Around this time of the year, many stalls sprout up around town selling glutinous rice dumplings. Apart from being sticky delicious, these carb-filled treats have a cultural significance. They are a distinctive feature of the Dragon Boat Festival, which marks the death of a patriotic poet.

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month, and this year it falls on June 25.

In some Chinese communities, the Dragon Boat Festival is referred to as the Double Fifth Festival.

And as the name implies, races are organised between boats decorated with dragon motifs. Prior to the cancellation of large events caused by Covid-19, Penang regularly played host to international dragon boat races.

The Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated for over 2,000 years now, and the tradition continues to be observed in Malaysia. To trace its origins, one would have to travel back in time to the Warring States period, from 475BC to 221BC.

During this chaotic time, China was divided into many feuding states, all vying for power and control over their neighbours.

This period would come to an end when the state of Qin, led by the future Emperor Qin Shi Huang, began a campaign of conquest to unite China.

One of the states that would fall victim to Qin was Chu, and among its most prominent citizens was a man named Qu Yuan.

He was a patriot and a poet who also served the King of Chu as a minister. He saw the danger Qin posed to his state but his competence had earned him the ire of rival politicians who slandered him until he was sent into exile.

Alas, everything he had feared came to pass and Chu was conquered by the armies of Qin, which threw Qu Yuan into despair. Distraught at the fate of his state, he ended his life at the age of 61 by drowning himself in the Miluo River.

Seeing him throw himself into the river, some villagers rowed out in their boats in an attempt to save him. When they could not recover his body, they threw rice into the water to lure the fish away from the deceased poet.

Since then, Qu Yuan’s death is commemorated by the Dragon Boat Festival, with celebrants eating rice dumplings or organising dragon boat races.

Zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings

Traditionally, families would come together to make “zongzi” just for this special day. Today, these pyramids of glutinous rice with various fillings are easily available at roadside stalls, in restaurants and at the supermarket year-round.

In Malaysia, “zongzi” is called bakchang, bacang or zang, mostly due to the Hokkien influence.

Following the southern Chinese recipe, they are made with rice, beans, salted eggs, mushrooms and meat and wrapped in bamboo, lotus or banana leaves. Zongzi from northern China also use Chinese dates. The leaves used for the wrapping influence the flavour of the dumplings.

The race of dragons

Decorated with dragon motifs and with a dragon head in the bow to lead the boat, wooden dragon boats tear through the water as they race against each other for the ultimate prize.

A dragon boat can hold anywhere from 10 to 30 paddlers, along with a Cox at the stern who steers the boat and a drummer in the bow who beats out the tempo for the paddlers to follow.

FMT spoke to Vinny Tan, a member of a dragon boat racing team from 2017 to 2019, to get an insight into the races.

One of the things she revealed is that there is a stark difference between paddling on a static lake and at sea. “The water is heavy and dense in a lake with no water flow so, as a paddler, I would need to use more strength just to ‘punch’ the paddle into the lake and pull it.”

While ocean currents can be an impediment for teams trying to stabilise the vessel, it is generally easier to paddle in the lighter seawater.

Tan said a typical dragon boat competitive racing team consists of either 12 or 22 paddlers, who are divided into three roles — the pacers, the engines and the rockets.

The pacers sit close to the front of the boat and they are responsible for creating the pace. In the centre of the boat are the engines who help the boat to go as far as it can and in the rear are the rockets, who are often the heavyweights of the team who boost the boat’s speed when needed.

As to be expected, dragon boat races are won or lost by the teamwork and coordination the team exhibits. Tan said teamwork is everything in dragon boat racing and no one can singlehandedly lead a team to victory.

“There cannot be that one hero on a team,” she said. “If one person is super good and athletic while the other members aren’t, there is no way the boat will achieve much.”

Traditionally, the eyes are painted onto the face of the dragon on the bow of the boat in a ceremony that “brings the dragon to life”.

Dragon boat races are organised not only in China, but in other parts of Asia as well, and even outside the region.