Duan wu jie
- 1. Duan1 Wu3 Jie2 端午节節 AKA Dragon Boat Festival / Rice Dumpling Festival Held on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Lunar Calendar Nong2 Li4 農 曆 To commemorate Qu1 Yuan2 屈原 , a patriotic poet (shi1 ren2 詩人 ) from the Warring States Period (~500 BC to 221 BC)
- 2. Li4 Shi3 - Zhan4 Guo2 Shi2 Dai4 歷史 - 戰國時代 7 Warring Kingdoms A political minister (zheng4 fu3 guan1 yuan2 政府 官員 ) from the Kingdom of Chu3 楚 , known for his patriotism (ai4 guo2) 愛國 and loyalty (zhong1 cheng2 忠誠 ) King of Chu fell under influence of corrupt officials and banished (fang4 zhu2 放逐 ) Qu Yuan In exile he produced some of the great poetry of Chinese literature In 278 BC, when Chu's capital was captured (duo2 qu3 奪取 ) by the Kingdom of Qin2 秦 , he committed ritual suicide in protest over corruption
- 3. Chuan2 Shuo1 傳說 Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Mi4 Luo2 Jiang1 汨羅江 Villagers paddled out their boats to save him, couldn't find him To distract the fish/evil spirits from body: − Threw rice into the river - origin of Zong4 Zi2 粽 子 − Paddled boats around, beating drums – origin of Long2 Chuan2 龍船 Race
- 4. Long2 Chuan2 / Hua2 Long2 Zhou1 龍船 / 划龍舟 Vary in Sizes, one standard is 20 paddlers, 1 steerer, 1 drummer Oldest international races held in Hong Kong (Xiang1 gang3 香港 ) Hong Kong started donating boats throughout the world in the early 80s, increasing Dragon Boat Racing popularity Also popular in Europe (Sweden), Canada, US (San Francisco)
- 5. Zong4 Zi3 粽子 Sticky Rice with various fillings, wrapped in bamboo leaves (zhu2 ye4 竹葉 ) Triangle/Tetrahedron shape Traditional kind – usually pork, mushrooms, peanuts, small dried shrimp Sweet kind – red bean (hong2 dou2 紅豆 ) paste filling Easy to heat, microwave or steam/rice cooker