Dragon Boat Festival
Source：国际学院 Date：2013-12-30 Hits：109
The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a lunar holiday with long history. It is also called the Duanwu Festival .Dragon Boat Festival is to memorize Qu Yuan, a patriot of highest integrity. I t is said that he committed suicide by drowning himself into a river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which is now commemorated. It is a great holiday for every Chinese to show respect to him.
What do we do in that day? First of all, we have spice bags. It's believed that if you carry a small spice bag around you, it not only drives away evil spirits but also bring you fortune and happiness. The small bags are hand-made with red, yellow, green and blue silk or cotton. Figures of animals, flowers and fruits are often embroidered on the bags and the mixture of Chinese herbals is put inside the bags.
Additionally, the festival is best known for its special custom - dragon-boat race. This is especially popular in southern regions where there are many rivers and lakes. The race is a symbolic act to save the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Dragon boat is a very long and narrow human-powered boat. It has a history of more than 2,000 years. Moreover, we eat rice dumplings, which are made of glutinous rice, meat and so on. There are different kinds of rice dumplings on that day.
Dragon Boat Festival is a meaningful day to Chinese people. It is one of the most vital folk festivals in our society at present. It is suggested that keeping the traditional festivals like this is important for enhancing national identity in modern society.
Written by Zhang Xiaohang, IS Journalist Team
Profread by Angela Li