Happy Juneteenth and Duanwu! As I am Chinese, I will lend some historical context to Duanwu on this rare opportunity where the Gregorian and Lunar calendars converge to commemorate two histories of injustice, grief, survival, and cultural memory .
The Duanwu or Dragon Boat Festival celebrates QuYuan, a beloved Chinese administrator and poet from the Warring States era (c. 475 – 221 BC). He was known as a fair administrator who wrote many policies to benefit the common Min/people. He was originally instated in the Chu court, where he directly advised the Chu king before corrupt peers slandered him.
The king believed the claims against QuYuan and exiled him form the Chu capital city to a small locality, where he held much less power. He was kind to the locales and a just ruler, but the Chu kingdom suffered great losses and was eventually invaded by Qin forces. He often wrote poetry lamenting that the king had abandoned him, and compared his griefs to that of a divorced woman who was still devoted to her husband (a bit queer-coded, me thinks!)
When QuYuan heard that the Chu capital had been captured, he mourned heavily. He waded into the Miluo River and chose death rather than submission to the new government. Now, in Chinese and Chu culture, it has always been pretty important to have a good burial, so you can be laid at rest. You especially don't want wild animals to eat your body. Mourning itself is a demonstration of love. So, when his substituents learned of his death, they got into their boats and seeded the river with Zongzi, glutinous rice packets wrapped in bamboo leaves (sometimes Chinese Americans call them Chinese Tamales), so that the fish would not eat and rip apart his body.
So now you know the story behind the Chinese Tamales or little green pyramid shaped packages that are sold in Chinatown, in and around Duanwu.
Please feel free to reblog this if you are not Chinese! It would mean keeping a piece of Chinese culture alive in the Anglophone world. On a similar note, I stand in solidarity with Black people celebrating Juneteenth as Black joy, even while continuing to face many systemic injustices. I hope that year after year Black Americans can honor and commemorate their roots and their ancestors, as I hope that Chinese Americans will embrace their own as well.
Thanks for sharing the day with us! Twice the celebration <3
