Dragon Boats, Rice Dumplings and Qu Yuan
The Rice Dumpling, I mean, Dragon Boat Festival
When I was a young boy, I looked forward every May or June to what I thought of as the Rice Dumpling Festival. My ah ma (grandmother) would wrap glutinous rice with meat and mushroom fillings in bamboo leaves into a triangular shape, then steam dozens of these dumplings in a makeshift steamer made from a cooking oil can under a charcoal fire. These would be breakfast, lunch and sometimes even dinner for next couple of days. This was perfectly fine with me for my ah ma’s rice dumplings were really, really, delicious. The glutinous rice would be soaked in the sauces from the meat and mushrooms filling, the meat cubes were tender and juicy, and the black mushrooms were the perfect kicker. A by-the-way detail which held little or no significance to me was that was that there were dragon boat races at this time.
It was only after I grew older that I learnt that the proper name of this festival is the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Double Fifth Festival because it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. According to my Chinese textbook, this was to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a patriot who committed suicide by drowning. Qu Yuan was apparently very popular with the common people and so on learning of his suicide attempt, they rushed to the river to either save him or at least recover his corpse. It is said that they raced up and down the river in boats, banging on drums and gongs to frighten the fish away, and even going so far as to throw rice dumplings into the river so that the fish would eat the dumplings instead of Qu Yuan’s dead body [Note: This is a really big deal when you consider the Chinese culture’s obsession against wasting food]. Thus, we have dragon boat races and eat rice dumplings on this day.
None of this really made sense to me at the time. Did people seriously think banging drums and gongs would help recover a corpse? Why would you wrap the rice dumplings in bamboo leaves if you wanted fish to eat them instead? Why did Qu Yuan drown himself (the textbook did not give a lot of background)? If he was concerned about his country, why did he pick suicide instead of doing something or putting in some effort? Are we really doing an annual historical reenactment of a failed 911 rescue mission of a protest suicide?
So purely on a whim, I decided to find out more about Qu Yuan this year, why he committed suicide and whether the dragon boats and rice dumplings were really to commemorate his death. And after a review of his life, it was easy to see why he became the face or icon for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Qu Yuan – Noble, Scholar, Reformer, Diplomat, Poet
Here’s a speedrun of key events/achievements in Qu Yuan’s life. [Disclaimer: I’m not a professional historian and I’m heavily reliant on what’s available on the internet. As with much of ancient Chinese history, sources are limited and there are areas of Qu Yuan’s life which are controversial or disputed.]
Birth and Youth
Qu Yuan lived between ~340 BCE to 278 BCE towards the end of the Warring States period. This coincides with the time of Alexander the Great, the founding of the Mauryan empire in India, the Wars of the Diadochi and the rise of Pyrrhus.
He was born ~340 BCE in the Mi lineage/clan (mǐ, 芈姓), in the Qu cadet branch (屈氏), formal name Yuan. Qu Yuan was a high-level novel and quasi-royalty as a member of the cadet branch of the royal family [Note: We’ll discuss the various names the Chinese (especially literati and nobility) (姓、氏、名、字、号) in a separate post.] Although he was born in Danyang (丹阳), the first capital of the State of Chu (楚国) [Note: There is some controversy as to the modern day location of Danyang. Online sources are inconsistent. Some cite that this is today’s Xichuan County in Hubei Province (湖北淅川县). Some cite it is Zigui county of Yichang City in Hubei (宜昌市秭归县). It appears that this is still unsettled], he spent most of his formative years in Yuepingli (乐平里) or modern day Qu Yuan Village (屈原村) [Note: Yes. For real.].
The young Qu Yuan was said to love reading and was widely read (自幼嗜书成癖,读书多而杂) and a wunderkind: smart, erudite with a good memory, eloquent and well-spoken, a natural diplomat (“博闻强志” 、 “娴于辞令”). He was purportedly close to the people even though he was a noble and was well-liked. This is around 340-320 BCE.
Reformer and Diplomat
He entered politics and service in 320 BCE as the “Left Envoy” (左徒) [Note: Would welcome any corrections or proper translation.] at the age of 20. There are no records on the role of this ministerial position unique to the Chu State and it is uncertain what is the rank, power and authority of this position. However, it was high enough for him to participate in discussions of major issues, to issue orders/decrees, engage in foreign diplomacy and drive major reforms and strategies.
Qu Yuan drove two major policies/actions during this period: domestically, he worked on legal and systemic reforms to create a more meritocratic and fair system, remove cronyism and to improve agricultural output; foreign policy-wise, he advocated for an anti-Qin alliance with the State of Qi and other smaller states.
However, his early success and pursuit of these two policies led to his eventual downfall.
