Duan Wu Festival

Today is the 9th June, according to the western calander.

But on the chinese lunar calander, its the 5th day of the 5th month, and for the chinese, its also known as the Duan Wu Festival.

Chinese on that day will eat dumplings, or meat dumpling (usually pork) is stuffed inside glutinous rice together with other fillings and wrapped with bamboo leaves into a pyramid shape, which is later secured with raffia strings and steamed.

On that day, there will be dragonboat races too. Dragonboat are multiple oars powered boats with a dragon head in front, and a a tail behind. There's a dummer (supposely to co-ordinate the rowers) at the front and a steersman (to steer the direction of the boat) at the back.

A dragon Boat.

At the bow of the boat is the dragon's head.

The dummer. He's doing multi-tasking.

The 2 fellows standing are the steersman.

Legend of the Duan Wu Festival

Duan Wu Festival is celebrated in honor of a patroit man. Qu Yuan, (ca. 340 BC - 278 BC).

Qu Yuan was a minister in the government of the state of Chu, descended of nobility and a champion of political loyalty and truth eager to maintain the Chu state's sovereignty.

But he was back-stabbed by corrupt ministers (politics again... haiz~~)

In 278 BC, learning of the capture of his country's capital, Ying, by General Bai Qi of the state of Qin, Qu Yuan is said to have written the lengthy poem of lamentation called "Lament for Ying" and later to have waded into the Miluo river in today's Hunan Province holding a great rock in order to commit ritual suicide as a form of protest against the corruption of the era.

(information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwujie)

Qu Yuan, portrait by an unknown artist; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.


I do wonder ppl in the past does commit suicide just for protest against the goverment? Modern day protest consist of holding cardboards, chanting and sleeping in front of the goverment house.
After Qu Yuan had died, villagers went out in boats (similar to dragon boats) to search for him. They beat drums along to scare away the fishes from feasting on his body, and they threw rice into the river as a offering to him.

One day, Qu Yuan appeared in the dreams of a villager. (Too bad, there's ain't 4D in the past), and informed him that the rice offering to him had been stolen by the fishes.

So, to prevent fishes from stealing the food, the villagers wrapped the rice and meat with bamboo leaves and streamed them and threw them into the river as a offering.

And in Singapore, if you dump dumplings into the sea or the river, the NEA, NParks will prob come after you with a writ of summons. So, please don't.

Thus the story.

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I got no dumplings to eat today. Anyone kind enough to spare me one or 2 extras???