Dragon Boat Festival 2009

This year, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on 28th May 2009. This festival is celebrated every year on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Lunar Calendar.

There are a number of theories behind the origin of this festival. Based on one of the most widely known legend, this day is to honour Qu Yuan, a scholar and minister who commited suicide. A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month. It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of "zongzi" (dumpling). The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing.

Just like last year, this year I also made dumplings. I woke up at 5am to prepare the dumplings. I completed wrapping the dumplings at about 9am. I made 3 bundles, consisting of 35 dumplings. The first 2 bundles does not have much fillings as I was afraid that the fillings might not be enough. The last few dumplings has the most fillings. I fare very badly in the estimation of the ingredients as I end up with quite some unused fillings.