Dragon Boat & Water water!

17 Jun 2010 – Water water everywhere…

Duanwu Festival/端午節, also known as Dragon Boat Festival. The festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar and this year it is on 16 Jun. The focus of the celebrations includes eating the rice dumpling zongzi and racing dragon boats.

Duanwu commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar QuYuan who was a loyal minister serving the King of Chu during the Warring States Period in the third century BCE. His wisdom antagonized other court officials resulting to his accusation of charges of conspiracy, During his exile, QuYuan composed many poems to express his anger and sorrow. At age 37 he drowned himself in the Milo River. Knowing that QuYuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him but were unsuccessful. Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing QuYuan.

The people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for their lost hero. However, a local fisherman had a dream that QuYuan did not get any of the cooked rice that was thrown into the river in his honour. Instead the fish in the river were eating the rice. Thus, the locals decided to make zongzi to sink into the river in the hopes that it would reach QuYuan’s body. The following year, the tradition of wrapping the rice in bamboo leaves to make zongzi began.

Yesterday a freak flash flood happened in SIN Orchard Rd after a morning of pouring rains, blame it on the cats and dogs but not on the Dragon Boats! A case for the PUB/Public Utility Board where government knows best!! Just received an email about a doctor interviewed who complained about what a waste of time and money and it was because she was driving and on her way to a gym!!! Wow… where is she from but SIN of course 🙂 In other countries, people’s lives are destroyed. Here, people can’t shop, go to the gym and have to pay $$$$ for car repairs. Tough life!!!!


Edited: Thu 25Jun2020: the legend stands, but the zongzi (China) bak-zhang (SIN) varies with different fillings from different countries&families which are all yummy to me. Looking forward to tasting some either today or within the next few days.