A Brief Introduction to Dragon Boat Festival,Applied Mathematics Main Speaker: 郭宏宇 Group Assists: 蔡耀元 陈冬冬 金昊哲,Can you recognize this kind of plant?,Chinese Mugwort 艾草,Which festival will cross your mind at the sight of the picture of Qu Yuan?,Dragon Boat Festival,About its name,The Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Duanwu Festival. Since it is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese Lunar calendar, it earns another name Double Fifth Festival. Actually, it has a variety of names in Chinese.,List,端阳节 龙舟节 午日节 五月节 浴兰节,Popularity,It is a popular and traditional festival celebrated by the Hans, Koreans, Mongolians, Huis, Yis, Bais, Miaos, Zhuangs and others, altogether 27 of the 56 nationalities in China. And now the Asian people, including Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.,The origins of Dragon Boat Festival,There are a great many of legends about the origin of Dragon Boat Festival. The most popular theory of the origin of the festival is that it was derived from the activities commemorating kmemreiti （纪念）Qu Yuan. The story about Qu Yuan has been deeply rooted in Chinese culture and this festival, so it is definitely a very important factor for the origin of the festival.,Qu Yuans drowning into the Miluo River,Qu Yuan was a minister of the State of Chu situated in present-day Hunan and Hubei provinces, during the Warring States Period (475-221BC)（战国时期）. He was upright, loyal and highly esteemed （德高望重）for his wise counsel kaunsl （进谏）that brought peace and prosperity to the state.,However, when a dishonest and corrupt prince vilified vilifaid （中伤） Qu Yuan, he was disgraced, dismissed from office, and eventually exiled. During his exile, Qu Yuan did not give up. He traveled extensively, taught and wrote about his ideas. His works, the Lament lment (Li Sao), the Nine Chapters (Jiu Zhang), are masterpieces and invaluable for studying ancient Chinese culture.,He saw the gradual decline of his motherland, the Chu State. And when he heard that the Chu State was defeated by the strong Qin State, he was so despaired that he ended his life by flinging himself into the Miluo River.,It was said that after people heard he drowned, they were greatly dismayed. Fishermen raced to the spot in their boats to search for his body. Unable to find his body, people threw rice dumplings, eggs and other food into the river to feed fish, hoping to secure his corpse. Since then, people started to commemorate Qu Yuan through dragon boat races, eating rice dumplings and other activities, on the anniversary of his death, the 5th of the fifth month.,This is said to be the origin of the present nation-wide custom, which is the common peoples expression of grief over Qus death.,But since some of the well-known traditions of the festival already existed even before Qu Yuan, other origins of the festival were also suggested. Wen Yiduo suggested that the festival may be associated with dragon closely because two of the most important activities of the festival, dragon boat racing and eating rice dumplings, are related to dragon.,Another view is that the festival is originated from the taboo 禁忌 of evil days. The fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is traditionally considered an evil month and the 5th of the month is particularly a bad day, so a lot of taboo had been developed.,Customs,How do you celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in your hometown?,Rice Dumplings,Rice Dumpling is a pyramid dumpling made of glutinous lu:tins rice（糯米）wrapped in bamboo or reed （芦苇）leaves.,Rice Dumplings,Ingredients of rice dumplings,Ingredients such as beans, lotus seeds（莲子）, chestnuts（栗子）, pork and the yolk juk （蛋黄）of a salted duck egg are often added to the glutinous rice.,Dragon boat races,The dragon-boat races symbolize the many attempts to rescue and recover Qus body. A typical dragon boat ranges from 50-100 feet in length, with a beam （梁）of about 5.5 feet, accommodating two paddlers seated side by side.,Today, people hold the race differently from place to place.,Here are some instances.,Hubei Province,1. Along the Miluo River in Hubei Province, the festival celebrators hold a grand opening ceremony before the race starts. 2. At the ceremony dozonds of men in new clothes, with burning candles in hands, walk around boats three times to show worship of Lu Ban.,3.Then they carry, on their shoulders, an image of a dragons head to the Temple of Qu Yuan. 4. Finally, they tie red ribbons to the boats and pull them into the river for the race. 5. At the crack of a signal gun, the boats race ahead like discharged arrows fitted to bowstrings 弓弦.,Xiamen and Zhangzhou,In the areas of Xiamen and Zhangzhou of Fujian Province, a big wooden boat is arranged lying at the finishing line. When race boats reach the line, a number of ducks are released from the big wooden boat into the river for all the racers to catch amid mid （在 之中）thunderous cheers of spectators on the banks.,Chinese