Dragon boat racing, according to legend, originated in ancient times when the people of Chu could not bear to see the wise minister Qu Yuan throw himself into the river to die, and many people rowed boats to catch up with them to save them. They scrambled to catch up and disappeared when they chased him to Dongting Lake. After that, they rowed dragon boats on May 5 every year to commemorate it. The dragon boat was used to disperse the fish in the river, so that the fish would not eat Qu Yuan's body. The practice of dragon boat racing is prevalent in Wu, Yue and Chu.

Eating zongzi, according to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn period, with Mizushu leaves (wild rice leaves) wrapped in millet into a horn-shaped, called "corner of corn"; bamboo tube filled with rice sealed and baked, called "tube zongzi". The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to grass ash water soaked in millet, because the water contains alkali, with Mushroom leaves wrapped in millet into a quadrangular shape, cooked, became the Guangdong alkaline water dumplings. Jin Dynasty, zongzi was officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, the package of raw materials in addition to glutinous rice, but also add the Chinese medicine Yizhi Ren, cooked zongzi called "Yizhi Zong".