Every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Chinese people celebrate a festival with a strong traditional cultural color - the Dragon Boat Festival. As one of China's traditional festivals with a long history, the Dragon Boat Festival is not only full of mysterious legends and rich customs, but also carries a profound cultural connotation. Now we will explore the origin, legends and celebrations of the Dragon Boat Festival together.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the calendar. It is a significant widely celebrated festival in Chinese culture. The festival is named "Dragon Boat Festival" because one of its main customs involves racing dragon boats, which are long and narrow boats decorated like dragons.

The Dragon Boat Festival originated from ancient Chinese folklore and was held to commemorate the life and death of Qu Yuan, a famous poet and politician during the Warring States Period in China. Qu Yuan was a loyal minister of the State of Chu and had always fought for the good of his country. However, due to a political conspiracy, he was exiled. During his exile, he was concerned about his country and his people, distressed by the separation, and finally, in despair of the country's corruption and unrest, he threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC to express his love and loyalty to his country.

Upon hearing of Qu Yuan's suicide, the local people rushed to the river in their boats, beating drums and throwing sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the water to prevent fish and evil spirits from devouring his body. This tradition of throwing rice dumplings, known as zongzi, into the river in memory of Qu Yuan is still practiced today.

The Dragon Boat Festival is also part of Chinese traditional culture. People also carry out many other celebrations on this day, such as wearing mugwort and hanging calamus to drive away disease and evil; hiking to welcome the arrival of summer; and traditional folk activities such as dragon boat racing, kite flying, and making rice dumplings.

The Dragon Boat Festival symbolizes the unity of the people, loyalty to the country, and protection against evil and disease. In addition, the Dragon Boat Festival has been listed on the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage List, becoming one of the Chinese traditional festivals with an international reputation.