On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month— #端午Duanwu—we commemorate the death of the poet-minister Qu Yuan 屈原.

Exiled from the kingdom of Chu for his fierce opposition to Qin (which did indeed demolish all, in its imperial ambition), he drowned himself in the Miluo River. 1/

Legend has it that fishing boats set out looking for the much-beloved Qu Yuan. When he could not be found, food was thrown into the river to prevent fish from consuming his corpse.
Hence Duanwu is also known as the #DragonBoatFestival & sticky rice packets (zongzi) are eaten. 2/

'The Songs of Chu' 楚辭, attributed to Qu Yuan (but more likely by multiple authors) are densively allusive poetic laments dating from the 3rd c BCE collapse of the Chu kingdom.

To quote David Hawkes, Chuci 楚辭are the poetry of tristia and itineria —the laments of exile. 3/

Qu Yuan's 'Songs of Chu' are the laments of one born to "an age foul and murky"

Sighs come from me often
the heart swells within
sad that I and these times
never will be matched.

As it is then, as it is now. 4/

For #everynightapoem on each year’s Duanwu. #DragonBoatFestival

Another version:
Duanwu 端午 marks the beginning of summer heat and pestilence, and the in southern China and throughout southeast Asia it was an occasion to fumigate the household and eat restorative foods wrapped in naturally antiseptic leaves. 5/
https://twitter.com/chowleen/status/1275862239392804864?s=21 https://twitter.com/chowleen/status/1275862239392804864

The legend of Qu Yuan - the loyal minister in exile, wandering the Southland - then, was a Han Confucian repackaging of local folk customs.

One stayed as low profile as possible to steer clear of all the miasmic, pestilential forces —hence the need for mugwort and spells... 6/

「五月五日天中節一切惡事盡消滅 急急如律令」

FIFTH DAY OF FIFTH LUNAR MONTH: ALL THINGS WICKED AND PESTILENT TO BE VANQUISHED INSTANTLY WITH THIS SPELL

We could *really* do with such a 急急如律令 these days. Happy #端午節 all! 7/7

[Dunhuang fragment @britishlibrary S.799]