Origins of the Dragon Boat Festival: History, Development & Legends

There are various theories about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. In academic history, there are multiple perspectives: the warding‑off of evil, the commemoration of Qu Yuan, and the dragon‑totem worship of the Wu and Yue peoples. The most widely circulated is the commemoration of Qu Yuan — according to the Liang‑dynasty writer Wu Jun’s Continuation of the Records of Qi Xie: “The great minister of Chu, Qu Yuan, was slandered and not employed; on this day (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), he threw himself into the Miluo River and died. The people of Chu mourned him, and used boats to try to save him. The Duanwu boat races are a surviving custom.” However, the mainstream view in folklore studies holds that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the custom of warding off evil in ancient times. From documentary evidence, the earliest connection between Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival is found in the mythological and strange tales of Wu Jun from the Southern Liang dynasty during the Northern and Southern dynasties, in his work Continuation of the Records of Qi Xie. Although many customs are unrelated to Qu Yuan, his patriotic spirit has endowed this festival with deeper cultural meaning.

Dragon Boat Festival / Dragon Boat Festival Origins

229 days until Dragon Boat Festival June 9, 2027 · Lunar 五月初五

The Name "Duanwu"

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

The Etymology of “Duan” and “Wu”

The name “Duanwu” itself contains rich cultural information. The character “端” (duan) in ancient Chinese means “beginning” or “initial.” The Shuowen Jiezi explains: “端, the marking of the beginning of things.” “午” (wu) has two meanings: as one of the twelve earthly branches, “wu” represents the fifth lunar month; at the same time, “wu” represents noon in the day and the south in spatial orientation. “Duanwu” together means “the fifth” — the fifth day of the fifth month.

In ancient times, “端” and “初” were synonymous, and “五” and “午” were interchangeable. According to the order of the earthly branches, the fifth month is the wu month, hence the fifth day is Duanwu. The Western Jin dynasty Zhou Chu’s Records of Local Customs clearly records: “The Duanwu of midsummer refers to the fifth day of the fifth month; the custom values this day, equal to the Summer Solstice.” This is the earliest documentary record of the term “Duanwu.”

From “Fifth Day of the Fifth Month” to “Duanwu”

Before the appearance of the name “Duanwu,” this festival was commonly called “the fifth day of the fifth month.” From the Han dynasty to before the Tang dynasty, it was generally called the fifth day of the fifth month, the fifth day of the fifth month, or midsummer Duanwu, or the fifth day of the fifth month. Although “Duanwu” was originally written as “Duanwu,” “Duanwu” still meant “the fifth day,” not specifically a festival name. When “Duanwu” was used, it was usually prefixed with “midsummer,” “fifth month,” or other seasonal or monthly qualifiers.

According to scholarly research, the Zhou Chu’s Records of Local Customs of the Jin dynasty recorded “Duanwu” rather than “Duanwu.” The appearance and use of the term “Duanwu” came much later, not appearing until the Tang dynasty. For example, in poems such as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji’s “Feast for Ministers at the Duanwu Festival in the Three Halls,” Zhang Shuo’s “Feast for Ministers at the Duanwu Festival in the Three Halls,” and Du Fu’s “Gift of Clothing on Duanwu Day,” the term “Duanwu” was already used. Li Kuangyi of the Tang dynasty, in his Miscellaneous Records of Zixi, records: “Duanwu, according to Zhou Chu’s Records of Local Customs: ‘At midsummer Duanwu, cook ducks and horn‑shaped millet.’ Duan means beginning. It refers to the fifth day of the fifth month. Nowadays many people write the character ‘wu’ (午); its meaning is not derived.” This shows that “Duanwu” was already widely used in Tang society.

After the Tang dynasty, “Duanwu Festival” was also often abbreviated as “Wu Day,” especially common in Song dynasty poetry and prose. Regarding why “Duanwu” was changed to “Duanwu,” there is a folk saying: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang’s birthday was the fifth day of the eighth month, and Chancellor Song Jing suggested avoiding the taboo, changing “Duanwu” to “Duanwu.” However, this theory still requires further verification.

