Dragon Boating: Much More Than Just Banging and Drumming

A exploration and explanation of some of the myths surrounding the ancient Chinese dragon boat tradition

As paddling teams in coastal towns and villages across southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau train for the dragon boat season and start to prepare for this year’s annual Dragon Boat Festival on 12th June, we take a closer look at the myths surrounding the sport to understand more about the its long history. Why dragons? Why drums? And what are those festival day sticky rice dumplings all about?

Today’s modern day festival (Duanwu in Putonghua and Tuen Ng in Cantonese) gets its name from the Europeans who observed the long boats in China in the 19th century. In the West, the event has come to be known simply the ‘Dragon Boat Festival,’ but in fact this title is misguiding because it ignores the more complex and ritualistic history of the boating tradition which stretches back over 2,500 years.

An unknowing bystander at a dragon boat race might assume that dragon boating is a violent and aggressive sport – especially when compared to the somewhat more graceful, quieter strokes in rowing competitions. If we understand the legend of Qu Yuan, then this frenzied paddling starts to make more sense because on the day of the annual dragon boat festival, many traditional local fishermen teams and communities gather to commemorate his dramatic ritual suicide. Qu Yuan was a well renowned poet and advisor to the king who lived at the time of pre-imperial China when the country was divided into seven conflicting and battling kingdoms. He was a committed believer in the autonomy of the Kingdom of Chu, but due to misunderstandings, he was banished from the state by the king. He was so upset about the fate of his kingdom that in 278 BC, he drowned himself in the Mali River in protest.

As the legend goes, local fishermen rushed to the river in boats where they splashed water, banged drums and spread zongzi rice packets in the water to feed the fish and prevent the fish from devouring Qu Yuan’s body. Thousands of years later, the dragon boat festival is said to take place on the day of his death day, and the fast and furious races are said to recreate that panicked scene with the fishermen, as well as the panicked scene and the strong feelings of loyalty and community which Qu Yuan personified. Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves (glutinous rice much like the rice packets from the legend) are also a big part of the festival tradition and are prepared and eaten in many different variations and flavours on the day.

Another myth surrounding the dragon boating tradition has roots all the way back to the Chinese story of Chinese Creation. That myth states that the dragon (Lung or Long) was among four primary benevolent spiritual animals, and was firmly established as a powerful symbol of all things male – just like the sun in Chinese culture. According to other myths about the sport, the dragon boat practice comes from religious rituals and community ceremonies, which are still very much connected to the dragon’s relationship with the sun.

Duanwu, the name of the dragon boat festival in China, actually means ‘double fifth’ because it is always celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. Essentially, this day is always the longest day or the year (much like summer solstice or midsummer in the West). The communities that first practised dragon boating were located close to China’s rice paddies, and the dragon boat festival coincided with the annual summer rice planting when rice seedlings were transferred to the paddy fields. Legend says that the dragon symbolises water, and they are known to have close connections with rivers, seas, and lakes. During rice planting season, the dragons were called upon for their relationships with clouds, mists and rains, which were necessary for a successful crop – and to overpower the high sun and high summer temperatures known to bring rot and destroy the rice crops.

While dragons in Western culture are often malicious and represent bad spirits, the opposite is true with Chinese culture. They might look somewhat intimidating at the head of the boat with their bulging eyes, wide open mouths, and large teeth – but in Chinese culture, the dragon is considered a divinity, not a danger, and this can be seen by the attention to detail with the colourful head and tail regalia, and brightly painted and patterned outside. Legend has it that decorating and venerating the dragon was a sign of respect which was necessary if the communities were to be blessed with water and a good crop.

The ornamental touches do not end there either; the dragons head often has a bright red tongue which is a reference to the red paper cut outs of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, lizards and toads which are considered poisonous in Chinese culture. Traditionally this ritual was performed so that the dragons could ward off any venomous animals and protect the crops. As for the eyes, traditionally, local fishermen enlist the help of a Daoist priest to perform the ‘Awakening of the Dragon’ ritual which is done by painting the dragon’s eyes red using chicken blood in order to re-energise it after the autumn and winter when, according to the myths, dragons sleep underwater. The red paint gives the dragon new life to ensure a healthy harvest and waterfall over the summer season and to invigorate it for the race.

Clearly, dragon boating has a much more complicated and symbolic past than we might appreciate when we see modern and expat teams across Asia focus on the technique and training of the paddling in preparation for races and competition days. Although lots of the ceremonies and rituals connected with the sport’s historic past are being replaced, the brightly coloured boats, dramatic dragon heads, and the drumming and cheering and yelling mean that it remains as atmospheric – and energetic – as ever it was.