The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Wuwu Festival because it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, is one of the three important Chinese festivals, the other two being the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lunar New Year.

The origin of this festival is the story of Qu Yuan, a learned and respected official in ancient China who loved the people, but was framed by a jealous official and left out of the emperor's court. Unable to gain the emperor's attention, Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River in a state of depression.

Due to their love for Qu Yuan, the people along the Miluo River hurriedly searched for him by boat and threw rice into the river to calm the dragon. Even though they didn't find Qu Yuan at that time, their behavior is still celebrated and commemorated to this day during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Customs

The most important event of the Dragon Boat Festival is the Dragon Boat Race, in which teams paddle their colorful dragon boats to the sound of loud drums. This event was inspired by the time when the inhabitants of Miluo River rowed their boats in the river to save Qu Yuan, and the tradition has been maintained for centuries.

A popular food at the Dragon Boat Festival is zongzi, which are rice wrapped with meat, peanuts, egg yolks and other ingredients, and then wrapped in bamboo leaves. The tradition of zongzi comes from fishermen on the Miluo River, who threw rice into the river to calm the dragons in the river in the hope that they would not eat Qu Yuan.

The month of May on the lunar calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival, has many other important meanings for the Chinese besides the story of Qu Yuan. Many Chinese believe that the month of May is a dangerous time of the year that is prone to illness, so there are many precautions that must be taken to prevent family members from getting sick. Many families hang a special plant, Mugwort, on their doorsteps for protection, and people also wear scented sachets, which are made from medicinal plants that contain a variety of scents, to protect them from illness.