Why do we eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival?

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, also known as the Duan Yang Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival include dragon boat racing, hanging mugwort, wearing sachets, etc., and eating zongzi is an important custom of the Dragon Boat Festival.

There are many legends and origins about why we eat zongzi. The most famous one is the legend about Qu Yuan. According to legend, Qu Yuan was a great poet and politician in ancient China. He was loyal to his country and dedicated his life to fighting foreign enemies and protecting his people. Later, his country fell into crisis, and he felt very sad and desperate, and finally chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river. In order to avoid his body being eaten by fish, locals got off the boat to row dragon boats and scatter zongzi, hoping to attract fish away from Qu Yuan's body.

Therefore, eating zongzi has become one of the traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is a food made by wrapping glutinous rice and various fillings in bamboo leaves and steaming it. Its shape and packaging method symbolize the distant historical tradition and the event of Qu Yuan jumping into the river. Eating zongzi is to commemorate Qu Yuan and express respect and nostalgia for him.

In addition, zongzi has also become a gift between relatives and friends, symbolizing reunion and blessings. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people will give each other zongzi to convey their love and blessings to each other.

In general, eating zongzi is an important custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. It not only carries the historical tradition and culture, but also represents people's respect for Qu Yuan and expresses their wishes for reunion and blessings.