Editor's Note:

The Duanwu Festival, commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is just around the corner. Along with the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), Tomb-Sweeping Day (Qingming Festival) and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Cake Festival), it is one of China's four major traditional celebrations, with a history spanning more than 2,000 years.

With "Duan" meaning "beginning" and "Wu" meaning "five," the term Duanwu refers to the traditional Chinese festival that takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

This celebration was the first Chinese holiday officially recognized on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in September 2009.

At People's Daily Online, we've put together a comprehensive cultural handbook to help you discover the fascinating customs of the Duanwu Festival. Join us as we explore this traditional celebration together!

The poet who inspired Dragon Boat Festival

The name Qu Yuan will likely come up in any conversation about the Dragon Boat Festival in China.

Although tales of its origin differ, the two-millennia-old festival is widely celebrated in memory of Qu Yuan, a statesman and patriotic poet of the state of Chu during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), today the central and southern areas of China. 

Witnessing the fall of Chu's capital, its people's displacement as well as the loss of land, Qu refused to align himself with the corrupt officials or yield to oppressive forces. He eventually drowned himself in the Miluo River in what is now Hunan Province, completing the magnificent patriotic anthem that he had composed with his own life.

Dragon boat races

Some Hunan folklore researchers believe the dragon boat race represents the search for Qu Yuan's body. After Qu jumped into the Miluo River, locals raced out in boats to rescue him or at least recover the poet's remains.

Another theory about the origin of the dragon boat race is tied to dragon worship. It is said that Duanwu marks the day when the dragon takes to the skies, so the race serves as a way to honor the flying dragon.

For generations, the event has strengthened bonds within families and communities. Today, dragon boat racing is not only a popular sport across China but has also spread to other countries.

Zongzi

Making and eating zongzi is an important part of celebrating the festival. Zongzi are glutinous rice dumplings cooked in bamboo leaves. Some say that dropping zongzi into the water feeds Qu Yuan's spirit, while others believe it prevents fish from eating his body.

Zongzi fillings vary greatly across China. Northerners prefer sweet zongzi filled with bean paste and dates, while southerners tend to favor savory fillings like pork and salted duck yolk. In Shaanxi Province in northwest China, locals dip plain zongzi in honey. To the southwest, in Sichuan — a province known for its spicy cuisine — people even add chili.

Herbs against evil spirits

Traditionally, the fifth lunar month — and especially the fifth day — was considered poisonous and unlucky. Legend has it that snakes, centipedes, scorpions and other venomous creatures begin to appear on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. People are also said to become sick more frequently after this date.

One common practice involves sticking needles into drawings of the five poisonous animals: vipers, centipedes, scorpions, house lizards, toads and sometimes spiders. Others craft paper figurines of the five animals and tie them around their children's wrists as bracelets.

On the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, people seeking to ward off bad luck place calamus and artemisia plants above their doors. Calamus leaves, which resemble swords, and the plants' pungent aroma are believed to repel evil spirits.

Wine of Realgar

Realgar wine, also known as xionghuang wine, is a traditional Chinese alcoholic beverage made by mixing Chinese liquor with powdered realgar, a yellow-orange arsenic sulfide mineral.

For centuries, people used realgar wine as both a pesticide and a remedy for poison and illness. During the Dragon Boat Festival, applying realgar wine to parts of children's faces is common to help ward off the five venomous creatures.

5-colored silk-threaded braid

In some regions of China, people — especially children — wear silk ribbons or threads in five colors (blue, red, yellow, white and black) on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. The colors represent the Wuxing, or five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. People believe that wearing these threads helps ward off evil.