The Duan Wu 端午 Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which this year is today, June 22nd. Unlike the Seasonal Nodes, which are based on a solar cycle, Duan Wu is tied to the lunar calendar. With a history that dates back over 2,000 years, this festival holds great significance in Chinese and greater East Asian culture.
At its core, the Duan Wu Festival commemorates the life and death of Qu Yuan, a renowned poet and statesman during the Warring States period. Qu Yuan was deeply devoted to his country and expressed his frustrations through his poetry. However, when his counsel was ignored and his state fell into turmoil, he was overcome with despair. In 278 BCE, he drowned himself as a final act of protest against the corruption and injustice rampant at that time.
Dragon Boat in Okinawa, Japan
Duan Wu's rituals and customs are partially rooted in the belief that Qu Yuan's spirit could be protected and honored. One of the most obvious customs during the Duan Wu Festival is dragon boat racing. These races involve teams of paddlers rowing in long, narrow boats decorated like dragons, a very Yang and auspicious creature. The act of racing dragon boats on rivers is not only fun to watch but also a way of warding off evil Yin and preventing bad luck, much in the same way that Lion dancing does.
Another Duan Wu custom is the consumption of zongzi, sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. Legend has it that when Qu Yuan drowned himself, villagers threw rice balls into the river to prevent fish from devouring his body. To this day, people eat zongzi as a way of paying homage to Qu Yuan and as a symbol of warding off evil spirits and disease during the hot summer months. Aside from this practice, during Duan Wu people frequently hang aromatic herbs on the outside of their houses, such as Mugwort 艾草 or garlic. These Yang substances also serve to ward off Yin negativity and disease (such as dampness related conditions, or conditions caused by insects such as mosquitos).
Mugwort 艾草
Beyond the history and the customs associated with the festival, Duan Wu carries an inner meaning. This is the time of mid-summer as we discussed in the previous post on Summer Solstice from yesterday. It is the time when Yang has come to its apex and Yin starts the slow progress towards becoming the dominant movement in nature. Thus, it is an opportunity for cleansing and purification so that while we can embrace the movement of Yin, we can also avoid the negative aspects of that phasic movement. In the clinic this means watching our patients for patterns such as damp turbidity, especially in the digestive system. As the weather becomes more and more hot and humid this will be a commonly seen problem. We can treat this by supporting the Spleen and Stomach with acupuncture and gentle moxibustion, or by the consumption of slightly warm aromatic herbs when appropriate. An example of a seasonal formula along these lines is the Cardamom Powder in the Summer Solstice blog post.
Enjoy the day, hang some garlic, and eat some zongzi if you can. Happy Duan Wu, Dragon Boat Festival!