The festival was long marked as a cultural festival in China and is a public holiday in the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
It is unofficially observed by the Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia. Equivalent and related official festivals include the Korean Dano, Japanese Children’s Day, and Vietnamese Tết Đoan Ngọ.
The Duanwu Festival, also often known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is a traditional holiday originating in China, occurring near the summer solstice. It is also known as Zhongxiao Festival (Chinese: 忠孝節; pinyin: Zhōngxiàojié), commemorating fealty and filial piety. The festival now occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese calendar, which is the source of the festival’s alternative name, the Double Fifth Festival.
The usual English name for the holiday, “Dragon Boat Festival“, possibly translates into two alternative Chinese names for the holiday, 龍船節 (Lóngchuánjié) and 龍舟節 (Lóngzhōujié).
The story best known in modern China holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty.
A cadet member 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 and even accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry.
Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him, or at least retrieve his body. This is said to have been the origin of dragon boat races. When his body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan’s body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.
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Published: 7th June 2019.

Hong Kong type Zongzi are white color, served separately with soy sauce

Malaysian type are dark color.
The Origins of Dragon Boat Festival and Zongzi
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About Robert Chaen
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Founder of Robren Mega EMall, Robren Services, ChangeU, CEO-Celebrity Whisperer, Asia’s #1 Change Expert, and the Father of Asian FireWalking
Robert Chaen is an International Keynote Speaker, writer, researcher, and change expert. He is famously known as the "CEO-Celebrity Whisperer”. Through 1-on-1 coaching, CEOs & celebrities whisper their issues and secrets to Robert, and Robert whispers back the best success secrets about business strategies, change tools, office politics & staff issues, and personal branding.
He has transformed CEOs and managers in Coca-Cola China, TVB Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airport Services, VADS, TM, Public Bank, , 300+ MSC CEOs in S.E. Asia's Silicon Valley, etc.
He is the EKing of EMalls, the Founder of Robren Mega EMall, the World’s First Parallel Universe EMall Chian, with 100 City Mega EMalls opening in 2021-2023 (fb.com/MegaEMalls).
He is widely considered as one of the top International Platform Keynote Speakers for Resorts World Genting Senior Management Conference (Manila), 7-Eleven HK, Samsung, Coca-Cola China Mini-MBA @Tsing Hua University, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Jockey Club. He has interviewed PM Tun Dr Mahathir, Datuk Kamarudin (Chairman of AirAsia), Siti Nurhaliza, and other CEOs, Entrepreneurs and Influencers.
He has been widely featured in TVB, AWSJ, CNBC, SCMP, The Star, and Sin Chew. As “The Father of Asian FireWalking”, he coached TVB celebrities (Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin) to walk on 650°C fire; and raised HK$68M in the world’s 1st and only live TV Charity FireWalk (TVB Tung Wah Charity Show). If Robert can coach you to walk on 650⁰C fire, he can inspire you to be the best.
Originally based in Hong Kong for 20+ years, he had worked with top Branding/Ad agencies at J Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett, and was a certified FranklinCovey (7 Habits) in USA, and NLP MasterCoach (USA). His warmth is known to soften the most hardened, resistant skeptics.
Due to an ongoing paranormal encounter of the Angelic kind, he has been an Angel Whisperer 25 minutes before his late wife Brenda José crossed over on 23rd December 2013. Since then she has been sending him countless afterlife signs and he has written many articles and an EBook on his whisperings about The Afterlife and beyond from Angel Brenda.
Updated: 2nd August 2020.
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