Taiwan's Dragon Boat Races and Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions Reflect Enduring Cultural Heritage

Taiwan celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival with a three-day holiday featuring widespread cultural observances throughout the island. The festival is marked by the aroma of zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings) in communities across the region. Taiwan's zongzi varieties include southern-style meat zongzi, which uses raw rice with fillings of pork, salted egg yolk, chestnuts, scallops, squid, peanuts, and mushrooms wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled directly. Northern-style zongzi employs pre-fried rice with similar fillings, typically wrapped in yellowish bamboo leaves and steamed. Sweet zongzi filled with red bean paste and alkaline-flavored varieties also remain popular. Since 1949, Huzhou zongzi from mainland China has taken root in Taiwan, with renowned establishments in Taipei's Zhongzheng District near Gutting, including vendors like Nanyuan and Lijia in Nanmen Market, and the long-established Cai Wanxing shop outside the market, all preserving authentic Jiangnan Huzhou flavors.

Dragon boat racing represents another major festival characteristic in Taiwan. Nearly every county and city hosts multiple dragon boat competitions with remarkable density and fierce competition. Local government officials frequently participate as competitors, including former Taipei Mayor Hao Longbin, a skilled racer. Last year, the Hsinchu County magistrate and Zhubei City mayor both personally competed. Kaohsiung's dragon boat races, held annually on the Love River, saw 162 teams register last year—a record high—with top prizes reaching 1.2 million Taiwan dollars. The rainy season weather is expected to clear tomorrow, with dragon boat races throughout Taiwan anticipated to be lively celebrations.

Taiwan's oldest dragon boat races occur in Erlong Village, Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County, named for its two dragon boats. The village comprises upper and lower settlements. Erlong Village's upper section, Qiwulan, was originally a Kavalan indigenous settlement. In 1776 (41st year of Qianlong), four Lin brothers from Zhangzhou, Fujian successfully began settlement there, coexisting harmoniously with Kavalan indigenous people—marking the first Han settlement in the Lanyang Plain, 20 years before Wu Sha. Twenty-two years later, in 1798, Lin Yan and five sons from Hexing, Zhangzhou, settled the downstream Zhouzaiwei area. Due to abundant water sources and fertile soil, Erlong Village grew into two distinct communities.

The dragon boat racing tradition originated from the convergence of Kavalan indigenous ancestor and river spirit veneration practices with Han immigrant customs of deity worship and ancestral veneration. Initially held at irregular times, the races gradually became fixed on Dragon Boat Festival day with complex ceremonial procedures. On festival mornings, village leaders from both Qiwulan and Zhouzaiwei conduct boat preparation, decorations, deity welcoming, boat eye-painting, harbor sacrifices, and water descent rituals. Afternoon dragon boat races follow, with evening theatrical performances completing the day. A 1957 account describes an elaborate cultural experience where competitors from both communities faced off with approximately 20 bare-chested rowers per boat, employing unique local racing customs: no official starters, timekeepers, or judges; audience members serve as judges; no gunshots signal starts, only gongs; no fixed starting point; kneeling-position paddling; and races must restart if either team deems conditions unequal, even if one has reached the finish line. Under these conditions, races spanning dozens or even hundreds of rounds are commonplace, earning the designation "gentlemen's dispute."

Recognizing the races' cultural significance, Taiwan's Tourism Bureau designated them as one of Taiwan's twelve major festival celebrations in 2001, and Yilan County government listed them as county cultural heritage in 2006. This distinctive folk activity has now entered its 227th year of history. The Dragon Boat Festival traditions in Erlong Village and throughout Taiwan represent concrete cultural expressions of Han immigrant values emphasizing ancestor veneration and moral education, rooted in historical commemoration of Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and enduring cultural transmission across centuries.