Chinese festival celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is believed to have originated from the customs of warding off epidemics and driving away evil spirits in ancient times, associated with illness since it falls in first month of summer, when epidemics spread quickly. This time of year, when the sun at its strongest at the summer solstice is associated with the Chinese dragon, which traditionally represents masculine energy. Observances include dragon boat races and various folk customs to protect from infectious diseases and other forms of evils, including hanging calamus and mugwort leaves, wearing scented sachets, drinking realgar wine, hanging up pictures of Zhongkui the ghost catcher. Beginning in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), the festival has included references to the legend of Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE), a poet and a high-ranking official who served the State of Chu in the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE). Despairing of the political situation, he drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Now in commemoration of him, celebrants organize dragon boat races and make zongzis rice dishes.
