Rice Dumplings (粽子)
Rice dumplings, or 粽子, are available all year round, but they are traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. (This year, it falls on 11 Jun 2005.)
There are different stories on the origins of the festival, but the widely accepted one is that it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a patriot in the fourth century BC, who drowned himself in protest against political corruption.
He was respected by the people, who went in boats to search for his body. This became the origin of the Dragon Boat races.
When they failed to find his body, they placed rice in the river as a sacrifice. The leaves to prevent the fish from eating it. This has evolved into today's rice dumplings.
Rice Dumplings (粽子)
Rice dumplings, or 粽子, are available all year round, but they are traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. (This year, it falls on 11 Jun 2005.)
There are different stories on the origins of the festival, but the widely accepted one is that it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a patriot in the fourth century BC, who drowned himself in protest against political corruption.
He was respected by the people, who went in boats to search for his body. This became the origin of the Dragon Boat races.
When they failed to find his body, they placed rice in the river as a sacrifice. The leaves to prevent the fish from eating it. This has evolved into today's rice dumplings.