Dragon boat
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Dragon Boat ["Long Zhou" or alternatively "Long Chuan" (dragon ship) in Chinese putonghua (i.e. mandarin dialect) pinyin (romanization system). Also "Lung Jiao" in Chinese guangdonghua (i.e. cantonese dialect) Wade Giles (romanization system)]: a very long and narrow human powered boat used in the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing, also referred to as dragonboating.
During racing, dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. However this regalia is typically removed at other times, and usually does not appear during training. Dragon boats also carry a large drum aboard, which is mandatory for races, but which may be absent for training. See Discussion
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The crew of the dragon boat
The crew complement of a modern dragon boat is typically around 22, comprising 20 paddlers in pairs facing toward the prow of the boat, 1 drummer at the prow facing toward the paddlers, and 1 "sweep" (see below) or steerer at the rear of the boat. As dragon boats come in varying lengths, crew size may also vary considerably, from small dragon boats with 10 paddlers, up to the massive traditional boats which have upwards of 50 paddlers, plus steerer and drummer.
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The drummer, who may be considered the "heartbeat" of the dragon boat, leads the crew through rhythmic beating of a drum, to indicate the frequency of the paddling strokes of the crew (i.e. the cadence, picking up the pace, slowing the rate, etc.) The drummer may issue commands to the crew through a combination of hand signals and voice calls, and also generally exhorts the crew to perform at their peak. A drummer is mandatory during racing events, and if not present while training, the sweep can also direct the crew. Neither the drummer nor the sweeper is a coxswain (a naval term that can also apply to the sport of rowing generally, or the sport of Canadian "war canoe racing").
A good drummer will actually synchronize their drumming cadence to the strokers, rather than the other way around. When very experienced, paddlers will feel the response of the boat and its surge or resistance through the water via their blades or paddles, and will adjust their reach, and the catch of their blade tips, in accordance with tge power required to match the acceleration of the hull through the water at any given moment. As there may be a tail wind, head wind or cross wind, the amount of power needed to move the boat at hull speed varies continuously throughout a race, hence a drummer should be aware of the relative position of the dragon boat to other boats, and to the finish line, in order to correctly issue commands to the crew as to when to best surge ahead, when to hold steady and when to peak for the finish. An expert level drummer will be able to gauge the boat and the team's power by the jerking of the drummer's head during the catch of the stroke, as well as feel the boat's accelerations, decelerations and inefficiencies literally through the seat of their pants (ie. their foot and gluteus maximus muscles will transmit the boat action to them bodily, much like a mechanical strain gauge or accelerometer devices). The foregoing sensations and responses refer to world championship level crews, not weekend festival paddlers.
The paddlers sit facing forwards, and use paddles. The leading pair of paddlers, or "strokers", set the pace for the team. All other paddlers synchronize their strokes to the stroke paddlers only, for if they synchronize to the paddler sitting just ahead, the result of the split second difference of delay can result in a catapillering or centipeding effect of each successive pair of blades hitting the water a fraction of a second after the ones ahead, and the stroke of the entire boat collectively goes out of synchonisation. During a race the sounds of other drums can make it confusing or unreliable to time off the drum beat.
The sweep, also known as the helm, steerer or steersman, controls the dragon boat with a steering oar that is mounted at the rear of the boat and may work with the drummer to call out commands during a race.
Traditional dragonboats with 40 to 50 paddlers are so long that the drum is positioned amidships (in the middle of the boat) so that all paddlers can hear it amidst the noise of heated competition. However, for the smaller dragon boats of 20 paddlers which are most often used in competitive sporting events, the drum is located just aft of the dragon headed prow.
There may also sometimes be a gong striker who strikes a ceremonial gong mounted aboard the dragon boat.
Another dragon boat position which was first popularized and remains very popular on the island of Taiwan is the flag puller, whose job is to grasp or grab (not "catch") a flag floating at the finish line (one flag per boat or boat lane). Before digital timing and photofinish line cameras came into common use to distinguish very close finishes, it was simple for the race judges to determine the winner by watching for which lane flag was pulled first (presumably an odd number of judges would vote to decide tight "pre-photo photo finishes"). A Song Dynasty landscape painting on silk records a dragon boat festival race on an imperial lake featuring flag pulling dragon boat races.
Dragon boats versus canoes and rowboats
Although a dragon boat is not a type of canoe, they are both paddle-craft rather than rowing-craft, and crew members "paddle" rather than "row". Dragon boat paddlers sit, crouch or stand facing forward in the direction of travel, ie. facing the prow (front) of the boat, similar to crews in other paddling craft, whereas rowers sit facing backwards. Furthermore, the oars and sweeps manned by rowers are connected to their shells, whereas dragon boat paddles are freely held (other than the large sweep oar of the dragon boat, which is connected to the hull at the stern and is usually used only to steer rather than to propel the boat). People who paddle dragon boats may also be involved with outrigger canoe racing (or the sporting clubs of which they are members may provide both disciplines), due to some similarities in training regimes and sporting ethos.
