According to folklore, zongzi is eaten to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan. In the Records of Historical Records, people can know that Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu. Qu Yuan united with Qi to fight against Qin. However, Qu Yuan's idea met with opposition, and finally Qu Yuan was framed and relegated. When Qu Yuan was in exile, he learned that Chu was attacked by Qin, and he was heartbroken and threw himself into the river.

In the 16th year of Zhou Nanwang (299 BC), the State of Qin captured eight cities of Chu, and then sent envoys to invite Chu Huaiwang to make peace with the State of Qin. Qu Yuan entered the palace to state his interests, but Chu Huaiwang refused to listen and expelled Qu Yuan from Du Ying. Chu Huaiwang attended the meeting as scheduled and was imprisoned as soon as he arrived in Qin. Died in the state of Qin three years later. In the thirty-seventh year (278 BC), shortly after the fall of the king of Chu, the generals of Qin attacked Tancheng, the capital of Chu, and the forces that Chu avoided moved to Chen. The king of Qi was defeated, and the capital was in panic, and Tancheng was captured by Guo.

After hearing the news that Ying City was breached, Qu Yuan was desperate and threw himself into the river. When people heard that Dr. Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, they all came to the river to salvage Qu Yuan's body. People take zongzi and eggs from home and throw them into the river, so that the fish won't bite Dr. Qu's body. Another doctor poured realgar wine into the river, so that the medicine could make dragons and water beasts unconscious. Since then, every year on the fifth day of May, Chu people go to the riverside to row dragon boats, throw zongzi and drink realgar wine to commemorate Qu Yuan. The custom of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival has been spread for thousands of years.

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival has become a specific holiday custom. People in the south and the north will eat zongzi on this day. On this day, people will eat zongzi to pay homage to Qu Yuan.

2. Zongzi, also known as "dumpling potato" and "dumpling Sect", is steamed by wrapping the leaves of Zongzi with glutinous rice and is one of the traditional festival foods of the Han nationality. Zongzi appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, and was originally used to worship ancestors and gods. In the Jin dynasty, zongzi became the food of the Dragon Boat Festival.