[Traveling along the Yangtze River in Hubei] Who is Qu Yuan?

Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall [Photo by Wei Qiyang]

Qu Yuan was an official of the state of Chu during the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. His poems have magnificent imagination, full of strong romantic feelings, and have endured for a long time.

Qu Yuan was born in Lepingli, Gui Township of Chu State (Quyuan Village, Quyuan Town, Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province today). In Lepingli, there are still relics related to Qu Yuan. The people of Zigui have built Qu Yuan Temple and Qu Yuan Ancestral Hall in Qu Yuan's hometown successively, to commemorate this great ancestor from generation to generation.

The statue of Qu Yuan [Photo via the Publicity Department of the CPC Zigui County Committee]

Qu Yuan was knowledgeable, clever and capable, and he knew well the situation of the Warring States period and the politics of the state of Chu. Qu Yuan promoted and granted power to talents, and released laws and regulations.

Even though he was far from home, he still cared for his country. He wrote affectionately in "AiYing": "The birds fly back to their nests, and foxes die with head pointing towards the cave. How can I forget my hometown, the day and night, even though I have been cast away without sin?"

In 278 B.C., the capital of the state of Chu State was occupied by the state of Qin, and the Chu state survived in name only. Qu Yuan was heartbroken and jumped into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

After hearing that Qu Yuan jumped into the river, the people of Chu rowed their boats to save him and threw "rice dumpling (zongzi)" wrapped made of glutinous rice and reed leaves into the river, hoping that the aquatic animals would not harm Qu Yuan's body. Later, eating zongzi on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month was developed into a custom to commemorate Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan is a great patriotic poet in Chinese history, who created a precedent for Chinese romantic literature. He is the founder of "Chu Ci" and is known as "Chinese Poetry Ancestor" and "Ancestor of Ci". His poems including "Li Sao", "Jiu Zhang", "Tian Wen", "Jiu Ge" and other immortal poems have been passed down through the ages, becoming the bright pearls in the history of Chinese literature.

Qu Yuan's spirit of loyalty, patriotism and pursuit of truth has become a noble spirit believed and pursued by later generations. In 1953, the World Peace Council listed Qu Yuan as one of the four major cultural celebrities in the world.

Worship of Qu Yuan before the Dragon Boat Race [Photo by Wei qiyang]

In 2009, the Dragon Boat Festival was officially reviewed and approved by UNESCO as a world intangible cultural heritage, becoming the first festival in China selected as a world intangible cultural heritage.