Dragon Boat Festival 2024

(Acknowledgment: all copyrights of the video reserved to Wuhan University)

The Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated annually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in China, will fall on the 10th of June in 2024. It is a vibrant occasion marked by the consumption of zongzi “sticky rice dumpling” (Chinese: 粽子, Pinyin: zòng zi) consumption and dragon boat (Chinese: 龙舟, Pinyin: lóng zhōu) racing. Although the origin of the festival remains an ongoing debate and exploration, some evidence from historical research and excavated relics suggest a compelling link between the festival and the reverence for dragons.

The ancient Wu and Yue ethnic groups, residing along the coastal regions of southern China, revered the dragon as their totemic symbol and associated themselves as the descendants of this mythical creature. Dating back approximately 7,000 years, these communities, adept at crafting wooden boats from single logs and utilizing them for transportation, fishing, and recreational activities like boat racing, honoured dragons through elaborate ceremonies.

Legend has it that on the fifth day of the fifth month, the Wu and Yue people conducted rituals to pay homage to the dragon deity. The aim was to seek their protection from floods and plagues. Food wrapped in bamboo tubes or leaves would be cast into the water as offerings to the dragon god. To further emulate "dragon descendants" and call for the benevolence of the dragon deity, the Wu and Yue people adorned their bodies with intricate tattoos.

Archaeological findings further corroborate the connection between dragons and boat racing.  The depictions were found on artifacts such as the bronze battle-axe unearthed from the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC) in Ningbo, China. This ancient image portrayed two dragons at the top and a long and narrow boat with four crew members wearing feathered crowns rowing with oars at the bottom.

(Photo and rubbing of boat race emblazonry on a bronze battle-axe from Warring States Period. Images sourced from https://www.sohu.com/a/459310370_395035 and http://m.xinhuanet.com/book/2020-06/28/c_139172206.htm)

The tradition of Dragon Boat Racing gradually spread to the Yellow River basin during the Tang Dynasty (618 -907) before evolving into a nationwide custom by the early Song Dynasty (960 -1279). The symbolism of dragons is extended to the adornment of boats with intricate dragon motifs. Dragon boat racing represents the spirit of cultural celebration and reverence.

Today, Dragon Boat Racing is a thrilling sporting event and a cherished cultural tradition. The dragon boat has a striking visual spectacle which features a dragon’s head at the prow and a dragon’s tail at the stern, and adorns its entire body in vibrant scales. Rowers synchronize their strokes with single-bladed paddles to the rhythmic beating of a drum as they race towards the finish line. Amid the intensity and excitement, the values of teamwork, unity, and perseverance always shine through.