Introduction: The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival to commemorate the great Chinese poet Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. It later evolved into today's festival of dragon boat racing and rice dumpling eating. Below are three English compositions about the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival. You are welcome to refer to them.

Passage One

　Duanwu Festival (Duānwū Ji?) is a traditional Chinese festival held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Double Fifth.[citation( citation; citation) needed] It has since been celebrated, in various ways, in other parts of East Asia as well. In the West, it's commonly known as Dragon Boat Festival.

　The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC) of the Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the Chu government. The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat Qu's body. They also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the boat's prow.

In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "Poets' Day," due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personal renown.

Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed glutinous rice dumplings called zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragon boats in memory of Qu's dramatic death. Passage Two

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar. This festival is to commemorate the death of QU Yuan, an upright and honest poet and statesman who is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.

　The most important activity of this festival is the Dragon Boat races. It symbolizes people?s attempts to rescue Qu Yuan. In the current period, these races also demonstrate the virtues of cooperation and teamwork.

Besides, the festival has also been marked by eating zong zi (glutinous rice).

Zong zi is made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. People who mourned the death of Qu threw Zong zi into the river to feed his ghost every year.

With the changes of the times, the memorial turns to be a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of year. People will hang healthy herbs on the front door to clear the bad luck of the house. Although the significance of the festival might be different with the past, it still gives the observer an opportunity to glimpse a part of the rich Chinese cultural heritage. Passage Three

　Fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, also called DuanYangJie, afternoon day festival, may festival, ai festival, terminal five, ChongWu, midday, summer day. Although the name is different, but all around the custom of the people's holiday is the same. The Dragon Boat Festival is China's two thousand years old customs, on this day, every family hanging moxa calamus, dragon boat racing, eating zongzi, drink realgar wine, swim all ills, sweet bursa.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, you know the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival? ! I don' t know! Let me tell you! Do you remember the patriotic general chu qu yuan? I to say him!

Qu yuan is the warring states period abroad, very learned. He beside the king a few to image is his country rich and str

ong. Treacherous court official, listen to the words, bad king king chu qu yuan XiaoZhi exile. In exile, qu yuan heard that chu capital held by the enemy, and the people suffer, very indignation. Falls on this day, he came to the miluo river edge, with a stone, in order to jump jumped into the miluo river. Abroad people hear that cast jiang qu yuan was very sad. They rowed steadily to salvage qu yuan, with tears in their eyes, also threw rice dumplings into the river feed the fish, hope that the fish don't harm the body of qu yuan. This is may duanyang the origin of zongzi.

The Dragon Boat Festival has a lot of interesting activities. Columns such as dragon boat racing, hanging sachet, sachet, cinnabar, realgar, xiang, outsourcing to wire cloth, fragrance 4 excessive, again the five-color silk string into a rope buckle, for all kinds of different shape, form a series, variety, and exquisite. Have the habit of hanging moxa leaf, calamus.

There were so many activities in the Dragon Boat Festival!