星期四, 九月 11, 2008 ( 下午7:24 )
For the benefit of those who are better in English and also people of the other races, this is an English version of the origin of Dragon Boat Festival.
Today, we'll be talking about a festival called the Dragon Boat Festival (Dumpling festival).
Dragon Boat Festival is called Duan Wu Jie in Chinese. Jie means festival.
Today, we'll be talking about a festival called the Dragon Boat Festival (Dumpling festival).
Dragon Boat Festival is called Duan Wu Jie in Chinese. Jie means festival.
The festival is celebrated on the 5th of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Throughout the years, there had been many theories of the origin of the festival. The most popular theory is derived from the commemoration a great patriot poet, Qu Yuan. The story about Qu Yuan has been deeply rooted in Chinese culture and this festival, so it is definitely a very important factor for the origin of the festival.
Legend says after people heard Qu Yuan ended his life by flinging himself into the Miluo River and drowned when he heard that the Chu State was defeated by the strong Qin State , they were greatly dismayed. People raced to the spot in their boats to search for his body. Unable to find his body, people threw dumplings, eggs and other food into the river to feed fish, so hoped to salvage his body. Since then, people started to commemorate Qu Yuan through dragon boat races, eating dumplings and other activities, on the anniversary of his death, the 5th of the fifth month.
Rice dumplings are usually made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. Fresh bamboo leaves are the best for the wrapping since the taste and smell of the fresh bamboo leaves is part of dumpling. They have many different types of fillings like dates, meat, yolk of egg and more.
Here are some pictures of rice dumplings;
And also some ingredients used for making rice dumplings;
The festival is closely associated with dumpling and dragon boat races. More importantly this is also a national patriot festival through commemorating the great patriot poet, Qu Yuan. People are reminded that the importance of loyalty and commitment to the community in the festival. If you are still unsure of the origin of Dragon Boat Festival, we have found a video from the net that show how this festival came about (click here). We hope you understand this festival better now!