History of Dragon Boating

The History of Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon Boat racing has its roots in ancient myths and legends. It began more than 2,000 years ago in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite held during the Summer Solstice to ensure plentiful crops and to avert misfortune. Early dragon boat races were mock battles to awaken the hibernating Heavenly Dragon.

Over the centuries a second story was integrated. During the Warring States period in China, politics and society was characterized by treachery and shifting alliances. A court official and poet named Qu Yuan – much loved by the people – was banished by the King and in despair for the fate of the Kingdom he loved, leapt into a river clutching a heavy rock.

The local villagers raced out in their boats and tried in vain to save their beloved Qu Yuan. They beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles to keep the fish and water dragons from his body. They also threw rice wrapped in lotus leaves to attract fish elsewhere.

These traditions still inspire the Festival today. Brightly coloured boats with beating drums traverse False Creek during the Duan Wu, or Dragon Boat Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month). People eat 粽子, or zhongzi in honour of Qu Yuan even today.

Dragon boats now form the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976 when it decided to stage an International Dragon Boat Festival to promote Hong Kong. This was the first Hong Kong International Races, an event recognised today, by dragon boaters worldwide, as the start of the 'Modern Era' of Sport Dragon Boat Racing.