Various Names of the Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival has had many names throughout history. Besides “Duanwu,” these include “Summer Solstice Festival,” “Fifth Day of the Fifth Month,” “Bathing Orchid Festival,” “Midsummer Duanwu,” “Heavenly Center Festival,” “Earth Wax,” “Double Wu Festival,” “Double Fifth Festival,” “Zongzi‑Unwrapping Festival,” “Calamus Festival,” “Duan Yang,” “Daughters’ Festival,” and “Wu Festival.” Most of these different names have clear documentary evidence and are uncontested. “Duan Yang” means the extreme point of yang energy — duan means the center and the highest, and “Duan Yang” refers to yang energy reaching its peak, clearly referring to the Summer Solstice solar term. The ancients also called the festival the “Heavenly Center Festival,” which carries the same meaning. The multiplicity of names precisely demonstrates the complexity of the festival’s origins and the multi‑layered cultural fusion.

Origins of the Festival

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

The formation of the Dragon Boat Festival did not originate from a single event or tradition, but from the gradual fusion of multiple cultural sources over a long historical period. These sources include ancient celestial worship, the dragon‑totem sacrifices of the Baiyue peoples, and the concept of the fifth day of the fifth month as an inauspicious day with evil‑warding customs from the pre‑Qin period onwards. Converging from different directions, they jointly formed the foundation of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Celestial Astronomy

The origins of the Dragon Boat Festival can be traced back to ancient celestial worship. This is one of the oldest and most essential cultural sources of the festival.

In ancient times, the Chinese had already developed refined observations of the stars. The ancients divided the stars near the ecliptic into twenty‑eight mansions, among which the seven eastern mansions — Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, and Winnowing Basket — were imagined as the image of a green dragon, known as the “Azure Dragon of the East.” In midsummer, all seven mansions of the Azure Dragon appear in the center of the southern sky, presenting their most complete and prominent form. This specific celestial phenomenon is the most primitive astronomical basis of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The fifth line of the Book of Changes · Qian Hexagram states: “The flying dragon is in the sky.” The Book of Documents · Canon of Yao records: “When the day is longest and the star Huo is in the south, this marks midsummer.” The Xia Xiaozheng also records: “At dusk of the fifth month, the Great Fire is in the south.” “Great Fire” refers to Antares, the main star of the Azure Dragon. These ancient documentary records all point to the same astronomical phenomenon: in midsummer, the Azure Dragon constellation rises to the center of the southern sky. The ancients designated the day of the “flying dragon in the sky” as the Dragon Festival, and dragon and dragon boat culture have always run through the inherited history of the festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival has a very close astronomical connection with the Summer Solstice. In fact, the original time node of the festival was most likely the Summer Solstice. As scholars have pointed out: “As one of the particularly important festivals of summer, the content of the Dragon Boat Festival bears the characteristics of summer.” The name “Duan Yang” provides a clue — Duan Yang means the extreme point of yang energy. This means yang energy reaches its peak, clearly referring to the Summer Solstice solar term. In ancient times, at dusk of the Summer Solstice, the celestial phenomenon of the “flying dragon in the sky” could be observed. In ancient times, people believed that the dragon was a yang creature, ascending to heaven at the Spring Equinox and descending into the abyss at the Autumn Equinox. Therefore, the Azure Dragon constellation reaching its highest point at the Summer Solstice expressed the astronomical meaning of “Duan Yang.” The ancients also called the festival the “Heavenly Center Festival,” which contains the same idea.

Mr. Huang Shi, in his History of Duanwu Rituals and Customs, proposed that the Dragon Boat Festival, like a trickling stream, originated in ancient times, merged into a river in the Three Dynasties, expanded into a river in the Qin and Han, and absorbed hundreds of streams to become a lake and sea in the Tang and Song. This judgment profoundly reveals the long evolutionary process of the festival from celestial astronomy to folk custom. China’s ancient astronomical culture has a long history. The formation of the Dragon Boat Festival’s dragon‑sacrifice rituals is related to primitive beliefs, sacrificial culture, the celestial‑stem and earthly‑branch calendar, and the celestial phenomenon of the Azure Dragon’s seven mansions being due south.

Totem Worship

Among the various academic discussions on the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, the “totem worship theory” of the renowned modern scholar Wen Yiduo has had the most far‑reaching influence. In his articles “A Study of Duanwu” and “The Historical Education of Duanwu,” Wen Yiduo systematically expounded the view that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the dragon‑totem sacrifices of the ancient Wu and Yue peoples.

