What festival is Qu Yuan commemorating?

The Dragon Boat Festival is in memory of Qu Yuan. Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival in China, and there are rich and colorful folk customs all over the country. Although the customs are different, they all contain the significance of commemorating Qu Yuan.

According to legend, during the Warring States period, Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet of Chu who devoted himself to the cause of national rejuvenation, learned in exile that Chu was broken and failed to become a country. On the fifth day of May, he threw himself into the Miluo River and expounded his feelings for home and country with a clank of iron.

After Qu Yuan jumped into the river, the Chu people commemorated him in various ways on this day every year. For more than two thousand years, his spirit has been inspiring and nurturing Chinese children.

Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, also known as Duanyang Festival, Noon Festival, May Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Bathing Orchid Festival and so on. It is a traditional cultural festival popular in China and other countries in the Chinese character cultural circle. Dragon Boat Festival originated in China, which was originally a festival to eliminate diseases and prevent epidemics.

According to the historian Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu Huaiwang in the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated the use of talents, empowerment, and prosperity, and advocated joint resistance to Qin, which was strongly opposed by others. Qu Yuan was forced to leave his post, was driven out of the capital and exiled to the Yuan and Xiang river basins. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Jiu Ge, with unique style and far-reaching influence. Therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called Poet's Day.

In 278 BC, Qin Jun conquered Kyoto of Chu. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he was always reluctant to give up his motherland. On May 5th, after writing his masterpiece Huai Sha, he died in Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.