Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 duān wǔ jié
The most popular version is that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty. Qu was a minister in the cabinet. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu had a strong disagreemnt so he was exiled. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.
People searched Qu's body by boating. This is said to have been the origin of dragon boat races. They could not find his body so they wrapped sticky rice with bamboo leaves and dropped them in the river for the fish in order to protect Qu's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.
Zongzi 粽子 zòng zi
Zongzi, the traditional Chinese food of Dragon Boat Festival, is thought to be made to commemorate an patriot named Qu Yuan 屈原 back in the Warring States period of ancient China (340-278 BC). Zongzi is sticky rice wrapped in dried bamboo leaves with different fillings. Zongzi is considered one of the most traditional Chinese food which has a deep cultural background and long history. There are various types of Zongzi. In terms of fillings, people usually make Chinese date Zongzi in northern China, whereas people eat Zongzi with sweet bean paste, meat, eight treasures 八宝 (choice ingredients of certain special dishes), ham, or yolk in the south. Every family starts to wrap up the tasty dish on May, 5th according to the lunar calendar.