The Chang Festival marks the death of a Chinese poet and scholar Qu Yuan who drowned in 296 BC in Hunan province in China . When people heard of his disappearance, they scoured the river in boats to rescue him, beating their drums to scare off the fishes from nibbling at his body. Unable to find his body, they made glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and threw them into the river in the hope that the fishes would eat these dumplings instead of his remains. Boats were decorated with dragon heads on their bows.This festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The tradition of making dumplings (called 'chang') is celebrated by the Chinese community in Malaysia and Singapore with the offering of the dumplings to the gods and their ancestors.
- more on Malaysia and Singapore festivals at myMalaysiabooks.
- check out Chang recipe / Chinese Dumpling recipe
