The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Dragon Boat Festival in China, on which people will wrap rice dumplings, drink Xionghuang wine, row dragon boats and so on. According to legend, these activities are related to the commemoration of Qu Yuan, the great patriotic poet of our country.
During the Warring States period, Chu and Qin competed for hegemony, and Qu Yuan was a nobleman of the Chu state and was highly valued by King Huai of Chu. However, the villains, led by the chancellor Jin Shang, were jealous of Qu Yuan and often said bad things about Qu Yuan in front of King Huai of Chu. King Huai of Chu listened to the rumors and gradually alienated Qu Yuan, who was so sad and indignant that he wrote immortal poems such as "Leaving Sorrows".
Later, the State of Qin captured eight cities of the State of Chu. The State of Chu wanted to send emissaries to negotiate peace, but the King of Qin had to let king Huai of Chu personally go to the State of Qin to negotiate peace. Qu Yuan saw that this was a conspiracy of the King of Qin and immediately consulted the King of Chu Huai. King Huai of Chu not only did not listen to Qu Yuan's advice, but instead expelled him from the capital, and as a result, King Huai of Chu was imprisoned for three years and died in the State of Qin as soon as he arrived in the State of Qin.
After King Xiang of Chu succeeded to the throne, he drank and had fun all day and ignored the government. The anxious Qu Yuan repeatedly tried to persuade him to no avail, but was exiled to the distant Miluo River. When Qu Yuan was sixty-two years old, the State of Qin occupied the State of Chu. Qu Yuan did not want to be a slave to the country and jumped into the Miluo River in sorrow.
When the people heard that Qu Yuan had committed suicide by throwing himself into the river, they were very sad. They rowed to the river to look for Qu Yuan's body, but they couldn't find anything. So people threw rice dumplings into the river, hoping that the fish in the river would not eat Qu Yuan. In order to save Qu Yuan's body, people poured Xionghuang wine into the river, thinking of medicine for the water beasts and dragons; people also decorated the boats in the shape of dragons, rowing around the river, while shouting loudly to drive away the water monsters. The day of Qu Yuan's martyrdom in the river was the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth lunar calendar, and since then, people have set this day as the Dragon Boat Festival, and every year on this day, every household eats rice dumplings, drinks Xionghuang wine, and races dragon boats on the rivers to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.