Dragon Boat Race In China

The dragon boat race was a huge tournament that held many spectators of different regions in China, including a man names Yang Sichang. Sichang was a citizen of China who observed and recorded a description of the race in the late Ming dynasty. His description of the celebration portrayed that not only was the boat race amusement towards the Chinese, but it was also an “intense competition…sporting event.” The boat race competition allowed villages to show off their community identity by having each boat represent a different region. Not only was the dragon boat race an intense competition, but it also dealt with many different aspects such as religion, identity, tradition, beliefs, and class. I suppose that Sichang wrote all of these aspects