Zongzi

Lore & Background

Zongzi has been a food offering to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a poet from the kingdom of Chu who drowned himself in the Miluo River in 278 BC. According to popular belief, people cast rice dumplings into the river to distract fish from harming his body. However, the earliest documented association between Qu Yuan and zongzi appears in the 'Soushen Ji' or the 6th-century text 'Xu Qixie Ji' by Wu Jun, not in 'A New Account of the Tales of the World' (Shishuo Xinyu). A later fable, recorded in the 6th century by Wu Jun, tells of Qu Yuan's ghost instructing a man named Ou Hui to seal rice packets with chinaberry leaves and colored string to repel dragons.

Reader's Guide

Zongzi holds significant cultural importance as a traditional food of the Duanwu Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The practice of eating zongzi on this occasion is documented as early as the late Han dynasty (2nd–3rd centuries), with early forms called 'jiao shu' made by wrapping sticky rice in wild rice leaves and boiling in lye. Over centuries, zongzi evolved in shape, filling, and wrapping materials, from bamboo tubes in the 6th century to conical and diamond shapes in the Tang dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, zongzi became an auspicious food for scholars taking imperial examinations, with 'pen zongzi' symbolizing success. Today, zongzi remains a family tradition, with recipes and wrapping skills passed down through generations, and its varieties have spread across Asia and to overseas Chinese communities worldwide.

Did You Know?

• Zongzi is also known as 'Chinese tamales' in some parts of the United States, particularly California and Texas.
• The earliest documented reference to zongzi is found in the 'Shuowen Jiezi' (c. AD 100), predating the Fengsu Tongyi (AD 195).
• During the Jin dynasty, a type of zongzi called 'yizhi zong' was created by adding yizhiren fruit, but the attribution to an official named Lu Xun is a misattribution.
• During the Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars ate 'pen zongzi' before imperial exams because its shape resembled a writing brush and its name sounded like the word for 'pass'.