The History and Modern Practice of the Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival (端午节, Duānwǔjié) is an official public holiday in Mainland China. Also called the Double Fifth Festival, it’s celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (农历, nónglì).

Because it’s tied to the lunar calendar, the festival falls on a different date each year—generally sometime from late May to late June on the Gregorian calendar (阳历, yánglì).

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What is the history of the Dragon Boat Festival?

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that has been around in various forms for thousands of years. Its modern celebration blends multiple older traditions, and two main stories are often used to explain where the holiday came from.

Read on to explore the festival’s origins and the customs that still define it today.

The suicide of Qu Yuan

The suicide of Qu Yuan is a popular story used to explain the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival.

In modern times, the most widely known origin story centers on Qu Yuan (屈原, Qū Yuán), a poet and official of the Warring States period (approx. 475 to 221 BC).

Qu Yuan served as an official in the State of Chu but was later slandered and sent into exile.

Qu Yuan was a faithful government official who was unjustly slandered.

During exile, he wrote extensively, but political turmoil and Chu’s defeats weighed on him. Eventually, legend says he drowned himself in Hunan Province’s Miluo River.

Qu Yuan remains a popular figure in modern China.

Local people rushed out in boats to rescue him or recover his body. Unable to find him, they threw balls of sticky rice into the river—hoping fish would eat the rice instead.

Avoiding bad luck in the fifth month

Another explanation connects the holiday to seasonal superstition. Because it falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, it’s often called the Double Fifth Festival—an especially charged date in Chinese numerology.

Traditionally, the fifth lunar month was considered unlucky in some regions. People believed that the “five poisonous animals” (五毒, wǔdú) emerged from winter hiding around this time.

In ancient China, the fifth lunar month was associated with the emergence of five types of poisonous animals.

The classic list includes centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, lizards, and toads. To protect themselves, people performed rituals meant to neutralize danger and reduce illness during this period.

One tradition that survives today is hanging mugwort and calamus on doors to ward off evil and misfortune.

How do people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival?

Dragon boat racing is a popular Dragon Boat Festival activity.

The Dragon Boat Festival is loud, energetic, and outdoors-focused. In many parts of China the weather is pleasant, so people gather on riverbanks and lakeshores to watch races and enjoy the day.

Eating bamboo-wrapped rice dumplings is popular during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Many older Chinese people still make traditional holiday foods by hand.

Participating in or attending dragon boat races

These days, the most well-known aspect of the Dragon Boat Festival is the tradition of racing dragon boats (赛龙舟, sàilóngzhōu).

Dragon boat racing may have started as a way to worship an ancient dragon deity.

The Qu Yuan story is often used to explain the dragon boat racing tradition, but some scholars argue the practice may be older and connected to water- and dragon-related worship—especially given the cultural role of Chinese dragons.

Dragon boats are long and narrow. Standard crews often include 20 paddlers, plus a drummer at the bow to keep rhythm and a steerer at the stern to guide the boat. Race distances vary widely, but 500 meters (1,640 feet) is common.

Eating zòngzi

Almost every Chinese holiday has a specific food or foods associated with it, and Dragon Boat Festival is no different. On this holiday, the food of choice is zòngzi (粽子).

Zongzi come in both sweet and savory varieties.

Zòngzi are pyramid-shaped dumplings made from glutinous rice and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Sweet versions may include red bean paste or jujube (Chinese dates), while savory versions can feature pork, mushrooms, or salted egg yolk.

As discussed above, in the Qu Yuan origin story, zòngzi echo the rice offerings thrown into the river to keep fish away from his body. In practice, zòngzi become widely available in the weeks leading up to the holiday.

The Dragon Boat Festival, then and now

Although the Dragon Boat Festival has a long history, it hasn’t always found favor with authorities. During the 1960s, campaigns against traditional customs—especially during the Cultural Revolution—contributed to a decline in many traditional festivals.

In recent years, Dragon Boat Festival has regained its traditional place as an important holiday in Mainland China. In 2008, Dragon Boat Festival reemerged as an official public holiday.

Despite the ups and downs it has faced, anyone who experiences the excitement of Dragon Boat Festival in China quickly understands why it has endured.

If you’d like to keep exploring, compare Dragon Boat Festival with other seasonal holidays like the Qingming Festival and the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival.

Anne Meredith

Anne Meredith holds an MA in International Politics and Chinese Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). As part of the graduation requirements for the program, Anne wrote and defended a 70-page Master's thesis entirely in 汉字 (hànzì; Chinese characters). Anne lives in Shanghai, China and is fluent in Chinese.