Dragon Boat Festival

On Saturday we went to the local Dragon Boat Festival. Ryan was very moody that day, but seemed to enjoy watching the dance and martial arts performances for a while. Rob and I had very tasty Chinese chicken and bubble tea, but the only food Ryan showed any interest in was the potato chips that he saw one of the vendors eating.

There was a calligrapher who would write any name in Chinese characters on a bookmark, so we had Ryan's birth name done:



We didn't get to see any of the boat races since we had to get Ryan home for his nap, but this is what the boats look like:







This is the legend behind the Dragon Boat Festival:

The Dragon Boat Festival traditionally falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

The Races are held to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, the legendary Chinese poet and patriot who lived during the Chou Dynasty almost 2000 years ago. He held a high position in the court of one of the major states of the time, but was eventually exiled by corrupt government officials. Qu Yuen wrote many poems expressing his great love for his country and his people, lamenting his own fate.

As a final protest against the government, Qu Yuen cast himself into the Mi Lo River.

The local fishermen were so moved by his gesture that they raced in their boat to try and recover his body, beating the water with paddles to prevent the fish from devouring him. They also threw rice dumplings into-the water to succour his spirit. To prevent the sea serpents from eating the rice offerings, the dumplings were wrapped in silk bound with five threads in the colours of the emperor.

As this tradition developed boats took the form of dragons to appease the controller of the waters, and ensure a safe and swift journey.

Today..., Dragon Boat Races re-enact this historic scene.

(from http://www.dragonboat.com.au/db_legend.htm)

This is another link explaining the history and modern-day celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival: http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/dragonboat/dragon.html


The man at the TECO (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office) booth gave Ryan a Taiwanese headdress, which looks like the ones the men wore at the aboriginal dance performance we saw at Wulai in Taiwan. It was too big for Ryan's head, so we put it on his tiger in the "Asian animal corner" of his bedroom.


Apparently Ryan didn't want the panda to feel left out -- he ran across the room to get his sun hat for the panda to wear after I put the headdress on the tiger.



Today I taped the band down to a smaller size, and Ryan has been wearing it around the house all morning.