History
Dragon Boat Festival, commonly known as the Dumpling Festival or Fifth Moon Festival, is a day for commemorating a Chinese poet Qu Yuan and other national patriots. This day falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and it reminds oneself of one's responsibilities and duties to one's country. Chinese eat rice dumplings and participate in dragon boat competitions on this day.
Qu Yuan was a high court official of the State of Chu in the period of the warring states. Evil court officials, who were jealous of Qu Yuan's abilities, influenced the emperor to banish him from Chu Kingdom. During the next 20 years, Qu Yuan travelled widely and wrote poems on what he saw and thought. Qu Yuan was disheartened when he saw the Qin Kingdom conquer the Chu Kingdom.
Eventually, he became disillusioned and he took his own life by drowning himself in the Mi Luo River. People were so upset by the loss of Qu Yuan, they took to boats and beat the water with paddles to stop the fish from eating his body, hence evolved the tradition of holding dragon boat races. They also threw rice dumplings which was stuffed into bamboo sections into the water to tempt the fish away from their hero. This later evolved into what Chinese do now: wrap rice in bamboo leaves stuffed with meat, beans, salted egg yolks, mushrooms, etc., which is known as the dumplings.
Customs and Traditions
Since that time more than 2000 years ago, it has been customary during the dumpling festival to enjoy rice dumplings as a memorial to this patriotic poet. Right till today, everyone who has tried rice dumplings is impressed with the delicacy of this snack, with the faint scent of the leaves imprinted on the skin of the dumplings. In fact, dumplings are now consumed throughout the year by anyone who enjoys this rice pyramid of delight.
The dragon-boat races represented the attempts to rescue and recover the body of Qu Yuan. A dragon-boat ranged from fifty to one hundred feet in length with a beam of about five and a half feet, accommodating two paddlers sitting side by side. A wooden dragon head was attached at the bow, and a dragon tail at the stern. A banner hoisted on a pole was also fastened at the stern. The hull was decorated with a design of red, green and blue scales edged in gold. In the center of the boat was a canopied shrine. Behind the shrine sat drummers, gong-beaters and cymbal-crashers that would set the pace for the paddlers. Men standing at the bow set off firecrackers, tossed rice into the water and made believe they were looking for Qu Yuan. All the noise and pageantry created an atmosphere of gaiety and excitement for the participants and spectators. Competitions were held between different clans, villages and organizations, and winners were awarded medals, banners, jugs of wine and festive meals.
After the races, the wooden head and tail of the dragon were detached and stored either at the clan headquarters or at the local temple. The hull was buried in the muddy river to prevent cracking, warping and shrinkage. The boats were therefore reconditioned annually before the festival.
Traditional Cuisine
On the Fifth Moon Festival, a glutinous rice pudding called Zongzi was eaten to symbolize the rice offerings to Qu Yuan. Ingredients such as beans, lotus seeds, chestnuts, pork fat and the golden yolk of a salted duck egg were often added to the glutinous rice. The pudding was wrapped with bamboo leaves, bound with a sort of raffia and boiled in salt water for hours.
Nowadays, Chinese rice dumpling are basically glutinous rice wrapped with bamboo leaves into triangular shapes. They are eaten plain or filled, sweet or savoury. The ways in which these dumplings are prepared vary. People from different dialects have their own version of dumplings, most probably influenced by the differences in background, and hence, taste.
The Hokkiens for example, make theirs savoury with fillings of stewed pork, shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, dried shrimps and salted duck egg yolks. The prepared dumplings are usually brown in colour as they are marinated with light and dark soy sauce.
The Cantonese fill their dumplings with kidney beans, pork, dried shrimps and shiitake mushrooms. The glutinous rice are in their natural colour as light and dark soy sauce are not use here. Some people like to substitute kidney beans with mashed green beans for variety.
Another type of dumpling is eaten sweet. They are made plain and eaten with brown syrup, kaya or white sugar, or stuffed with red bean paste. These dumplings are usually slightly yellow in colour, as it is made with alkaline water, and are much smaller in size compared to savoury dumplings.
Where once available only once a year, rice dumpling is now sold all year round by some food sellers. Still, nothing beats homemade food, and dumplings are no exception. After all, once you know the basics of cooking dumplings, adapting them to suit personal tastes will be a breeze. It is as simple as just adding in your favourite ingredients and eliminating those that you do not like.