With the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival, we are going to give you a brief introduction of the origin of this traditional festival, better understanding the Chinese history.

The origin of this summer festival centers around a scholarly government official named Qu Yuan. He was a knowledgeable and respected man, but because of the misdeeds of jealous rivals he eventually fell into disfavor in the emperor's court.

Unable to regain the respect of the emperor, in his sorrow Qu Yuan threw himself into the Mi Low River. Because of their admiration for Qu Yuan, the local people living adjacent to the Mi Lo River rushed into their boats to search for him while throwing rice into the waters to appease the river dragons, to protect Qu Yuan’s body from damage.

The modern Dragon Boat festival started from that time to now, people commemorated Qu Yuan through Dragon Boat Races, eating zong zi and several other activities, on the anniversary of his death: the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Every traditional festival in China is actually a historical story; let us look forward to the next story time!