Dragon Boat Festival
Fifth day, fifth moon
Chinese people in the countries of Malaysia and Taiwan enjoy the Dragon
Boat Festival every summer. This celebration comes in the month of the
fifth moon on the Chinese calendar—between May 28 and June 28.
More than two thousand years ago, a man named Ch’ii Yuan fell into a
river. Ch’ii Yuan was a poet and champion of the people. They loved him
very much. When they saw what had happened, they put their boats into
the water and raced to rescue him. But his body was never found. Ever
since, they have remembered this long-ago race with the Dragon Boat
Festival.
The big event of the festival is a colorful boat race that takes place
on the fifth clay of the fifth moon. Each boat is painted like a
dragon, which the Chinese people believe is the giver of rain.Onshore, gongs, drums, and horns urge the rowers in the boats to go
faster. The rowers in each boat follow the rhythm of their drummer. As
the drums beat faster and faster, the boats skim over the water like
racing dragons—in honor of a poet who died long ago.
