Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival, one of China's four major traditional festivals, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is a grand folk festival integrating worship of gods and ancestors, praying for blessings and warding off evil, celebration, entertainment, and food. 

The festival originated in the Han Dynasty. The main explanation is that it commemorates Qu Yuan, a minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States period. Qu Yuan was slandered and exiled. Witnessing the invasion of his homeland, he drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The people's attempts to rescue him evolved into dragon boat racing, and throwing rice balls to fish to prevent injury to the corpse evolved into eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). 

Major customs of the Dragon Boat Festival include hanging Zhong Kui images, avoiding the midday sun, pasting amulets made from midday leaves, hanging calamus and mugwort, participating in warding off illnesses, wearing sachets, preparing offerings, dragon boat racing, martial arts competitions, ball games, swinging, applying realgar, drinking realgar wine and calamus wine, and eating five-poison cakes, salted eggs, zongzi, and seasonal fruits.

Henan Aoda Instruments will be closed for three days from June 19th to 21st to celebrate this festival.