words russell shipman, wing cheng photos sabrina piccione

May is the month for thrills on the water as the dragon boats awaken

You could say that dragon boat racing is just racing in canoes with lots of ornamentation and drumming. And perhaps, as the sport is now practised throughout the world, that is what it will duly become. Every country will build its own version of a dragon boat – the Americans may carve steer skulls or car grilles instead of dragon heads, Australians kangaroo faces – but in China, history and tradition will always ensure a dragon boat remains a vessel dedicated to the greatest reptile of all. For dragon boat races have been lost and won in the country for centuries and every year that the races excite the nation, they recall and confirm the place of dragon boats in China’s collective consciousness and history.

Although the actual inauguration of dragon boat racing is lost behind veils of time, according to one spiritual theory, it originated in Southern Central China more than 2,000 years ago, growing out of annual rituals on the water to drive out evil spirits from towns and rice paddies and ensure good fortune. On the fifth day of the fifth month at the height of the hot season, when disease and discomfort were most prevalent, spirits and dragons – rulers of the waterways, clouds and rain – were propitiated with roasted pig, duck and fruit to protect against disease, droughts, floods and other catastrophes to the harvest.

It is easy to imagine, man being the competitive creature that he is, how the races may have started out of such rituals: maybe the daring crew of one boat in a moment of virility threw out a challenge to another and a tradition was born. But however they came about, once started the races became part of the ritual even to the extent, tradition holds, that if an oarsman fell overboard, he was left to sink or swim as part of the offering to the dragon. Of course, overspills of the same virility and pride that perhaps led to the initial challenge may also have meant that angry physical encounters between boat crews led to some rowers being battered or pushed from their boat into the water, to live or meet a watery end at the whim of the dragon.

Among the customary offerings of the Dragon Boat Festival are the rice dumplings known as zong zi. One could say they too were part of the original rituals but a more pervasive legend says that the dumplings – and indeed dragon boat racing itself – are associated with Qu Yuan, the great poet and statesman of the Warring States period. He was a minister in the government of the Southern state Chu and highly regarded by the king for his wise advice and loyalty. At the time, the Qin state was growing into a threat to the other states of the region and Qu Yuan tried to persuade the Chu king to form an alliance with his neighbours as a safeguard against the Qin. However, other ministers in the government, jealous of Qu Yuan’s influence, convinced the king that he was treacherous and he was banished into exile when he opposed the signing of a treaty with the Qin. Returning to his home town, the fervently patriotic scholar/poet spent his time mourning his country and collecting poetry and songs but, when the capital of his state was overrun by the Qin, on the fifth day of the fifth month 278 BCE he waded into the Mi Lo river to commit suicide as a protest against the corruption of the age.

The townspeople were horrified and launched their boats to try and save the much-admired statesman – but in vain. Fearing the fish or the dragon would eat his body before they could get to it, they threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river, beating drums and slapping the water with their paddles. The townsfolk may not have been able to save him, but to this day, people eat zong zi and race dragon boats to commemorate the famous patriot and poet.

Many other theories about the origins of the dragon boat festival drift around China but we will now probably never reach complete certainty how the festival started. Perhaps it is sufficient to know that when this time of year comes around – the Dragon Boat Festival is on May 28 this year and various dragon boat races will take place throughout the month – the boats have already been hauled out of storage to be ritually cleaned and painted, paddlers have been honing their bodies and skills, and excitement once again hangs over the water.

They may have been once, but the races are no longer just a holiday get-together spurred by some local or regional rivalry. Back in the 1970s the Hong Kong Tourist Association, looking for a way to promote Hong Kong with a traditional flavour, decided to organize an International Dragon Boat Festival and in 1976 the first Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) gave birth to what would become the modern era of dragon boat racing. The sport gained such popularity that in 1991 the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) was formed and the crews who competed in the HKIR started their own Dragon Boat Association with continental offshoots the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF) and Asian Dragon Boat Federation (ADBF).

Since then the sport has spread rapidly throughout the world and now has nearly 50 million participants in China, over 300,000 in Europe, 90,000 in Canada and the USA and many thousands in Australia and New Zealand. And it hasn’t stopped there – dragon boating continues to spread through the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific Basin. National Dragon Boat associations produce teams of elite paddlers and organize dragon boat competitions in various countries.

It is not always an easy job to put a dragon boat competition together. Sometimes it may take months to organize permissions for venues and courses, which must have three or more metres of water depth along their whole distance. A standard dragon boat will have a team of 22 on board including the drummer and steersman. But numbers can vary from ten to 100, depending on the size of the boat. In addition to the oarsmen, the drummer is usually seated at the front to give the dragon boat its ‘heartbeat’, the rhythm for the paddlers, while the steersman steers from the other end of the boat.

Probably the most important ingredient for success in racing dragon boats is teamwork. Just one person out of sync will ruin the highly co-ordinated effort needed to drive a boat at top speed through the water, so communication, often non-verbal, has to be tight and precise. But, in China at least, a little outside help is also always welcome – often a Taoist priest will be asked to offer prayers and ward off evil spirits. In line with the ancient tradition, fruit, Jasmine tea and rice may be offered to the spirits of the water – not this time to ward off threats to crops and health but for good fortune in the race ahead. Tradition has it that if such rituals are neglected, the gods of the water and the spirits of the dragon boats will disagree – and then how can a race be won? Some crews also cast paper money into the water as a bribe to the sea gods.

Once the annual festival is over, the boats may be 'put to sleep' until the following year when they must once again be 'woken' for the races. In the waking ceremony, a crew member, usually of some standing, will colour the pupils of the dragon’s eyes with red paint – thus ending its slumber – and also dot the horns and tongue to give the boat power and taste. Then with the dragon boat alert and the crew done with warm-up exercises and auspicious ceremonies, all is set for the start of the race. Much goes into preparing a boat and its crew for the water, but after all that whether it will win or lose may be up to more than the drummer, paddlers and steersman. It may be that the dragon beneath the water watches as the crews pass over its head and casts lots to see which of its boats will first cross the finishing line.