Family-Day Activity on Dragon-Boat Festival Held at Hunan Provincial Museum

Origins:

Dragon-Boat Festival, one of the traditional festivals of our Chinese people, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, to commemorate Qu Yuan, a minister during the Warring States Period (475—221BC) and one of the greatest patriotic poets who threw himself in Miluo River.

As he was so loved and respected by people of that time, fisherman rushed out in long boats, beating drums to scare the fish away, and throwing Zongzi (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) into the water to feed fishes and shrimps so that they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body, thereby people of modern days celebrate this festival through Dragon Boat Races, eating zongzi and several other activities on the anniversary of his death, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Zongzi:

Zongzi is the traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a steamed glutinous rice ball, with a filling, wrapped in reed leaves. The fillings can be eggs, beans, dates, fruits, sweet potato, walnuts, mushrooms, meat, or a combination of them.

On the morning of June 6, Family-Day Activity on Dragon-Boat Festival was held on the second floor of old exhibition building of Hunan Provincial Museum. Around the theme of this festival, a series of activities was designed and organized by Hunan Provincial Museum for parents and children.

Hands-on activities including “creating the scene of finding Qu Yuan on a dragon boat”, “throwing Zongzi into the river to rescue Qu Yuan” and “making Zongzi to recall Qu Yuan” were carried out one by one.

In the first round of “creating the scene”, under the guidance of Happy Sister, all families were enthusiastically immersed in the game, parents folding paper boats and kids drawing background pictures; and through such cooperation, this activity yielded many vivid three-dimensional works depicting the exciting scenes of dragon-boat racing.

On-site activities

The game of “Throwing Zongzi into the river to rescue Qu Yuan” was followed, in which part school kids, carried by their parents, bravely throwing the Zongzi into the “Miluo River” to protect Qu Yuan from being eating up by the fishes and shrimps.

In the last hands-on round, “making Zongzi”, parents and their kids made DIY Zongzi under the demonstration and instruction of volunteer educators.

"We had a great time here; also, we had learned a lot of knowledge about our traditional festival. It’s fantastic!” A parent said after the activity.

Making Zongzi Together

More Family-Day Activities on Chinese traditional festivals, such as Mid-Autumn Day, Double Ninth Festival, Spring Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, etc., are to be held at Hunan Provincial Museum, please stay tuned!