Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, falls on June 9th this year. It is a festival celebrated by Chinese people all over the world. There are many legendary stories about the origin of the festival and the story below is the most popular one among them.

According to history, Qu Yuan, a patriotic minister who served King Chu Huaiwang in the Chunqiu Period, was demoted to the Xiang area because he remonstrated the king with blunt words. In his demotion, he wrote many famous poems to indicate his love for his country.

In 278 BC, Chu was defeated by Qin and Qu Yuan was too sad to see his country invaded by others. So, with a stone in his hands, he threw himself into Miluo River on May 5 of the lunar calendar.

People were sad to know that Qu Yuan committed suicide, and they went boating to find his body but failed. Afraid that the fish in the river may eat Qu Yuan’s body, they threw rice balls, eggs and other food into the river to feed the fish. They believed that all the fish revere the dragon, so they rowed dragon boats to the river to protect Qu Yuan’s body.

To remember the patriotic poet, people row dragon boats and eat Zongzi (one kind of food made of rice) on that day every year.