Last modified: 2020-07-31 by ian macdonald
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I saw on French-German TV channel Arte a documentary on the so-called dragon
races in Southern China. These very ancient nautical races take place on the 5th
day of the 5th month of the moon calendar. The races are supposed to celebrate
the memory of a minister who committed suicide by drowning in 278 BC to protest
against corruption. The fishers went on the river and threw in the waters so
that the river dragons did not eat the minister's body. Races are proven to have
started long before the historical event, and are associated with the rise of
the water level during the 5th moon month. 70 rowers (plus 1 drummer and 1 gong
player) representing their village sit in very long wooden ships with dragon
head at poop. In the middle of the ship is hoisted what was described as the
"village standard", a monocoloured triangular flag with Chinese
character in a contrasting colour (e.g. red on yellow) and with the
"tails" characteristic of ancient Chinese flags. At stern are hoisted
two identical triangular flags, apparently monocoloured with a contrasting
border except along the hoist (e.g. white with red border, pink with green
border). Before the race, all ships paraded with bunches of coloured triangular
flags.
Ivan Sache, 4 October 2000