Wen Yiduo consulted a large number of ancient records and sorted out the close connection between Duanwu customs and the “dragon” from the literature. He found that the core customs of the Dragon Boat Festival — dragon boat racing, eating zongzi, and tying five‑colored silk threads — all have countless connections with the dragon. Dragon boat racing goes without saying, and zongzi were also to prevent the dragon from stealing offerings. The two major events of dragon boat racing and eating zongzi are both related to the water god, namely the dragon. Dragon boats have dragon decorations, and zongzi are stuffed with chinaberry leaves and tied with five‑colored silk — although folklore says this is “what the dragon fears,” conversely it precisely shows the connection between zongzi and the dragon; originally, zongzi were likely thrown into the water to entertain the dragon.

Wen Yiduo further associated this with the custom of “cutting hair and tattooing the body” in the ancient Wu and Yue regions. The ancient Yue people took the dragon as their totem. To show their identity as “dragon descendants,” they not only had the custom of cutting hair and tattooing the body, but also held a grand totem sacrifice on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month each year. The tattoos were dragon patterns; the Wu and Yue peoples should have been dragon‑totem peoples. Dragon boat racing was a “semi‑religious, semi‑entertaining event in the sacrificial ritual.”

Based on these investigations, Wen Yiduo concluded: The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival of the Wu and Yue peoples for holding dragon‑totem sacrifices. Its actual origin long predates Qu Yuan, and it is “as ancient as the Chinese people themselves.” He believed that dragon boat racing and eating zongzi also originated from the ancients’ worship of and sacrifice to the dragon. The Dragon Boat Festival may initially have been merely a custom of the Wu and Yue peoples in the lower Yangtze region. Since the Eastern Han dynasty, as the Wu and Yue territories were gradually opened up, and through the mutual blending of Wu‑Yue culture and Central Plains culture, the festival gradually spread to the upper Yangtze and the northern regions.

Wen Yiduo’s “Dragon Sacrifice Theory” has been confirmed by later archaeological discoveries. According to prehistoric cultures at the Hemudu site and the Tianluoshan site, as early as 7,000 years ago, there were dugout canoes and wooden paddles. The original form of dragon boats was a dugout canoe carved with dragon motifs, later developing into dragon‑shaped boats made of wooden planks. Archaeological discoveries — dugout canoe remains from the Hemudu site 7,000 years ago, and dragon boat racing motifs on bronze vessels from the Spring and Autumn period — all confirm that dragon boat culture predates the era of Qu Yuan. The fifth day of the fifth month in the Yangtze basin coincided with the period after rice transplanting; the earliest form of dragon boat activities was an important activity in people’s agricultural production at that time, namely praying to avoid water damage, pray for rain, and eliminate disasters and diseases.

Although Mr. Wen Yiduo’s views remain academically controversial, as an interpretation of the festival’s origin that cannot be ignored, they inspire us to think about the relationship between the evolution of Chinese civilisation and historical reality.

The Dragon Boat Festival originated in China, initially as a totem sacrifice festival held by tribes in the ancient Baiyue region (the middle and lower Yangtze River and southwards) that worshipped the dragon totem. Before the Spring and Autumn period, the Baiyue region had the custom of holding tribal totem sacrifices in the form of dragon boat races on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. According to research, the custom of dragon boat racing predates Qu Yuan. The ancient Yue people took the dragon as their totem. To show their identity as “dragon descendants,” they not only had the custom of cutting hair and tattooing the body, but also held a grand totem sacrifice on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month each year, which included games similar to today’s races. The Wu and Yue regions had the custom of cutting hair and tattooing, and they took pride in dragon tattoos — a relic of dragon totem worship. The northern Hu people and the southern Yue people both had the custom of “inviting the dragon,” held several times a year, with the fifth lunar month being the most grand. Therefore, Wen Yiduo believed that the Dragon Boat Festival was a festival in which the Wu and Yue peoples held totem sacrifices, and through the process of north‑south integration, it gradually spread to all parts of the country.

Inauspicious Month and Day

As early as the pre‑Qin period, the fifth month was considered an “inauspicious month.” The Book of Rites · Monthly Ordinances states about the fifth month: “When the day reaches its longest, yin and yang contend, and life and death are divided.” In this month, yang energy reaches its peak and yin energy begins to rise — it is an inauspicious month of yin‑yang transition. The ancients believed that the fifth month was a season of yin‑yang struggle and life‑and‑death combat, hence the concept of an inauspicious month and day.

