Why do you eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival?

In memory of the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

According to historical records, Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu State, and he was bent on uniting Qi State against Qin State, but his idea met with opposition. Finally, Qu Yuan was framed and demoted. When Qu Yuan was in exile, he learned that Chu was attacked by Qin, and he was heartbroken and threw himself into the river. After Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were deeply saddened. In order to prevent Qu Yuan's body from being eroded by fish and shrimp. People spontaneously throw zongzi into the river. This is the origin of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, and it is also to show people's memory and reverence for Qu Yuan. Dragon Boat Festival is also an important node in summer, a traditional solar term of the lunar calendar, also known as "Summer Festival". Zongzi takes glutinous rice as the main raw material, which means a bumper harvest and prays for a bumper harvest in the coming year. At the same time, the shape of zongzi is triangular or rectangular, and sometimes it is wrapped with bamboo leaves, which symbolizes the meaning of exorcism. Eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival is not only a commemoration of Qu Yuan, but also an expression of the expectation of harvest, blessing and exorcism. Nowadays, the tastes and production methods of zongzi vary from place to place, including salty taste, sweet taste and bean paste taste, which enriches people's Dragon Boat Festival food culture.