Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races by Patricia and Robert Foulke any famo us international races have their ori gin s in legendary hi storical events. A traditional Marathon celebrates a courier's fatal 26mi le run from that c ity to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the invading Persians in 490 BC. The 53mil e Swedi sh Vasa loppet from Mora to Salen retraces the ski track s of Gustav Vasa, later Sweden 's first king, who was heading for Norway to gather s upport fo r a rebe lli on again st Dani sh rule in 152 1. And the grue ling I, I 00-mile Alaskan lditerod reenacts the struggle to get lifesav ing serum from the railhead at Nenana to isolated Nome by dog sled during a breakout of dipthe ria in 1925. But pe rh aps no race has a mo re compl ex hi stori cal and religious origin than the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival and Internati onal Races. The Dragon Boat Festi va l, also ca lled Tuen Ng, is ce lebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every yea r, and the International Races are he ld on the fo llow ing weekend. The fest iva l ce lebrates the life of the poet and statesman Qu Yuan, who was unju stl y acc used of treason by jea lo us courtiers; they persuaded the Emperor to bani sh him. After yea rs of wa ndering, the unhappy Qu Yuan drowned him self in the Mi Lo Ri ve r in 278 BC. Loca l fi shermen raced from the shore in an unsuccessfu l attempt to save him , then beat the water with their paddles and threw ri ce dumplings into the water to di stract hungry fish who were ready to devour hi s body. When, in 40 BC, the fi shermen lea rned that the irofferings were be ing consumed by the River Dragon, they were advised to wra p the ri ce in leaves and ti e them with lucky fiv e-colored threads w hi ch the monster hated . Today the dumplings are still wrap ped in bamboo leaves and are fill ed with rice, meat and beans. Hong Kong's seafarin g communities eac h have at least one dragon boat , and many of the 125 or more entries in the weekend races come from nea rby fi shing villages. The loca l boats come in two sizes, 38 ¡ and 79 ' in le ngth , 3 1/2 ' in width , and abo ut 11/2 ' in de pth . They are built of teak without the a id of blueprints. Both standard and large dragon boats race on festi va l day with 20 or 50 paddl ers, a drummer to set the stroke and a steersman. As one mi ght ex pect. the spec ifi cations for the intern ationa l races are more ri gid: the boats are I I meters long , 1.06 meters wide. and .43 18 meters
M
30
deep; crews , whether ma le , female or mi xed, are limited to20 paddl ers, a drummer, and a steersman. The standard course is 640 meters , which amo unts to a sprint. Elaborate Taoist rites attend the building, blessing, awakening, racing and storing of the boats. Four days before the festiva l, dragon heads and ta il s are attac hed to the boats in a benediction ceremony. The fierceness of the dragon head is meant to ward off ev il water spirits. Taoist priests burn paper money , make offerings and chant praye rs to the gods, to sanctify and bl ess the boats to make them stron g fo r rac ing. With drum beating, each boat is paddled offshore three times on a course perpendi cu lar to the facade of a nearby temple . Members of the community are simultaneously bl essed with happi ness and prosperity and protected from ev il spirits in the sea in return for the ir dedi cation to the gods. Several days before the festiva l, the priest touches the crucia l e lements of the boat-<lragon head , tail , and drumwith hi s sword , burns more pape r money and sprinkl es sand on the dragon ' s head to g ive life to the boat. The ceremony ends with a loca l dign itary dotting the eyes of the dragon so the boat can see where it is going. Such vill age ritua ls are not considered anac hroni sti c even in bustling, contempo ra ry Hong Kon g. Fina ll y, w hen the racing is over, dragon heads and tai ls are removed , and the boats are put to sleep near a temple for another year, e ither buried in sand or placed on a specia l rack and covered A dragon boar head
with tin fo il. Of course, in the world of mode rn sports competition , most team s practice for months before the international races in other boats, and some of the more seri o us competitors are on the water year round . But the racing on festiv a l day is marked more by ex uberance than competitiveness. By good luck, we we re afl oat on be rdeen Harbo ur in a sampan during the races for the impress ive large dragon boats. The atmos phere reminded us of many festive parades that require e laborate prepara tion and in vo ke scads of community spirit- the Mumme r's Parade in Phil ade lphi a, the Mardi Gras in New Orl eans, and the Sech se la ute n (S pring Festiva l) in Zurich . Dragon-boat team s-whether sponsored by outlying fi shing vi ll ages or major Hong Ko ng banks -have an esprit that goes beyond the ir ostensibl e purpose. And the re is plenty of tomfoolery , too , as we ll as colli sion s and caps izes as boiste rou s crews take to the water. Writing in the South China Morning Post the nex t day, John Flint concluded that "some partici pants took the competition seriou sly , but most seemed intent on racing back for a beer and a laugh." The international races on the follow ing weekend were quite another matter, but still largely free of the dead ly seri ousness that attends any profess iona li zed race. There have been some iso lated incidents of brawling among the fi ercest rival s in the past, but most competitors were friendly, sociali zing with each other as well as teammates, despite the feeling of intensity underneath the camarade rie. For better course conditions, the venue had been shi fted from the uncontrollable chop of Victoria Harbour to the smooth wa ters of the S hing Mun River at Sha Tin in the New Territories . And in thi s 20th anni ve rsary of the internationa l races, 3 1 fo reign team s competed , hailing not onl y from Asia but from as far away as Australi a, New Zealand, Europe, Canada and the US. The weather for the races thi s year ca lled fo r something between umbre llas and a full s uit of fo ul-weather gear, but a quick dash down a ye ll ow brick path led us to the she lter of a grandstand festooned with soggy red-and-turquo ise ba nners. Across the ri ver spectators Ii ned up the ir umbre ll as, ready to cheer the ir favo rite teams. Banners- Cathay Pac ifi c, Epson, C itibank , KCR (Kowloon SEA HI STO RY 79, AUTUMN 1996