1. The Dragon Boat Festival 端午節
Kelsey, Kathy, Sally and Caroline

3. Main Activities Eating and Preparing zòngzi (粽子)
Which are angular rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaves
Drinking realgar wine
Antidote
Used the wine to write the character King on the children’s forhead
Racing Dragon Boats
Throwing Food into the River
All these activities are to ward off evil and disease and to bring good health
Caroline

4. Food-Zongzi Glutinous Rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaf
Fillings include:
Pork marinated in soy sauce
Egg
Poultry
Mashed red beans
Dried dates
No filling
Served with sugar or honey
Kathy

5. Mythical Origin Suicide of Qu Yuan, poet and statesman
Exiled because of disagreement with king
Wrote famous poetry
Drowned himself in a river on 5th day of the 5th month
Fans threw food into the river to keep fish from eating his body
Paddled out on boats to scare fish/find his body
Sally

6. 屈原
Kelsey

7. Other Myths—Wu Zixu
The former territory of the state of Wu commemorates Wu Zixu in the festival instead of Qu Yuan
Wu Zixu was also an advisor to the king
Forced to commit suicide by the king on the fifth day of the fifth month
After his death Wu Zixu was revered as a river god
In the Jiangsu province the Danwu festival is still dedicated to Wu Zixu
Kelsey

8. 伍子胥
Kelsey

9. More Myths
These stories seem to have been promoted by Confucian scholars
One theory says that the festival started with dragon worship
Another theory says that the festival celebrates the harvest of winter wheat
Some researchers think that the stories of Qu Yuan or Wu Zixu were made up after the holiday was invented
Kelsey

10. The Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 16th this year… Mark it on your calendars and celebrate it!