The Han dynasty Ying Shao’s Comprehensive Meanings of Customs records: “It is commonly said that taking office in the fifth month leads to dismissal without promotion,” and “building a house in the fifth month makes one bald.” Even children born on the fifth day of the fifth month were considered unlucky: “It is commonly said that a child born on the fifth day of the fifth month will harm the father if male and the mother if female.” This concept was already popular from the Warring States period at the latest. One of the Four Gentlemen of the Warring States, Lord Mengchang, was born on the fifth day of the fifth month. His father, Tian Ying, believed that he would bring harm to his parents when he grew up, and ordered his mother to abandon him. His mother could not bear to do so and secretly raised him, which shows how great the influence of the inauspicious month and day was.

The Han people believed that the fifth day of the fifth month was an inauspicious month and day, and had the custom of “not raising children born in the fifth month” — children born on the fifth day of the fifth month, whether male or female, could not be raised to adulthood. Once raised, “a male harms the father, a female harms the mother.” Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian · Biography of Lord Mengchang also involves this concept. Lord Mengchang, born on the fifth day of the fifth month, was nearly abandoned by his father; his mother hid him and raised him to adulthood, and the result did not harm his father. In addition, there were sayings such as “taking office in the fifth month leads to dismissal without promotion,” and “building a house in the fifth month makes one bald.” These superstitious sayings are clearly recorded in Han‑dynasty texts such as Comprehensive Meanings of Customs and Discourses Weighed in the Balance. This fear and taboo of the fifth day of the fifth month was the direct cause of the many evil‑warding customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.

To ward off the evil of the inauspicious month and day, the ancients invented many rituals to avoid calamities and ward off evil. The Da Dai Li Ji records: “On the fifth day of the fifth month, store orchids for bathing.” Qu Yuan’s Songs of Chu also says: “Bathe in orchid water, wash in fragrant blossoms.” Using orchid water to ward off evil was because orchids have detoxifying and cooling properties, and also have a clear fragrance. The Xia Xiaozheng records: “On this day, gather medicinal herbs to eliminate toxic vapors.” The custom of gathering herbs can be traced back to the legendary Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs.

According to the Book of the Later Han · Treatises on Rites, on the fifth day of the fifth month, “red cords and five‑colored seals were used as door decorations to stop evil vapors with exorcism.” The Han people also tied five‑colored silk threads around their arms to ward off evil. Ying Shao’s Comprehensive Meanings of Customs records: “On the fifth day of the fifth month, tie five‑colored silk threads around the arms, called the Thread of Long Life, also called the Thread of Continuing Life… to prevent people from falling ill.” The Jingchu Suishiji records: “Pick mugwort leaves to make figures, hang them on doorways to ward off toxic vapors; use calamus either carved or ground to mix with wine.” Later customs to expel poison and ward off evil included catching toads for medicine, treading on hundreds of herbs, gathering medicinal herbs, picking mugwort, hanging mugwort on doorways, tying five‑colored silk threads around the arms, and drinking calamus wine or realgar wine. In the folk story Legend of the White Snake, the White Lady reveals her true form after drinking realgar wine offered by Xu Xian on Duanwu — a vivid reflection of this custom in folk literature.

As scholar Xiang Baisong has pointed out: “The consciousness of warding off evil can be said to be the driving force behind the formation and development of the Dragon Boat Festival.” The source of the Dragon Boat Festival’s evil‑warding consciousness can be traced back to the ancient custom of gathering herbs to detoxify, containing the most primitive cultural factors, and also the most distinctive cultural factors of traditional Chinese culture. From the pre‑Qin to the Han dynasty, the concepts and rituals of warding off evil developed greatly, which was crucial to the formation and finalisation of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Global Dissemination

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

Duanwu culture has had a wide influence around the world, and some countries and regions also have activities to celebrate the festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is not only popular in mainland China; in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and overseas Chinese communities, it is an important traditional festival. Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and other East Asian countries have also been deeply influenced by Duanwu culture, incorporating it into the popular life and traditional culture of their own nations. The custom of dragon boat racing has even spread to many countries, becoming a lively and festive large‑scale event.

In September 2009, UNESCO officially approved the inclusion of the Dragon Boat Festival on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, making it China’s first traditional festival to be selected as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is not only international recognition of the festival’s cultural value, but also marks its elevation from a traditional festival of the Chinese nation to a common cultural heritage of all humanity.

