Jun 03, 2022
Dragon Boat Festival 2022
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Today’s Doodle celebrates the annual Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Jie. The festival always occurs on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This year, June 3rd marks the day when people across Asia gather to watch dragon-shaped boats race along river banks and lakes.
The holiday originated over 2,000 years ago in China to commemorate a beloved poet named Qu Yuan. When the Chu State was defeated in 278 B.C., Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River as a final act of loyalty to the King of Chu. As legend has it, villagers boarded their boats and threw rice dumplings in the water to keep fish away from the body of the poet. The fifth lunar month is also considered a “poisonous” month in Chinese agriculture since summer is the high season for insects and pests. That’s why traditional Duanwu Jie customs involve hanging mugwort leaves and herbs on doors and windows to repel insects.
Today, the festival’s most popular tradition is, of course, the exciting dragon boat race. The boats seat a crews of up to 90, which includes a drummer for morale and pace setting. Locals often watch the race while drinking realgar wine and eating zongi, a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves.
Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all! Let’s get ready to row.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the oldest traditional festivals in the world. Discover more about the elegantly designed dragon boats and this famous festival on Google Arts and Culture.
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