The History of Dragon Boat Racing.
Dragon Boat racing has its roots in ancient myths and legends. It began more than 2,000 years ago in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite held during the Summer Solstice to ensure plentiful crops and to avert misfortune. Early dragon boat races were mock battles to awaken the hibernating Heavenly Dragon.
Over the centuries a second story was integrated. During the Warring States period in China, politics and society was characterized by treachery and shifting alliances. A court official and poet named Qu Yuan – much loved by the people – was banished by the King and in despair for the fate of the Kingdom he loved, leapt into a river clutching a heavy rock.
The local villagers raced out in their boats and tried in vain to save their beloved Qu Yuan. They beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles to keep the fish and water dragons from his body. They also threw rice wrapped in lotus leaves to attract fish elsewhere.
These traditions still inspire the Festival today. Brightly coloured boats with beating drums traverse False Creek during the Duan Wu, or Dragon Boat Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month). People eat 粽子, or zhongzi in honour of Qu Yuan even today.
Dragon boats now form the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976 when it decided to stage an International Dragon Boat Festival to promote Hong Kong. This was the first Hong Kong International Races, an event recognised today, by dragon boaters worldwide, as the start of the 'Modern Era' of Sport Dragon Boat Racing.
There is no other paddle sport in which 22 people work together to create a Team result rewarded through the efforts of the whole crew, rather than a few individual performances. This harmony of purpose can only be achieved through many hours of training in the boat, learning to be a complete crew and developing the team spirit and understanding the necessity to work together, as one unit, for the common good.
When your chosen sport involves cramming yourself and 19 other hard-paddling athletes two-by-two in a long narrow boat, with one more steering in the back and another banging a drum up front — a pandemic with social distancing precautions can put a crimp in your dragon boat stroke.
While the pandemic was dragging on, dragon boat racing was suspended, but here in Queensland SCDA-Mavericks was able to paddle, with just two short lockdown periods. However, when we were off water, we had Zoom catch ups, with members and mental health check ins. Nothing stopped us!
References;
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/hong-kong/articles/a-brief-history-of-dragon-boat-racing
https://dragonboatbc.ca/culture/history
https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/its-not-rowing-its-dragon-boat-racing-how-a-chinese-tradition-got-to-la
