The Importance of Zongzi

Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food that is made of sticky rice stuffed with an often meaty filling wrapped in bamboo leaves (I’m getting hungry just imagining this). Many Chinese people eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival in early summer to commemorate Qu Yuan, a famous poet.

Qu Yuan, the creator of zongzi, has an interesting legend that has been passed down with him, along with the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Born more than 2300 years ago, Qu Yuan was a highly esteemed government official and counselor. However, since the King did not like his straightforwardness, and other jealous council men spread gossip about Yuan, he was eventually exiled.

Almost as soon as he left, China began to experience political and social turmoil. Yuan, saddened by his inability to help the very country he loved, plunged himself into the Miluo River. Many people gathered near the shore to throw Zongzi into the river to prevent the fishes from eating his body.

It is later said that Qu Yuan appeared in a fisherman’s dream. The fisherman was told that a flood dragon was in the River, and most of the Zongzi were eaten by the dragon instead of the fishes. The fisherman promptly told the fisherman that the dragon feared bamboo leaves and five-color strings, and as long as those special materials would be added to Zongzi, Qu Yuan’s body would be protected.

As a result, later generations celebrate the day of Qu Yuan’s death by eating decorative zongzi on the 5th day of May of the lunar calendar – June 18th, of this year. Zongzi has become a symbol for Chinese people to express their homage to Qu Yuan’s spirit and honor the patriotism, selflessness, and righteousness he exemplified. the festival of eating Zongzi and racing dragon boats help pass on the tradition of death ritual and filial piety to future generations. Zongzi also represents the heritage of dragon-worship that is deeply rooted in Chinese society.

The beauty of zongzi also lies in the difficulty of preparing and wrapping these delicacies. Zongzi normally need to be boiled for several hours and carefully folded, as shown in the picture below, to prevent the filling from tumbling out.

Zongzi are normally prepared the night before the Dragon Boat Festival and eaten the morning of. Any zongzi that are not eaten are thrown into the river, keeping the spirit and story of Qu Yuan alive in memory.

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