Chinese Poets Day Poem by William He

" Chinese Poets' Day" : " Dragon Boat Festival" , the English translated name of the festival, and its other name is " Double Fifth Festival" . In China, the festival was also celebrated as 'Poets' Day' in honor of Qu Yuan, who is known as China's first poet. Chinese citizens traditionally throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water and it is also customary to eat tzungtzu and rice dumplings. The festival was long marked as a cultural holiday in China. 'Miluo': Miluo River is famous for the prominent poet Qu Yuan. According to the legend, after Qu's suicide in the Miluo River, local villagers rowed out on the river to search for his body, but failed. In order to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body, the villagers splashed the water with their paddles and beat drums. They also threw lumps of rice into the river to feed the fish, so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. " Achelous" : Greek Akheloios, shape-shifting Greek river god who was the personification of the Achelous River, one of the longest rivers in Greece. Achelous, who was worshipped as the god of fresh water, was chief among his 3,000 brothers, and all springs, rivers, and oceans were believed to issue from him.