DUAN WU FESTIVAL
Dr. Patrick Lau was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the U.S. after high school. He retired from the VA Northern Indiana Heath Care System where he served as Chief Radiologist and moved to Florida with his wife in 2011. He was an active member & contributor of IACA and ICMA while in Indiana. Dr. Lau is also a scholar of art and literature and a prolific writer, he has been a dedicated columnist for Indy Asian American Times since 2010.
李白: 屈平詞賦懸日月，楚王台榭空山丘。興酣落筆搖五嶽，詩成笑傲凌滄洲。
Duan Wu Festival 端午節, also known as Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the 5th day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It was established to commemorate the life and death of Qu Yuan 屈原 (340-278), who was a cultured Confucius scholar and patriotic poet. He lived during the Warring States Period 春秋戰國.
Qu Yuan held a position as minister of Law and Ordinance in the court of King Huai 楚懷王 of Chu state 楚國. Among the seven states, Chu was the largest, while Qin 秦國, the strongest. Qin ambitiously planned to conquer Chu one day. Qu Yuan insightfully advised King Huai to fortify the military forces. However, his proposal met opposition from other aristocrats who advised the king to ally with Qin. King Huai eventually allied with Qin and banished Qu Yuan to Hunan province.
Feeling dejected, Qu Yuan composed poems during his exile, including Li Sao 離騷, Jiu Ge 九歌, and Tian Wen 天問. In 278 BC, Qin’s army conquered Chu. Learning the horrendous news, Qu Yuan felt exceedingly devastated. 國家興亡，匹夫有責。 After composing his final piece, Huai Sha 懷沙, he committed suicide by drowning himself while embracing a large rock in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the 5th lunar month; he was sixty-one years old. 競渡深悲千載冤，忠魂一去詎能還。 國亡身殞今何在，只留離騷在世間。
The local residents learned about Qu Yuan’s suicide, they immediately raced to rescue him or retrieve his body in their boats. They were simultaneously beating drums and splashing the water with their paddles, hoping to drive the evil spirits and fish away, so they would not claim his soul or consume his body. This is believed to be the origin of dragon boat racing. They also threw rice, eggs and other foods into the river to feed the fish. A doctor emptied a jug of reaglar wine (Xiong Huang 雄黃酒) into the river to get all the marine creatures including the dragon intoxicated before they could devour Qu Yuan’s cadaver. Thus, drinking reaglar wine has become one of the customs of Duan Wu Festival. 楚人悲屈原，千載意未歇。 精魂飄何在，父老空哽咽。 至今倉江上，投飯救飢渴。遺風成競渡，哀叫楚山裂。唯有烈士心，不隨水俱逝。 至今荊楚人，江上年年祭。 不知生者榮，但是死者貴。
As the legend goes, later on, Qu Yuan revealed himself in a fisherman’s dream, informing him that the dragon had consumed all the rice. He instructed the fisherman to wrap the rice dumpling in bamboo leaves. Eventually, the tradition of zongzi evolved. 五色新絲纏角粽。
Dragon boat racing has developed into an international sport event. The traditional dragon boat is a long, narrow, canoe-style vessel. A carved wooden open-mouthed dragon head is attached to the bow of the boat; and a scaly tail at the end of the stern. 飛龍乘浪, 縱横四海。 Dragon boat racing is very spectacular. The boatmen paddle their oars in one fluid motion in rhythm with the beats of the drum; multicolored banners are waving in the wind, while thousands of spectators are cheering for their teams. 江上千帆打鼓聲，人間畢竟慕忠名。勸君且盡尊中酒，看鬥龍舟吊屈平。
Other customs include hanging mugwort and calsmus, and children wearing colorful fragrant sachet containing herbs. 碧艾香蒲處處忙。誰家兒共女，慶端陽。 All these rituals were believed in ancient time to prevent illness, promote health and ward off evil spirits.
余光中: 急鼓齊催，千槳競發，/兩千年後，你仍然待救嗎？/不，你已成江神，/不再是水鬼，/待救的是岸上淪落的我們；/百舸爭渡，追蹤你的英烈，/要找回失傳已久的清芬，/旗號紛紛，追你的不僅是/三湘的子弟，九洲的選手，/不僅李白與蘇軾的後人，/更有惠特曼與雪萊的子孫。/投江的烈士，抱恨的詩人，/長髮飄風的渺渺背影，/回一回頭吧，揮一揮手，/在浪間等一等我們。