MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon boats race and zongzi leaves scent the air

Introduction

Boat races and zongzi on the fifth of the fifth month, the summer festival that remembers Qu Yuan

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The fifth month was thought an 'evil month', and the festival's customs centred on warding off evil and disease. The Eastern Han stele for Cao E already mentions welcoming Lord Wu (Wu Zixu) on the fifth of the fifth month; Zhou Chu's Fengtu ji of the Western Jin first uses the name Duanwu; and Wu Jun's Xu Qi Xie ji of the Liang tells of rice in bamboo tubes thrown into the river for Qu Yuan, after which honouring Qu Yuan became the commonest explanation, though some regions honour Wu Zixu, Cao E and others. Its customs are dragon boat racing, zongzi, mugwort and calamus at the door, scented sachets and five-colour threads. UNESCO inscribed it in 2009.

Timeline

Eastern Han to present
143 · OriginIn 143 CE Cao E's father Cao Xu drowned while welcoming the river god; Handan Chun's Cao E stele records that 'in the fifth month of the second year of Han'an, Lord Wu was welcomed, and he went against the tide and drowned', and the Book of the Later Han dates it to the fifth day of the fifth month, an early clear record of the festival.520 · EvolutionWu Jun's Xu Qi Xie ji (Liang, early 6th century) tells of rice in bamboo tubes thrown into the water for Qu Yuan on the fifth of the fifth month, the earliest written link between the festival and Qu Yuan.550 · EvolutionThe Jingchu suishi ji calls the fifth of the fifth month the 'Orchid Bath Festival', and Du Gongzhan's commentary says the boat races are popularly held for the day Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo.2009 · ImpactListed in the first national batch in 2006; in 2009 the Dragon Boat festival was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List, the first Chinese festival so recognised.
  1. 143OriginIn 143 CE Cao E's father Cao Xu drowned while welcoming the river god; Handan Chun's Cao E stele records that 'in the fifth month of the second year of Han'an, Lord Wu was welcomed, and he went against the tide and drowned', and the Book of the Later Han dates it to the fifth day of the fifth month, an early clear record of the festival.Literature › Stele of Cao E
  2. 520EvolutionWu Jun's Xu Qi Xie ji (Liang, early 6th century) tells of rice in bamboo tubes thrown into the water for Qu Yuan on the fifth of the fifth month, the earliest written link between the festival and Qu Yuan.Literature › Sequel to the Records of Qi Xie
  3. 550EvolutionThe Jingchu suishi ji calls the fifth of the fifth month the 'Orchid Bath Festival', and Du Gongzhan's commentary says the boat races are popularly held for the day Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo.History › Qu Yuan Dies in the MiluoLiterature › Annual Customs of Jing-Chu
  4. 2009ImpactListed in the first national batch in 2006; in 2009 the Dragon Boat festival was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List, the first Chinese festival so recognised.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · X-3 Dragon Boat Festival · no. 451 · nominated by Yichang · Zigui and Huangshi · Hubei
  2. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage, extension itemsX-3 Dragon Boat Festival: Baoshan · Shanghai · Yuhang · Hangzhou · Jinjiang · Fujian
  3. 2009UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity4.COM · Dragon Boat festival