Rice Dumpling Festival 2010

This year, Rice Dumpling Festival fall on today, 16.06.2010. In Brunei, Chinese do remember to celebrate this festival but without Dragon boat racing unlike other countries. I think our parents always tells us that we have to eat dumpling and throw dumpling into the sea in order to celebrate this festival. Actually for nowadays we don't throw any dumpling into the sea anymore, we just go to beach for sightseeing and hang out only.

With the popularity of DSLR today, we don't miss this chance to take some random or candid photo as well and of course, never forget to take sunset picture. This evening after worked around 5.30 pm, i went to Seria beach at Billionth barrel monument. By the time i arrived there, it were so many peoples there already and weather was good and reflect a nice sunset. Today's outcome will be post soon...

What's the story behind this festival?
Well, there was a Chinese named Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who serve the emperor in Chu Kingdom in ancient China. He was a good minister and well loved by the resident. However, those bad court officers were jealous of Qu Yuan's abilities and they succussfully influenced the weak mined emperor to dismiss and suspended him. Qu Yuan was very angry and disheartened so he tied himself to a rock and jumped into the Mi Luo river in Hunan province in order to protest against injustice and corruption.

When the people get to know of his death, they rowed their boats to the river to look for his body but unfortunately they failed to find his body so they started beating their drums and making loud noises in the river hoping to scare the fishes and sea creatures away so that they will not be able to eat his body. Others started making rice dumplings to throw into the river believing that the sea creatures and fishes will eat their dumplings instead of Qu Yuan's body.Since then, the 5Th May in Chinese lunar calendar was set as Rice Dumpling Festival, in other hand to remember the incident. So, this is how Rice Dumpling festival and Dragon Boat Festival created then.

Today, its also known as Dragon Boat Festival too. In China, Hong kong, Macau and Taiwan is the official public holiday where peoples make celebrations includes eating the rice dumpling zongzi, drinking real gar wine, and racing dragon boats.

端午節簡介:

端午節裏，流傳著吃粽子和賽龍舟的習俗，據說為了紀念愛國詩人屈原是戰國時代楚國的忠臣，卻被奸臣陷害，報國無門，只能暗自憂心後，在農曆五月五日( 端午節 )這天，投江自盡。人民都紛紛划船去拯救他，這就是端午節划龍舟的起源。人民又有感於他的忠誠國，恐怕他被大魚吃了，就用竹筒裝了糯米，做成粽子，拋入江裏，希望魚兒只吃粽子，不吃屈原，後來改用竹葉包粽子，在端午時吃用，以為紀念屈原。