Customary Contest

In 278 BC, Qu Yuan, the peaceable prime minister of the Chinese Chu empire, found himself destitute, wandering the outskirts of his former homeland, his once respectable empire crushed underfoot by the remorseless warmonger King Huai. Learning that his homeland was occupied by warriors, Qu Yuan composed the poem Li Sao, the lament, the words of which juxtapose his love for China with the disillusionment of a tortured soul destined to ride on the backs of dragons between earth and the heavens.

He then drowned himself in the Mi Lo River. His people mourned greatly, and they tried to salvage his bloated body, but ultimately failed. To prevent the fishes from consuming his flesh, the villagers paddled boats out into the river. They took traditional Chinese drummers with them to create a clamor that would scare away the fish, and threw zong zi, rice dumplings wrapped with leaves, into the river to appease the water dragons in their desperate attempts to preserve the body of this poetic pacifist. Two millenia later, this tradition lives on. Ornate dragon decorations will be affixed to the boats, and the athletes will race to commemorate loyalty to their country and honor Qu Yuan’s spirit in this year’s South Florida Dragon Boat Festival.

The historic elements of the race have been packaged into a vibrant festival, complete with food, drums, and traditional Chinese performances. Today, the dragon boat race is modernized, the paddlers, steerpersons, and drummers are all supplied with personal floatation devices, and they are feted with a welcome reception and an awards ceremony. This year includes men’s and women’s races, and a mixed team that requires a minimum of eight women to qualify. The top two teams of each race become eligible for the South Florida Dragon Boat Cup.