You must be familiar with the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, but have you known the Hmong Dragon Boat Festival?
Time and place: The Hmong Dragon Boat Festival, and specifically the dragon boat race, is usually held between May 23 and 27 of the lunar calendar. It begins at Pingzhai Village, upstream on the Qingshui River, and reaches its end at Shidong Village downstream. There are actually several races, and hundreds of villages around Qingshui participate. Before and after the race, there are tons of other events, such as the “release” of the dragon, the “arrival” of the dragon, the “splitting” of dragon meat between the villages, and welcome parties for Hmong aunties. In the summer and by the water, the atmosphere is exuberant.
The Hmong Dragon Boat Festival is a tradition in Qiandongnan, Guizhou; it is a National Intangible Cultural Heritage and is called “dabkiangvongx” in Hmong.
The Dragon Boat Festival is tightly connected to the local geography. The Qiandongnan Autonomous Prefecture, of which Taijiang County is a part, is a forest region that is known widely. In the Ming Dynasty, nanmu (a type of precious wood) and fir logs were often transported to Beijing via the Qingshui to be used as construction material.
When we delve into the customs and activities of the Dragon Boat Festival, things get even more fascinating:
💧Dragon Boat Structure
The dragon boat in Hmong villages has a unique wooden design, with the main boat placed in the center and two supplementary boats on either side. The boats are crafted by the skilled boat-makers, and one of the most distinctive features of the boats is their dragon heads. According to legend, the color differences among each village are determined by the part of dragon meat each village received in the past.
💧Dragon Boat Races
The dragon boat races are always held in four locations: Pingzhai, Tanglong, Rongshan, and Shidong. The competition follows a group elimination form over a distance of 500 meters. Although the prizes are modest, with only some cash and an award pennant, the competition is captivating and thrilling.
💧Aunties Welcoming the Dragon
Hmong villagers attach great importance to the Dragon Boat Festival. Every year in that period, they will offer homemade smoked meats, rice wine, and even livestock as gifts to their villages’ team. If there are relatives on the dragon boats, families will set off firecrackers, tie red silk ribbons, pour wines, and then deliver prepared gifts to the riverbank in order to inspire the rowers’ morale. Spectacular scenes all around!
📖Dragon Boat Competitions
The vibe during the dragon boat races is lively as the races are fiercely intense. The paddlers, with all their strength, race towards the finish line with a do-or-die determination. The close contests often leave the audience on edge, not knowing the winner till the very last moment. Such close races with no known outcomes evokes excitement both on and by the river. You might also be moved to jump on the boat and have a try!
💧”Dragon Meat” Feasts
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🎆 The Legend Behind the Dragon Boat Festival
According to legend, there used to live a Hmong elder by the name of Baogong on the banks of the Qingshui. One day, he brought his only grandson, Jiubao, to fish in the river. As grandfather and grandson focused on catching all the fish that leapt out of the river, an evil dragon rose from the deep waters and took Jiubao to its lair, where it killed the boy and used it as a pillow. Baogong, following the dragon and witnessing everything, was filled with rage. He returned to his home and took a torch, which he then used to set the lair on fire, killing the dragon. But the heavy smoke blocked out all sunlight; the land was shrouded in darkness. Then came the rain, which lasted for nine days and nine months. Seeing all of their crops drowned and all the animals starving, the people could do nothing but hide in their homes and sulk.
One day, a woman went to the river to wash clothes, and her child took a mallet, pounding on the water and making thumping sounds. Then the miracle came. The clouds parted and the river was bathed in light. A green dragon lay in the middle of the river. Not a single of its muscles moved. A frightened crowd gathered on the shore, looking and pointing, too afraid to approach. A few brave men volunteered to row a canoe up to the dragon. Upon reaching it, they discovered that it was the dragon that Baogong had killed. Fear turned to anger, and the people brought out their knives to carve the dragon and eat it. Soon the monstrous dragon was reduced to nothing, having been eaten by the seven or eight villages by the river.
That night, the dragon came to the people in a dream. It told them that it had committed an evil in killing Baogong’s only grandson, that it was sorry to Baogong, and that it had been justly punished that day. It said, I have given my body away as meat as atonement, and I hope that everyone can remember to make a boat shaped just like me using fir and take it out to water for a few days during the off season. The boat will glide through the water just as I did when I was alive. This way, I will make sure that the weather will always be good and that the harvest will always be good. The dragon’s sincerity touched everyone, and, tentatively, they began to do as the dragon had said. They were stunned to discover that natural disasters soon stopped altogether. Now elated, they began to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival every year, and this practice has continued to this day.
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