Qu Yuan

Tao Yuanming, by Min Zhen,from 18th century China.

Qu Yuan: I (Qu Yuan) was an influential statesman and poet. I was alive and part of the political background during the Warring States Era (480-221 BC) in Chinese history (CHF). I was born around 332 BC. I had distant relatives that were aristocratic in the State of Chu (CHF).

I “saw firsthand the difficult lives that ordinary people led and developed a deep sympathy and love for them, along with a passion for truth and justice for all” (CHF). It is the feelings I developed and the great concern for the people that fed my poetry/writings and they became my guiding principles when I began to get involved in the government.

Biography: As mentioned above, I was born with connections to the State of Chu. It is this connection that brought me to my career in government. The king trusted me completely and because of this trust I was appointed as the king’s chief assistant (CHF). Some of my credits are: political reforms, I set up a strict legal system, and I made sure that full opportunity was given to those who were capable (CHF). Unfortunately my great success in aiding the state and the king created tension between myself and my fellow comrades. Because of all the slander and false accusations about me trying to overrule the king, I was exiled to the countryside so that I might not have influence upon the people (CHF). The king who exiled me eventually became the first emperor of all China and he is known for beginning the Great Wall. Even though I was exiled, my ethics and beliefs spoke for themselves and I was asked to come back due to increased contention between the states Qin and Chu (CHF). It was at this time that I was made prime minister for a short time. Bad influences continued to come at me to get me to resort to violence to solve problems between the states. I objected to this and was again forced out in 303 BC and never returned to a position of power (CHF).

It was during this last banishment that I wandered the countryside near the region of northern Hunan Province that I began writing more poetry. My grief for the states and for the people led me to write the biographical poem Li Sao.

I was the first know great poet in China (CHF). My poetry is filled with life, which began the growth of poetry in China. It has since then continued to influence the Chinese literature. I loved my state and its people so very much. When I heard the news of the destruction of the state and the death of the king, I was so distraught that I walked myself to the bottom of the Milo River in Hunan province (CHF).

Suicide: My death was a tragedy to those who admired me and my work. They were so devastated that when they heard of my suicide they ran to their boats and came quickly to find my body but were unable to find my body. Because they had no idea where my body had gone they made an effort to scare fish and other water creatures from eating me by beating the water with their paddles. They also threw zongzi, rice dumplings wrapped in silk, as a sacrifice for my spirit and/or distract the fish from my body (CHF).

Influence: The fifth day of the fifth lunar month on the Chinese calendar is a memorial for myself. It began as a reenactment of my attempted rescue and developed over the years to a boat race. This ceremonial event is done in my honor as a respectable citizen and a legendary poet. (CHF). But more importantly this even also is a memoriam of the awful past China has had with dictatorship. It is a reminder of the awful things that they do not want to happen again. This tradition of boat racing has spread to many other countries as well (CHF).

“Following age-old traditions, new dragon boats are “given life” by a Taoist priest. He holds a bell in one hand, and with a sward in the or, plunges it into a Fu Zhou (a paper charm with “magic characters” inscribed on it). He then touches the dragon’s head, tail, and the great drum with his sword, while paper money is burned and sand is sprinkled on the head of the Dragon. A leader of the community will then ‘dot’ the eyes of the dragon, a tradition in China that a dragon is asleep until his eyes are ‘dotted.’ The Dragon has now been awakened!

Such ceremonies are intended to frighten away the evil spirits, to bless the boats, and to give them the strength and ferocity of the Dragon - preparing them for the races. And they certainly look like dragons, with a dragon’s head on the bow, and a tail at the stern. Not much has changed over the years, in the colorful and pageantry-filled festivals in which the races now occur (CHF).

Chu Ci:

Li Sao:

References: “Fun Cultural Facts.” Chinese Heritage Foundation: The Minneapolis Foundation. http://www.chineseheritagefoundation.org/index.php/funculturalfacts