Canoes are derived from hollowed out tree trunks (either single log, or single log supported by one or a pair of outrigged float pontoons); or from birch and other deciduous tree bark shells stretched over wooden frames. Dragon boats, however, derive from rafts of three lashed-together logs which have been hollowed out and are like bamboo rafts consisting of lashed, hollow bamboo stalks which can still be seen in China today. It is the three large, lashed, rafted logs of old that give the Hongkong style of dragon boats its characteristic hull form cross section underwater seen today, which is like a "W". The keel (plank) is higher than the two outboard chines formed by the rail planks, so a kind of tunnel effect running down the centreline (keel) of the boat is present due to this construction and design.
History and culture of dragon boat racing
The use of dragon boats for racing and dragons are believed by modern scholars, sinologists and anthropologists to have originated in southern central China more than 2,500 years ago, along the banks of such iconic rivers as the Chang Jiang a.k.a. Yangtze (i.e. during the same era when the games of ancient Greece were being established at Olympia). Dragon boat racing as the basis for annual water rituals and festival celebrations, and for the tradtional veneration of the Asian dragon water deity, has been practiced continuously since this period.
The Heavenly or Celestial Dragon
The dragon plays the most venerated role within the Chinese mythological tradition. For example, of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac the only mythical creature is the dragon. The rest are not mythical (eg. dog, rat, tiger, horse, snake, rabbit, rooster, monkey, sheep, ox, pig - all of which are familiar to agrarian peasants.) Dragons are traditionally believed to be the rulers of rivers and seas and dominate the clouds and the rains of heaven. There are earth dragons, mountain dragons and sky or celestial dragons (Tian Long) in Chinese tradition.
Sacrifices, sometimes human, were involved in the earliest boat racing rituals it is believed. During these ancient times violent clashes between the crew members of the competing boats involved throwing stones and striking each other with bamboo stalks. Originally, paddlers or even an entire team falling into the water could receive no assistance from the onlookers as their misfortune was considered to be the will of the Dragon Deity which could not be interfered with. Those boaters who drowned were thought to have been sacrificed. That Qu Yuan sacrificed himself in protest through drowning speaks to this early notion.
Dragon boat racing traditionally coincides with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month (varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Summer Solstice occurs around June 21 and is the reason why Chinese refer to their festival as "Duan Wu". Both the sun and the dragon are considered to be male. (The moon and the mythical phoenix are considered to be female.) The sun and the dragon are at their most potent during this time of the year, so cause for observing this through ritual celebrations such as dragon boat racing. It is also the time of farming year when rice seedlings must be transplanted in their paddy fields, for wet rice cultivation to take place.
This season is also associated with pestilence and disease, so is considered as a period of evil due to the high summer temperatures which can lead to rot and putrification in primitive societies lacking modern refrigeration and sanitation facilities. One custom involves cutting shapes of the five poisonous or venomous animals out of red paper, so as to ward off these evils. The paper snakes, centipedes, scorpians, lizards and toads - those that supposedly lured "evil spirits" - where sometimes placed in the mouthes of the carved wooden dragons.
Venerating the Dragon deity was meant to avert misfortune and calamity and encourage rainfall which is needed for the fertility of the crops and thus for the prosperity of an agrarian way of life. Celestial dragons were the controllers of the rain, the Monsoon winds and the clouds. The Emperor was "The Dragon" or the "Son of Heaven", and Chinese people refer to themselves as "dragons" because of its spirit of strength and vitality. Unlike the dragons in European mythology which are considered to be evil and demonic, Asian dragons are regarded as wholesome and beneficent, and thus worthy of veneration, not slaying.
Another ritual called Awakening of the Dragon involves a Daoist priest dotting the bulging eyes of the carved dragon head attached to the boat, in the sense of ending its slumber and re-energizing its spirit or qi (pronounced: chee). At festivals today, a VIP can be invited to step forward to touch the eyes on a dragon boat head with a brush dipped in red paint in order to reanimate the creature's bold spirit for hearty racing.
Qu Yuan
The other main legend concerns the poignant saga of a famous Chinese patriot poet named Qu Yuan a.k.a. Ch'u Yuen. It is said that he lived in the pre-imperial Warring States period (475-221 BC). During this time the area today known as central China was divided into seven main states or kingdoms battling among themselves for supremacy with unprecedented heights of military intrigue. This was at the conclusion of the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty period, which is regarded as China's classical age during which Kongzi (Confucius) lived. Also, the author Sunzi (Sun Tzu) is said to have written his famous classic on military strategy The Art of War during this era.
