Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The story behind the Dragon Boat Festival aka Bak Chung Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which is on the 28th of May this year. This annual festival is of great significance to the Chinese people that Hong Kong and Taiwan declare a public holiday to commemorate it. However,personally I think most Singaporeans will associate this feast day as the “Eating Bak Chung Day” where pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or pandan leaves are specially eaten on the day, rather than the historical origin of the festival. According to the Chinese folklore, this festival was set aside in memory of the great poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself over 2,000 years ago after the emperor refused to heed his remonstration.

Growing up as a child in Singapore in the 50s, I do not remember dragon boats been raced to honour the memory of this ancient poet. It was much later that Singaporeans become involved in the spectacle of dragon boat racing. Now, it has become a popular sport in Singapore , where our dragon boat racers participate in international dragon boat races are held in Guangzhou , Hong Kong and Vietnam every year.

However, I can clearly remember how my family celebrated this festival when I was a child. The festive preparation began a week before the feast day. Grandma and mother would spend the whole day picking impurities such as pebbles and husk from the glutinous rice spread on a round bamboo tray. Strings for tying the dumplings were made by shredding the banana tree stems and left to dry in the sun. The frenzy of activities heightened as the feast day drew closer. Bamboo and pandan leaves collected and arranged in neat bundles and the rows of prepared ingredients for the dumpling filling were placed in their right sequence similar to a factory production line waiting for the final countdown to begin. To be continued...

11 comments:

  1. If I recall correctly, there are dragon boat races held at Darling Harbour, but it's during Chinese New Year. I think there's quite an active dragon boat racing community in Sydney.

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  2. oh my mother always make every year but i never get to eat since i am here... sigh..

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  3. Hi HW,
    The dragons will be shiveing in this wintry condition if we adhere stictly to the date.
    Haha,

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  4. Hi BY,
    Rice Dumplimgs are available in most Asian stores throughout the year. Of course, they cannot be compared to Mum's. Get her recipe and share with us before it is lost.
    Cheers,

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  5. I bought one bak chang from the Straits Kitchen (SG restaurant in West Ryde) before.. sooooooooo expensive. But, enough to satisfy the crave.

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  6. actually i got help and see her make before la and ... i think i know how to make..

    hehe...

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  7. Hi BY,
    When are we getting an invite to your place for bak chung?
    Cheers.

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  8. Was telling my horrified colleagues in London that Dragonboat festival is when we throw dumplings into the river and racing along it in long boats while making a ruckus. lol.

    Anyway, wife and I have tried making some ba chang of our own with limited success. Just can't figure out how to wrap the dumplings up properly... well, we still have some time.

    Cheers,
    C K

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  9. now cant coz to do that will get the whole place very oily etc..

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  10. Hi CK,
    Did you tell them we also do currency transfer to the underworld. Tell them about Taoist Chinese do door to door tansfer by burning Hade Bank notes and effigies of houses, car even computers to their deceased.
    Are you able to get bamboo leaves in London?
    Tell Mrs not to worry about the shape of the pyramid when wrapping the chung. We always have fond memories of our elongated chungs. You soon get the knack of it.

    Cheers,
    Phil

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  11. continue your story leh! ;;]

    also, can you post a recipe including how to fold those darn leaves? btw i love your recipe for teochew braised duck.. been looking for one and yours seems to be the most concise!

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