About the Dragon Boat:
(aka. "Longzhou" in Chinese)
A
modern dragon boat is usually 10 to 12 meters
(about 40 feet) long. The most popular dragon boat set-up consists of 10 rows of seats for 20 paddlers sitting
side-by-side, a drummer (caller) in the front and a steersman (sweep) in the
back. The drummer controls the stroke pace and makes sure that all of the
paddlers synchronize with each other while the steersman navigates the
boat. The dragon head and tail are attached to the boat
only for races. During the inaugural ceremony of a
dragon boat race, a Taoist priest or a community civic
leader is usually called upon
to dot the dragon eyes with red paint - a symbolic
gesture to bring the dragon to life. For the rest of the year, the
head and tail are put away and the boat
looks like a long canoe.
About Dragon Boat
Racing:
| Governed and promoted by the
International
Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) and its
country
members, dragon boat racing is a
flat-water, sprint paddling sport, with a paddling style similar to those
in
sprint canoe
without the kneeling and
outrigger racing
using single-blade paddles. The challenge of dragon boat racing lies not
in the paddling technique but rather in synchronizing with 19 other
paddlers on the boat through all phases of the stroke
(catch-pull-finish-reach) and through the entire race course. The
challenge is even greater for a mixed team of paddlers of different
sizes and strength levels. Dragon boat races are typically 500 meters,
but occasionally there are 250m, 1000m, 2000m and marathon races. |
Dragon
boat
racing is enjoyed
by people of all ages in over
50 countries or territories
around the world |
In North America, teams typically paddle
at stroke rates of 60 to 85 spm (stroke per minute). In Asia, top teams
can pull water at stroke rates above 100 spm! It is common for four or more teams in a race to finish
close together and only split-second apart. Many competitive teams post times around
2.5 minutes to cover 500m while elite teams can cover the same course
length in
less than 2 minutes.
Originating in Southern
China over 2000 years ago, dragon boat racing started gathering interest
in the western world in the 1970s. Today, it is both a recreational and
a highly competitive sport enjoyed by people of all ages in
over 50 countries or
territories around the world. Dragon boat racing is increasingly
popular as a component in corporate team building retreats and
charitable fundraising events, particularly for promoting breast cancer
awareness.
Outside of China, people in various parts of Asia
also have long traditions of paddling boats that are similar to the
Chinese dragon boats.
In Korea,
dragon boating
has been an integral part of the Korean culture for more than a thousand years.
In Thailand, swan boat racing
is as important to the Thais as dragon boat racing is to the
Chinese. In Vietnam,
Ba Trao rowing originated from an ancient ritual of worshipping the
whale god (Ong), the river god and the earth god, combined with prayers
for peace, happiness and full harvest. In Okinawa, Japan, the
Naha Hari (also spelled
Haari, Haarii or Hare sometimes) has been a tradition for fishermen to
pray for fair weather and good fishing since the 14th Century. In Kerala
of southern India, annual
snake boat races are held during the Onam Festival to reenact
various Indian legends that involve using a fleet of snake boats to
carry elaborate offering to the Sree Krishna Temple. A giant snake boat
can carry as many as 100 paddlers.
Recommended Reading:
Former Canadian dragon boater and coach Pat Barker authored a book that
captures the athleticism of dragon boat racers and the international
evolution of the sport. The book is titled
Dragon Boats: A Celebration. (ISBN: 0-8348-0365-8)
About the
Chinese Dragon Boat Festival:
| The Dragon Boat Festival is
also known as the Double Fifth Festival (aka. "Tuen Ng"
in Cantonese or "Duan Wu" in Mandarin), which is
celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon (month) of the Chinese
lunar calendar. The festival usually falls in June of
the western calendar. The fifth month is normally a
month with a great deal of rainfall that threatens to ruin young crops. In traditional China,
the Double Fifth was a day of misfortune: the fifth month was considered an evil month and the
fifth day of the month
was
particularly evil. On this day, the mystical river dragons, who had
sovereignty over water, needed to be
placated so that the dragons would bless the community
with an optimal amount of rainfall. Rituals surrounding the theme of
dragon were then developed. |
Today the Dragon Boat Festival
is celebrated all
over the world and
not necessarily together with the Double Fifth Day observance |
Closely
tied to the festival is also the legend of
Qu Yuan
(sometimes spelled as Chu Yuan),
a beloved patriotic poet who was dismissed from his
government post by a corrupt ruler in the state of Chu.
In exile, Qu Yuan wrote poetry and lectured on his patriotic
ideas. When Qu Yuan learned that his home state Chu was
eventually defeated by the rival state Qin (circa 227 BC), he was
so overwhelmed with sadness that he threw himself into the Miluo River on the
fifth day of the fifth month. On
learning that Qu Yuan drowned himself, villagers raced to the site in dragon boats to look for his
body, throwing rice dumplings into the river to distract
the fish. Although dragon boating and the traditions of
observing the
"Double Fifth Day" existed long before Qu Yuan's death,
dragon boat racing and rice dumpling eating are done
today in the Chinese community primarily to commemorate the death
of a great patriot.
Today the Dragon Boat Festival is
celebrated all over the world and not necessarily together with the
Double Fifth Day observance. You will find a list of dragon boat festival dates
throughout the year on the Global Dragon
Boat Calendar.
Recommended Reading: Dragon boat
racer Arlene Chan wrote an excellent book that provides cultural
snippets and historical insights to the festival. The book is titled
Awakening the Dragon : The Dragon Boat
Festival. (ISBN: 0887766560)
