Did You Know? Dragon Boat is Over 2,000 Years Old

Dragon boating dates back more than 2,000 years to ancient China, where it began as part of the annual Duanwu (Dragon Boat) Festival.

According to tradition, the festival honors Qu Yuan, a respected poet and government official who lived around 278 BC. After being exiled from his kingdom, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River in protest of government corruption.

Legend says the local villagers rushed out in their fishing boats to try to save him. They beat drums to scare away fish and evil spirits, splashed the water with their paddles, and tossed balls of sticky rice into the river so the fish would eat the rice instead of Qu Yuan’s body.

Over time, those rescue efforts evolved into the Dragon Boat Festival, and eventually into the sport of dragon boating enjoyed around the world today.

Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is still celebrated every year in many countries, and dragon boating has grown into one of the world’s fastest-growing team sports.

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Stay tuned for our next Did You Know? post!