We got invited to Fang Tao's(our neighbor) apartment on June 5th to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. We learned how to make sticky rice dumplings, it was so much fun and we also learned a few things about the festival.
I got this following info and beautiful illustrations from https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/dragon-boat-festival.htm if you're interested to learn more about it.
Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which is in late May or June on the Gregorian calendar. In 2022, Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 3 (Friday). Dragon Boat Festival, or Longzhou Jie (龙舟节) in Chinese, because of its close association with dragon boats. Chinese people attach great cultural significance to dragons. The two main activities during the festival are eating zongzi (rice dumplings) and boat races, and both are related to dragons.
Zongzi have long been thrown into rivers as offerings and sacrifices to the Dragon God on lunar month 5 day 5, while dragon boats are used in races traditionally held on this day. So, it is also called the Dragon Boat Festival.
Why Is Dragon Boat Festival So Important?
Many believe that Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet, and minister known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry, who eventually became a national hero.
However, it is evidenced that the Dragon Boat Festival actually came before the death of Qu Yuan. Its earliest origin is related to the fifth lunar month which was known to ancients as the ‘month of poison’. During the early hot days of summer, people would easily fall ill and epidemics spread. This made the month seem evil, so people in ancient times regarded it as an important time to prevent diseases and keep evil spirits away. Therefore, Dragon Boat Festival was originally regarded as a traditional medical and health festival. It is traditionally a festival for people to (ceremonially) come against diseases and poisonous insects. As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, this year's Dragon Boat Festival has a renewed focus on health.
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