Pyramid-shaped Glutinous Rice Dumplings

Pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves are a traditional Chinese food for the Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the 5th of the 5th lunar month. The festival, popular among the Han people by tradition, was first established during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) in memory of Qu Yuan, a celebrated poet who was a high official of the state of Chu.

A passionate reformist, he courted the wrath of conservatives, who talked the King of Chu into sending him into exile. Dismayed by his failure to salvage his country, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the GuluoRiver on the 5th of the 5th lunar month in 278 BC. His fellow countrymen made it a point to honour the memory of this great patriotic poet by sailing dragon boats down the GuluoRiver and throwing pyramid-shaped rice dumplings into the water to feed his soul.

Such is the origin of the Chinese tradition of holding dragon boat races and eating pyramid-shaped rice dumplings on the 5th of the 5th lunar month.