Historical Evolution

Historical Development

Han Dynasty

The Dragon Boat Festival sprouted in the pre‑Qin period and was formally established as a festival during the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty was a crucial period in the development and finalisation of the festival. After the Qin dynasty, due to national unification, economic and cultural exchanges between north and south led to the integration of customs, and the Dragon Boat Festival formed on the basis of this north‑south cultural fusion. The customs of the Han dynasty festival were still mainly about warding off evil.

Wei‑Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties

During the Wei‑Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival became more diverse and displayed distinctive regional characteristics. It was precisely during this period that various regions began to attach local sages to the festival, and historical figure legends began to enter the festival’s narrative system, injecting profound cultural meaning and emotional warmth into what had originally been a festival mainly focused on warding off evil and totem worship.

Sui and Tang Dynasties

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Dragon Boat Festival inherited the customs of the previous dynasties in form. However, in terms of nature, the festival customs that originally had specific meanings largely evolved into entertainment activities. The “inauspicious day” was no longer inauspicious; misfortunes were turned into blessings, and the festival was full of joy. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang’s preface to “Feast for Ministers at the Duanwu Festival in the Three Halls” describes this transformation.

Song Dynasty and Later

By the Song dynasty, the court posthumously honoured Qu Yuan as Duke Loyal and Martyr, and issued an edict designating the fifth day of the fifth month as “Duanwu Festival,” ordering local governments to organise activities such as dragon boat races to commemorate Qu Yuan. The legend of Qu Yuan thus received official recognition, becoming the most core cultural symbol of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Han Dynasty

During the Qin‑Han transition, the evil‑warding concepts and rituals that originated in the pre‑Qin period developed considerably. This period implemented unified politics, achieving a degree of social stability. The stable and unified environment aroused people’s increasing demands for life, and therefore more and more deities were created. According to the Comprehensive Meanings of Customs · Book of Sacrifices, during Emperor Wu of Han’s reign, temples for worshipping deities increased significantly, reaching 1,700 by the time of Emperor Ping of Han. The Han people regarded the fifth day of the fifth month as an inauspicious month and day, and developed a rich variety of evil‑warding customs — tying five‑colored silk threads around the arms, hanging mugwort and calamus, drinking calamus wine or realgar wine, etc. These customs laid the basic framework for later generations’ Duanwu customs.

Wei‑Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties

In the Southern Liang dynasty writer Wu Jun’s Continuation of the Records of Qi Xie, Qu Yuan was first linked to the Dragon Boat Festival. Although this was only a “mythological and strange tales” work, it injected the most profound cultural meaning into the festival. The Continuation of the Records of Qi Xie records: “Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month and died; the people of Chu mourned him. Whenever this day came, they would put rice in bamboo tubes and throw them into the water to sacrifice to him. Today, if there is kindness, put chinaberry leaves over them and tie them with five‑colored silk threads. These two things are feared by the dragon. When people make zongzi, they bring five‑colored silk threads and chinaberry leaves — all are remnants of the Miluo custom.” The Southern Liang dynasty Zong Lin’s Jingchu Suishiji also records the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan. However, it is worth noting that in the famous seasonal work Jingchu Suishiji of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, there is no mention of eating zongzi on the fifth day of the fifth month, but the custom of eating zongzi is written under the Summer Solstice customs. From historical documents, the earliest record linking Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival appeared more than 750 years after Qu Yuan’s death.

In the Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang regions of China, there is a tradition that the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates Wu Zixu of the Spring and Autumn period. Wu Zixu, named Yuan, was from Chu. Because his father and brother were killed by King Ping of Chu, he fled to Wu and helped King Helü of Wu attack Chu, winning five battles and entering the capital Ying. Later, when Fuchai succeeded to the throne, King Goujian of Yue sought peace, and Wu Zixu advised completely destroying Yue, but Fuchai did not listen. The Grand Tutor of Wu was bribed by Yue and slandered Zixu; Fuchai believed it and gave Zixu a sword named “Lilou,” ordering him to commit suicide. Zixu, originally a loyal and good man, faced death with equanimity. Before his death, he told his neighbors: “After I die, please take out my eyes and hang them on the east gate.” Legend has it that after Wu Zixu’s death, he was thrown into the Qiantang River, and the people of Wu mourned him, thus offering sacrifices on Duanwu. Du Gongzhan, in annotating “On this day there are races” in the Jingchu Suishiji, not only mentioned Qu Yuan but also Wu Zixu. The Qingjia Lu records that races in Wu region originated from commemorating Wu Zixu.

