of their shared cultural heritage.