The 5th day of the 5th month
of the lunar year (which corresponds to June 16th) marks a
historically significant date for the Chinese community world wide. It is the
day the Chinese commemorates the death of a patriot , named Qu Yuan who was a
well-known poet during the Warring States of Chu more than 2000 years ago. In
his incessant and desperate attempt to warn the emperor of a corrupt
government, he threw himself into the river as a final protest against the
state of the government.
His sympathizers jumped into the water and beat
with oars to find his body when they learned of his sacrifice. But their
attempt failed. So they made rice dumplings wrapped in leaves which later came
to be known as ‘ zong zi ‘ and threw them into the river in the hope that the
fish would eat the dumplings instead of the poet’s body. Thus giving rise to
the custom of eating dumplings on this occasion which is known as ‘Tuan Wu Jie
‘ (端午节)
Today, there are quite a few variations to the
recipes of making this Chinese dumpling. The common Hokkien version made in
Penang uses ingredients such as glutinous rice, mushrooms, chest nuts, pork and
five spice powder. For details, click here for tried and proven recipe by a Penangnite, Pauline
Chan,
If you want to try the sweet version, click here
for a sweet twist to this traditional treat which makes a fantastic dessert.
This same historical incident also gave rise to the
custom of the dragon boat race as people all over China came to know of his
heroic act and helped in search of the poet’s corpse as a way of paying respect
to the patriot. Dragon Boat races later came to be a major sporting event and
now many countries take part in this high-spirited sport.
In Penang, the first Dragon Boat Race was held way
back in 1956 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Municipality of George
Town and 10 years later the race was revived as part of the Pesta Pulau Pinang.
Today the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival has participating teams all
over the world, namely, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Macau,
Thailand, Japan, Britain, West Germany, USA and others. It is a major
celebration here and a corporate sponsor, Pacific West, has been contributing
ober the years in making the sport a major league event in Penang. This year
the first Club Crew Championship among Commonwealth nations will be held here
on 22nd to 25th July at the Teluk Bahang Dam. Watch out
for our update on this international race.
Happy Tuan Wu Jie!
Article by Koh Tze Yin
Photographs by Fox Foo and Penang Passion Cookbook