Chinese Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival is traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which corresponds with our western May-June. There are several names for this event - Duan Wu Jie, which means rice dumpling festival, Tuen Ng (Cantonese) or Tuen Yang (Mandarin), or the Festival of the Double Fifth. The festival commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan (pronounced Chue Yuan), who lived during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Qu Yuan was an advisor to Emperor Huai of the State of Chu, only the king never listened to Qu Yuan's warnings that the rampant political corruption would be his downfall, because the other ministers took care to slander the poet. The king finally sent Qu Yuan into exile and when the State of Qin took the capital of the State of Chu in 278 BC, the despairing Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River in Hunan Province on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. When the locals heard the news, they set out in their boats to retrieve the poet's body. They threw rice dumpling, eggs, and other food into the river to feed the fish so that these would not eat the body. In subsequent years, food was thrown into the river on this day as an offering to the dead poet. But then Qu Yuan's spirit appeared on the riverbank and told the person he encountered that the dragon had eaten all the food they had been throwing into the river each year. Thereafter, the people were to wrap rice in bamboo leaves and tie these dumplings with a thread of five colors, since dragons were afraid of the leaves and the thread and would not steal the food. There are other traditions which may have influenced the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival. The Miluo River is made up of the Mi and Lo rivers, and feeds into Lake Dongting, at the bottom of which lives the Dragon King. There is also a tale of a nymph, the Concubine Mi, who lives in the Lo River. She was depicted in an early painting riding in a chariot drawn by six dragons. See Painting. The fifth lunar month is considered to be particularly unlucky, as the yin and yang are out of balance, and the fifth day was the worst of all, A child born on the fifth would be nothing but trouble to his parents. People hung calamus(sweet flag) and moxa(artemisia) on their doors to ward off evil spirits. Other tales tell that dragon boat racing began as a way to insure good crops by honoring the water gods, in particular the White Goddess. Long ago, a man was sacrificed in her temple after the races each year, and his family was very honored that a son of their house had been chosen as the Groom of the Goddess. Still another story claims that these celebrations were in honor of the Dragon King's birthday. During the Tang dynasty, spectators would arrive very early and line the banks. Those who had boats would position themselves along the course for the best viewing of the race and there was much partying both before and after the race. Of course, a race wouldn't be any fun without the betting, and plenty of money changed hands at these events. At this time the crews consisted of six pairs of rowers with a drummer who stood amidships beating a large kettledrum with wooden clubs to set the pace. The helmsman manned the rudder-oar, shouting instructions and encouragement to the rowers. Today, the boats are just over ten meters long and are crewed by twenty or twenty-two rowers, who train for months before the race. The steersman sits aft and the drummer sits forward. The boats have an elaborately carved and decorated head and tail of a dragon at either end. The rice dumplings, or Zhongi, are still an important part of this festival. Each locale of China has a different way of making them. They come in different shapes but a triangle or pyramid are the most common, and contain various fillings such as dates, meat, mashed red beans, or eggs mixed in with the traditional glutenous rice. The dumplings are wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves (bamboo leaves are very hard to come by these days) and served with honey, sugar or soy sauce, depending on the contents. Here is one recipe for anyone who wants to try their hand at making these dumplings. But be warned! It's supposed to be difficult for even an accomplished cook to assemble them so that they hold together during the cooking. ZHONGI Ingredients: 50 sheets of bamboo or reed leaves Glutinous rice (1 kilogram) Chinese dates (250 grams) Preparation 1.Soak the rice and the dates 12 hours or more till they are soaked thoroughly. 2.Wash the leaves. 3.A chopping board is necessary for laying out the leaves. 4.Fold the leaves flat at the leafstalk to make a sheet. 5.Hold the sheet, fold it round in the middle and make a funnel till both ends are laid over each other in one direction. 6.About 1/10 kg. of rice and 6 dates used for each dumpling. The dates must be covered by rice so that they won't lose too much syrup in cooking. 7.Fold the leaves up to seal the open side of the funnel and tie the bundle with a band made of twisted leaves. Make sure that the bundle is tied neither too tight nor too loose so that the ingredients are well cooked. 8.Put the dumplings in a pot with water over and make sure they are pressed and kept still while being boiled. 9.Cooking time: 40 minutes in a pressure cooker; 2 hours in an ordinary pot. Sources: Robert van Gulik. The Emperor's Pearl. Warner Paperback Library, 1974. About.com: Dragon Boat Festival Discover Hong Kong Chinese Holidays Credits: Zhongi recipe is by Ronghe Yu from About.com: Chinese Food The dragon boat image by sumnersgraphicsinc, from iStockphoto

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