Zongzi is usually eaten on the Dragon Boat Festival. Why?

Zongzi, also known as "Jiao Su" and "Tong Zongzi", is a traditional festival food of the Han nationality during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is made by steaming glutinous rice wrapped in Zongzi leaves. Legend is circulated in memory of Qu Yuan, which is a traditional food with the deepest cultural accumulation in China history and is deeply loved by people. Maybe you don't know, just a few years ago, two physical zongzi were unearthed from the Song Tomb in Dean County, Jiangxi Province. According to research, this is the earliest physical zongzi found in the world.

Looking up relevant information, I found that Zongzi was eaten on Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. At the end of the Warring States Period, the State of Qin captured eight cities of Chu, and then sent envoys to invite Chu Huaiwang to make peace with the State of Qin. Qu Yuan saw through the plot of the King of Qin and risked his life to enter the palace to make a statement to Chu Huaiwang. Chu Huaiwang not only refused to listen, but also expelled Qu Yuan from the capital. Chu Huaiwang went to the state of Qin and was put under house arrest. Later, Chu Huaiwang became depressed and regretted, and died in Chang 'an two years later.

Later, Chu Huaiwang's Zi Chu acceded to the throne with Wang Xiang, and Qin successively sent troops to attack Chu, which was unstoppable. Fled in a hurry, and the city was captured by the cockroach. On the way to exile, after hearing the news of Chu Huaiwang's sudden death and the fall of the capital, Qu Yuan felt like dying embers, shouted at the sky and jumped into the swift Miluo River. It was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

After hearing the news that Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the river, fishermen and people along the Miluo River rowed to the river, vying to salvage Qu Yuan's body with dragon boats, beating gongs and drums to drive away evil dragons. In order to prevent fish and shrimp from damaging Qu Yuan's body, they put rice in bamboo tubes and threw it into the river. Some practitioners also pour realgar wine into the river to confuse dragons and beasts. After a long time, this behavior gradually evolved into today's dragon boat racing and eating zongzi.