Dragon Boat Festival
01 · Historical Records
The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival in Suzhou can be traced back to commemorating Wu Zixu, a famous general of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The May Duanwu activities in Suzhou have a long history, rich content, participation by the whole populace and lasting popularity, collectively displaying the folk traditions of the Suzhou region with their Jiangnan character. These activities fall into four main categories: the first consists of large-scale dragon boat performances; the second mainly expresses the wisdom of the people of Suzhou in adapting to nature and improving life, such as gathering medicinal herbs, hanging mugwort and hanging calamus; the third displays Suzhou's long-standing silk-weaving culture and distinctive costume culture, such as wearing the baisuo cord; the fourth, wrapping zongzi and eating the Duanwu meal, is its core content. The various other customs continue among Suzhou residents to differing degrees, but fewer and fewer young people know about them. The festival skeleton of Suzhou Duanwu divides into four layers. The water activities, with dragon boats as the largest component, are concentrated on the waterways inside and outside the city, with flag-raising, drum-beating and spectating, culminating in the race; the practices of gathering medicinal herbs, hanging mugwort and hanging calamus, carried out in accordance with the season, are the life wisdom of the people of Suzhou in adapting to the humid, hot climate, a custom in which medicine and food go hand in hand. Wearing the baisuo cord displays the local foundation of the silk-weaving and clothing tradition: spices and silk threads are woven into wrist ornaments, taking both their apotropaic meaning and their fine beauty. Wrapping zongzi and eating the Duanwu meal are the day's proper dinner, the zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaves with fillings of bean paste, fresh meat, salted egg yolk and the like, each household having its own preference. Overall, Suzhou Duanwu is a comprehensive festival custom based on the production and way of life of the water country, rather than an isolated ritual.
Dragon boat racing on Suzhou waterways
Races are held stretch by stretch along the canals, flags and drums marking each start, with crowds filling both banks and stalls of storytellers and water chestnuts.
Wearing twisted sachets and hanging herbs
Children wear fragrant sachets strung on coloured silk, and households hang mugwort and calamus to repel damp and insects.
Zongzi and the Dragon Boat meal
The meal centres on zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaves, with the making done jointly by women and children and the finished doles shared with neighbours.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
With socio-economic and cultural development, the Dragon Boat Festival, which began with commemorating Wu Zixu, has gradually evolved into an annual grand carnival in Suzhou, forming a complete set of Duanwu folk activities corresponding to the local natural conditions, production and life, economic features and the state of cultural development. The water customs of Duanwu in the townships and towns across the Suzhou region each have their own character: where the city's waterways are wide, grand boat races are mostly held, while the countryside uses earth-god temples and markets as its gathering points; along Lake Tai and the Wusong River there are additionally old rites of praying for abundance before the fishing season's ban is lifted; and ancient towns such as Zhouzhuang and Tongli combine boat racing with nighttime lantern markets into a single season.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Large events such as the dragon boat races of Suzhou's Dragon Boat Festival were interrupted for a time during the "Cultural Revolution" and have been revived in recent years. Measures must be taken to protect these traditional customs if they are to continue to be passed down.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tan Guozheng 05-2970
- Liu Guisheng 05-2971
- Xiang Fuchang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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