A story about glutinous rice

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

A story about glutinous rice

During the Warring States Period (¾Ô°ê®É¶¡ 453BC to 221BC) of the Zhou
Dynasty (©P´Â 1134BC to 256BC) in 299BC, Ying Ji (¾Æ½^), the ruler of the
State of Qin (¯³°ê) invited Xiong Huai (ºµºi), the ruler of the State of
Chu (·¡°ê), for a conference in Qin. Qu Yuan (©}­ì) advised Xiong Huai
not to go, but Xiong Lan (ºµÄõ), the youngest son of Xiong Huai, encouraged 
his father to go. Xiong Huai listened to his son and went to Qin. As Soon
as Xiong Huai entered Wu Guan he was arrested by the Qin troops. Xiong
Huai died of anguish in incarceration in Qin.

Xiong Heng (¾î), the elder brother of Xiong Lan, became the new ruler of
Chu. Qu Yuan criticised Xiong Lan for advising his father to attend the
conference. Xiong Lan was ashamed of himself, but he would not tolerate
Qu Yuan's criticism. So he manipulated to have Qu Yuan dismissed from his
job and bannished to his hometown which was near the river of Mi Luo
(¨Qù). Qu Yuan was very depressed and often wandered around the banks of
the Mi Luo River, pouring forth his soul in verses. 

Qu Yuan had an elder sister by the name of Qu Xu (©}åY) who was married
and lived far away. On hearing of her younger brother being dismissed by
the Chu Court Qu Xu returned home to see Qu Yuan. She was sad to see her
brother so thin and haggard. She advised Qu Yuan to forget about politics
and till the land and live an ordinary life.

Qu Yuan agreed with his sister and began to plant rice. The type of rice
he planted was called Yu Mi (¥É¦Ì or jade rice). Having seen her brother
had finally settled down Qu Xu returned to her husband.

Qu Yuan was still in despair and sadness overwhelmed him. One day he tied
a big rock to his body, jumped into the river and disappeared immediately.
People living along the banks of Mi Luo River heard of his disappearance
in the river. They rushed out to the river with their boats to try to
rescue him. He could not be found. Neither could his body.

Fearing that the fish might devour his body, people harvested the Yu Mi
from his field and used them to make them into dumplings wrapped in
bamboo leaves and threw them into the river with the hope that the fish
would devour the wrapped dumplings instead of his body. Yu Mi was later
renamed as glutinous rice (Nuo Mi Äz¦Ì). 

Wrapped glutinous rice dumpling was later called Zong Zi (ºê¤l). That is
how people nowadays only use glutinous rice to make Zong Zi.

Qu Yuan's hometown was named Zi Gui (©nÂk) which meant elder sister
returned home, in honour of Qu Yuan's elder sister Qu Xu returning home
to see him.
 
This episode happened before the construction of the Great Wall.

Yoon-Ngan
 
p/s See my story of Dragon Boats Racing and Zong Zi in the Forum.