His promotion to a ministerial level position and participation in court at a young age earned the envy of his peers, an envy that deepened as the Chu King trusted Qu Yuan and favoured him with further powers and duties including leading important diplomatic missions to other states.
His work on legal reforms brought him into direct conflict with existing stakeholders and interest groups such as the nobility who were seeking to maintain their wealth and powerbase. As a member of the royal family albeit the cadet branch and thus himself a noble, he was also a “class traitor” to his peers.
His anti-Qin strategy put him directly in the crosshairs of Qin’s diplomatic efforts to break the anti-Qin alliance and estrange Chu from Qi and he became the target of officials and other interest groups who were swayed, influenced or bribed by the Qin diplomats.
These affected interest groups ganged up to speak against Qu Yuan to the King Huai of Chu. Influenced by these people, the Chu King started to distrust him and he fell out of favour. Eventually, Qu Yuan was demoted in 314 BCE to a position overseeing ancestral worship and clan matters of the Qu and two other branch clans (三闾大夫 sān lǘ dà fū) [Note: Unable to find a good translation of this post]. At the age of 26, the starry-eyed wunderkind was reduced to holding a sinecure with little or no power.
Exile and Exile
It was mostly downhill from here on for Qu Yuan (and Chu). Chu lost badly in several battles with the Qin and was also betrayed or tricked by Qin diplomatically a few times. While Qu Yuan tried to revive the Chu-Qi alliance, he was unsuccessful. The King of Chu preferred to accommodate or ally with the Qin again against the other states. Qu Yuan’s opposing views to the King of Chu’s policies led to him falling into disfavour again and eventually, his exile in 304 BCE to the north of the Han River, this time at the age of 36. That Qu Yuan’s views on Qin were ultimately proven right may have even worsened his position – not many kings are magnanimous or big-souled enough to keep at their side someone who has repeatedly proven them wrong. It is probably around this time that he penned The Lament (离骚), one of the epic ancient poems narrating the life of the author from a first person perspective, telling of his trials and tribulations at court and in a more fantastical realm.
Qu Yuan was recalled from exile eventually (probably around 300 or 299 BCE) but again, he failed to dissuade the King of Chu from yet another mistaken foreign policy decision – to travel to Qin as part of a diplomatic mission to regain certain lost territories. This time, the mistake was a fatal one. The Qin imprisoned the King of Chu was never to return and died as a prisoner of Qin.
The new King of Chu was not much better as he too lost battles with the Qin and ultimately sued for peace with the Qin. Qu Yuan protested: this was both unpatriotic and unfilial. How could the new King agree to peace with the country that had betrayed and killed the man who was not only the previous King of Chu but also his father! He also admonished the new King’s other advisors for giving bad advice to the new King – afterall, the old King of Chu had died because he was badly advised by his advisors (other than Qu Yuan). This naturally did not go down well with the new King or his courtiers/advisors. Qu Yuan found himself sentenced to exile again in 296 BCE but this time to the south of the Yangtze River. By this time, Qu Yuan was 44 years old – almost an elder in those times and the better part of his youth had been wasted away.
Poetry in Exile, Suicide
In exile in the countryside, Qu Yuan focused on literature, collecting local legends, transcribing folk stories and songs into poetry. It is for this reason that many of the poems in the Chu Ci (楚词) aka Songs of the South, the Songs of Chu) are attributed to him such as The Nine Songs (九歌) and Questions to Heaven (天问). The years passed with no recall and Qu Yuan looked on in dismay at the sinking fortunes of the State of Chu. Finally, at the age of 62 in 278 BC, he hears news of the Qin’s conquest of the Chu’s new capital. Distraught and in despair, his beloved Chu destroyed by the Qin, he walks into the nearby Miluo River, never to return.
There’s a Qu Yuan for everyone.
Qu Yuan’s story is tragic, but also one that resonates deeply across the different classes in the Chinese culture and spirit and hits all the classic virtues and tropes.
To the scholars and literati: He is the talented and precocious youngster, smart and clever (才子), successful in his studies and achieving an official post when young. Yet, he is also the underappreciated talent, the scholar/official who is neglected or worse, penalized by his king or superiors (怀才不遇). At the same time, he was also a talented poet and writer.
To the common people: he is the benevolent scholar/official who cares for his people and country, who tries in the face of corruption and cronyism to reform his country (忧国忧民).
To the ruler/ruling class and nationalists/patriots: he is the patriot and loyal official (尽忠报国). So loyal he was willing to provide unpopular advice. So loyal that he remained in exile and did not defect to other states as was common in the Warring States period (see Confucious, Sun Zi, etc.). So loyal that he chose to perish with his beloved Chu when it was destroyed by the Qin.