After the Eastern Han dynasty, the story of the filial daughter Cao E also circulated among the people. Cao E was from Shangyu in the Eastern Han. Her father drowned in the river during the tide‑welcoming at Duanwu, and his body was not found for days. The fourteen‑year‑old Cao E wept along the river day and night, and seventeen days later she too threw herself into the river. Five days later, Cao E’s body emerged carrying her father’s body. Although this story is not related to the origin of the fifth day of the fifth month, its occurrence was connected to the fifth‑month sacrifice to the water god, and it gradually became an important legend attached to this festival. The Cao E River and Cao E Temple are still extant in Zhejiang.

Modern scholars have found that the Dragon Boat Festival already existed long before the Warring States period when Qu Yuan lived. Both Mr. Wen Yiduo and Mr. Huang Shi believed that attributing the origin of Duanwu to the sacrifice to Qu Yuan was a folkloric “misunderstanding.” Mr. Wen jokingly called it a “lie.” Jiang Shaoyuan, in his “Study of the Original Meaning of Duanwu Racing,” also pointed out that racing on Duanwu was associated with Wu Zixu in Wu, with Goujian in Yue, and with the loyal minister Qu Yuan in Chu. In fact, this custom predates all three, and it was only later that each region wanted to attribute this custom to a great figure of their own locality. The legends of Qu Yuan, Wu Zixu, Cao E, and others were not the cause of the Dragon Boat Festival, but rather the result of various regions, after the festival already existed, attaching their revered sages to the festival out of local identity and cultural sentiment. The Dragon Boat Festival had already spread widely and taken deep root in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, and each region hoped to connect this important festival with its own cultural heroes — it was precisely this phenomenon of “choosing figures to attach” that in turn confirmed the festival’s popularity during this period.

The main activities of this period included treading on hundreds of herbs, gathering mugwort, making calamus wine, and tying five‑colored silk threads to prevent plagues. On this day, people not only ate zongzi but also ate turtles. The Beitang Shuchao, quoting the Records of Local Customs, says: “The day before the festival, wrap sticky rice, millet, and dates in wild rice leaves, cook them with alkaline water until done. On the festival day, also cook fat turtles until very tender, remove the bones, add salt, fermented soybeans, sesame, and smartweed, called pickled turtle, eaten on the festival day.”

Sui and Tang Dynasties

By the Tang dynasty, the legend of Qu Yuan had become the dominant festival legend of the fifth day of the fifth month. In poems and writings describing Duanwu from that time, one can see verses such as “The festival of Duanwu — who first gave it that name? Through the ages we have heard of Qu Yuan,” “The races are traditionally for the Miluo, with no other meaning,” and “The great minister sank into the waters of Chu; for a thousand sacrifices the people have mourned.” All these show that the legend of Qu Yuan had already taken deep root in people’s hearts.

Before the Tang dynasty, racing on the fifth day of the fifth month had always been popular in the south. By the Tang dynasty, the custom of Duanwu racing was still prevalent in the south, but also began to rise in certain northern areas such as Chang’an and Luoyang, and grand scenes of “all the people watching together” appeared. The custom of racing on the fifth day of the fifth month was highly valued in the Tang dynasty and was nationwide — “the clamour moved the sandbars, the bustle emptied the lanes” — people regardless of status, gender, occupation, or age all went out to the waterside to participate in the races in various ways.

Tang dynasty Duanwu festival items included mugwort, fans, and Duanwu clothing. Their use was an important part of the fifth day of the fifth month customs in the Tang dynasty. During the High Tang period, the name “Duanwu” began to appear, quickly replacing “the fifth day of the fifth month” and “Duanwu” as the mainstream designation.

