What is the origin story of the traditional Dragon Boat Festival

1. The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Dragon Boat Festival in China. According to legend, during the Warring States period, Chu and Qin competed for hegemony, and the poet Qu Yuan was highly valued by the king of Chu. However, Qu Yuan's ideas were opposed by the old faction led by Jin Shang, a senior official, who constantly slandered Qu Yuan in front of King Huai of Chu. King Huai of Chu gradually alienated Qu Yuan, and the ambitious Qu Yuan was y grieved. With uncontrollable melancholy and anger, he wrote immortal poems, such as Li Sao and Heavenly Questions.

2. In 229 B.C., Qin occupied eight cities in Chu and then sent an envoy to invite King Huai of Chu to discuss peace with Qin. Qu Yuan saw through the Qin king's plot and risked his life to enter the palace to present his ideas. King Huai of Chu did not listen and attended as expected, and was imprisoned as soon as he arrived in Qin. King Huai of Chu became melancholy and sick. Three years later, he died in Qin.

3. Soon after Qing Shuai of Chu assumed the throne, the king of Qin sent troops to attack Chu. Qing Shuai panicked and retreated from the capital city, and the Qin soldiers occupied Yingcheng. On the way to exile, Qu Yuan heard the bad news of the defeat of Yingcheng, he lost all hope, a long sigh, jumped into the Buro River. The fishermen on the river and the people on the shore heard that Dr. Qu Yuan had drowned in the river. They all came to the river to salvage Qu Yuan's body. People took out dumplings and eggs from their houses and threw them into the river. If the fish ate them, they would not bite Qu Yuan's body. Another doctor poured andrographis wine into the river so that the dragons and the animals in the water could be anesthetized and Dr. Qu Yuan's body would not be harmed. After that, every year on the fifth day of the fifth month, the people of Chu rowed dragon boats on the river, threw zongzi, and drank andrographis wine to commemorate the poet, and the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival has been passed down in this way.