Qu Yuan is popularly regarded as a minister in one of the Warring State governments, the southern state of Chu (present day Hunan and Hubei provinces), a champion of political loyalty and integrity, and eager to maintain the Chu state's autonomy and hegenomy. The Chu king, however, fell under the influence of other corrupt, jealous ministers who slandered Qu Yuan as 'a sting in flesh'. So the fooled king banished QU, his most loyal counselor.
In Qu's exile, so goes the legend, he supposedly produced some of the greatest early poetry in Chinese literature expressing his fervent love for his state and his deepest concern for its future. The collection of odes are known as the Chuci or "Songs of the South (Chu)". His most well known verses are the rhapsodic Li Sao or "Lament" and the fantastic Tien Wen or "Heavenly Questions".
In the year 278 B.C., upon learning of the upcoming devastation of his state from invasion by a neighbouring Warring State (Qin in particular), Qu is said to have waded into the Miluo river in today's Hunan Province holding a great rock in order to commit ritual suicide as a form of protest against the corruption of the era. The Qin or Chin kingdom eventually conquered all of the other states and unified them into the first Chinese empire. The word China derives from Chin.
The common people, upon learning of his suicide, rushed out on the water in their fishing boats to the middle of the river and tried desperatedly to save Qu Yuan. They beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles in order to keep the fish and evil spirits from his body. Later on, they scattered rice into the water to prevent him from suffering hunger.
However, late one night, the spirit of Qu Yuan appeared before his friends and told them that the rice meant for him was being intercepted by a huge river dragon. He asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon. This has been a traditional food ever since known as zongzi or sticky rice wrapped in leaves, although they are wrapped in leaves instead of silk. In commemoration of Qu Yuan it is said, people hold dragon boat races annually on the day of his death.
Today, dragon boat festivals continue to be celebrated around the world with dragon boat racing, although such events are still culturally associated with the traditional Chinese Tuen Ng festival in Hong Kong (Cantonese Chinese dialect) or Duan Wu festival in south central mainland China (Mandarin Chinese dialect).
Dragon boat racing as a modern sport
Modern dragon boat racing is typically a sprint event of several hundred metres, with 500 metres being a standard distance in many international races. There are also some very long endurance events, such as the Three Gorges Dam Rally along the Yangtze River (or Chang Jiang) near Yichang, Hubei province, China, which covers up to 100 kilometres.
Popularity
Due to the long history of dragon boat racing in China, participants in cultural and racing events there number some 20 million people (on a population base of over 1 billion souls). Over the past 25 years, dragon boat racing has gradually spread beyond Asia overseas to Europe, North America, Australia and Africa, becoming a popular international sport with a growing number of participants.
Today, dragon boat racing is among the fastest growing of team water sports, with scores of thousands of participants in around 50 countries so far. The sport is recognised for the camaraderie, strength and endurance fostered amongst participants, and it has also become a very popular corporate and charitable sport.
Organisations
The main sporting federations include the International Dragon Boat Federation ("IDBF"), the European Dragon Boat Federation, and the Asian Dragon Boat Federation. IDBF member associations or federations have been established in many countries (eg. China DBA, Hong Kong DBA, Chinese Taipei DBA, Macau DBA, Singapore DBA, Australian DBF, United States DBF, Dragon Boat Racing Council of Canada, British DB Racing Association, Italian DBF, German DBA, Swiss DBA, South African DBA, Danish DBA, as well as many others).
Racing events
The IDBF has organised world championship regattas on alternate years since 1995. Previous regattas have been or will be held in the following locations.
- Yueyang, Hunan province, China, 1995
- Vancouver, Canada, 1996
- Hong Kong, 1997 (2 weeks before Hong Kong was retuned to Chinese sovereignty)
- Wellington, New Zealand, 1998
- Nottingham, United Kingdom, 1999
- Philadelphia, USA, 2001
- Rome, Italy, 2002
- Poznan, Poland, and Cape Town South Africa, 2003
- Shanghai, China, 2004
- Berlin, Germany, 2005
- Toronto, Canada, 2006
- Sydney, Australia, 2007
- Beijing, China, 2008
A popular international meet is also held in Hong Kong annually.
The biggest dragon boat festival racing events outside of Asia are in Canada. Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto each host races featuring more than 180 25-person crews. These races take place over two days in mid-to-late June in correspondence with the 5th Day of the 5th Month custom.
External links
Governing organisations
- European Dragon Boat Federation website (http://www.dragonboat.org.uk/edbf/)
- International Dragon Boat Federation website (http://www.dragonboat.org.uk/idbf/)