Song Dynasty and Later

By the Song dynasty, the Dragon Boat Festival had developed into a nationally important festival. According to the Dreams of the Eastern Capital, before Duanwu in the Northern Song capital of Bianjing, the markets began selling peach branches, willow branches, hollyhocks, calamus leaves, and Buddhist mugwort. On the day itself, every household inserted calamus and mugwort leaves on their doors to ward off evil vapors. The folk also wove five‑colored silk threads into “long life cords,” tied around children’s wrists to pray for health and safety. Dragon boat racing was especially prevalent in the southern regions of the Song dynasty, becoming the most spectacular folk activity during the festival. Zongzi had become the iconic food of the festival in the Song dynasty, with increasingly rich varieties — date zongzi, chestnut zongzi, red bean paste zongzi, and many other flavors. The Song dynasty festival customs basically established the overall framework for later generations.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival became even more grand, with both court and folk having rich festival customs. In the Ming court, there were “willow‑shooting” and “ball‑striking” games during Duanwu. The Qing court inherited the old system, holding dragon boat races and theatrical performances at sites such as the Garden of Perfect Brightness during the festival. The folk preserved and developed customs such as hanging mugwort, wearing sachets, tying five‑colored silk threads, and drinking realgar wine. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Dragon Boat Festival had become a major traditional festival on par with the Spring Festival and Mid‑Autumn Festival. Its multiple cultural themes of warding off evil, commemorating Qu Yuan, and praying for blessings and good fortune became increasingly mature, and the festival system became more complete. During the Ming‑Qing transition, the Duanwu festival, which had been somewhat intellectually oriented in the Tang and Song, gradually transformed into a celebration focused on secular life. To this day, the basic framework of Duanwu customs has maintained remarkable continuity.

Conclusion

Afterglow

The formation of the Dragon Boat Festival is the crystallisation of multiple cultural streams converging and merging over thousands of years. It was not “invented” by a single event or figure, but is a composite festival built up layer by layer from ancient celestial worship, the dragon‑totem sacrifices of the Baiyue peoples, the pre‑Qin concept of the inauspicious month, different local customs from north and south, and later historical figure legends.

From the perspective of celestial astronomy, Duanwu originated from the celestial phenomenon of the Azure Dragon “flying dragon in the sky” at midsummer — this is the festival’s oldest cultural gene. From the perspective of totem worship, it originated from the grand sacrifices of the ancient Wu and Yue peoples who took the dragon as their totem — this is the important conclusion Mr. Wen Yiduo reached through extensive documentary research. From the perspective of warding off evil, it originated from the fear and taboo of the fifth day of the fifth month as an inauspicious month and day since the pre‑Qin period. From the perspective of historical figures, it incorporated commemoration of Qu Yuan, Wu Zixu, Cao E, and others — this injected the deepest human emotions into the festival. From the perspective of calendrical evolution, Duanwu has a very close astronomical connection with the Summer Solstice.

The many alternative names of the Dragon Boat Festival — Duan Yang, Double Wu, Heavenly Center Festival, Bathing Orchid Festival, Calamus Festival, Daughters’ Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Poets’ Festival — each name is a mark left by the river of history on the festival. As one scholar described it: “The Dragon Boat Festival, like a trickling stream, originated in ancient times, merged into a river in the Three Dynasties, expanded into a river in the Qin and Han, and absorbed hundreds of streams to become a lake and sea in the Tang and Song.” The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival began in the pre‑Qin period and have spread for a long time; opinions on its origins are diverse. However, it is precisely this multi‑source nature that has endowed the festival with an extremely rich array of customs — eating zongzi, dragon boat racing, worshipping the dragon, gathering medicinal herbs, hanging mugwort and calamus, worshipping deities and ancestors, washing in herbal water, tying five‑colored silk threads, wearing sachets, avoiding Duanwu, avoiding the five poisons, drinking realgar wine… This rich variety of festival customs demonstrates the complexity of the festival’s origins and fully displays the multi‑layered cultural integration of our nation.

Today, the Dragon Boat Festival, along with the Spring Festival, Qingming, and the Mid‑Autumn Festival, is known as one of the four major traditional festivals of China. From ancient celestial worship, to the totem sacrifices of the Baiyue peoples, from the pre‑Qin evil‑warding of the inauspicious month, to the infusion of the Qu Yuan legend, and today to becoming a common cultural heritage of all humanity — the Dragon Boat Festival has traversed thousands of years and remains vibrant. It is both the Chinese people’s reverence for and response to the laws of heaven and earth, and their deepest prayers for life, health, family safety, and national prosperity. As Mr. Wen Yiduo said, the origin of Duanwu is “as ancient as the Chinese people themselves.” This antiquity is precisely the foundation of its continued vitality in the present day.

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