Duanwu Festival (端午节) is a traditional Chinese festival held onthe fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known asthe Double Fifth.[citation(引用;引证) needed] It has since been celebrated, invarious ways, in other parts of East Asia as well. In the West, it's commonlyknown as Dragon Boat Festival.
The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holdsthat the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC) ofthe Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a riverbecause he was disgusted by the corruption of the Chu government. The localpeople, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river tofeed the fish so they would not eat Qu's body. They also sat on long, narrowpaddle boats called dragon boats, and tried to scare the fish away by thethundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragonhead on the boat's prow(船头).
In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as"Poets' Day," due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personalrenown(名声名望).
Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed glutinous(粘的) rice dumplingscalled zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragonboats in memory of Qu's dramatic death.
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