Sabah International
|
Northern Territory |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| History of Dragon Boat Northern Territory In May (9 th) 1998, Dragon Boat NT advertised in the NT News seeking members of the public (men and women) to represent the Northern Territory the 13th Sabah International Dragon Boat Festival to be held on the 7 th June 1998 in Malaysia. Alan Culbertson had recently left Victoria to settle here in Darwin and had expressed an interest in helping our association to start the sport of dragon boat racing in the Northern Territory. We had less than four weeks to train for the Sabah event and to make matters worse we didn’t even have a ‘dragon’ boat to train in, so we trained by placing plastic chairs in the sea on the beach in front of the Surf Life Saving Club in Casuarina. The team were all novices in the sport of dragon boat racing. Most were from the local Surf Life Saving Club and the Canoe Club and several people had no experience at all. A week later we managed to borrow a dragon boat from a club in South Australia. The team trained every day after work down at Cullen Bay. Alan’s coaching, organizational and leadership skills were exceptional. Alan had to impart as much of his knowledge and skills as possible. Dragon Boat Racing involves twenty two people working as a team. Every person in the team found a great deal of respect for Alan and they did everything that he asked of them. He trained them every night until it was getting too dark to be out on the water. With only two weeks before the race they had to make every day count. It was because of Alan’s innovation, leadership, accreditation and professionalism that the NT Dragon Boat Team won the “Sabah Dragon Trophy” which was the ‘International Mixed’ event. The Territory team was so popular with the locals that a special race was arranged against the local champion team and Alan’s team matched them stroke for stroke but were beaten in the final stages to the cheers of the local crowds. Alan has continued to train the team, four days a week, every week with a few days off at Christmas. His dedication to the sport has been inspiring. Out of the boat, he is a quiet soft spoken person who always has a smile. Alan is one of these quite achievers who just get on with the job. He is currently training a team to compete in the Australian Titles to be held in Melbourne during March this year. |
Qu Yuan and Dragon Boat Festival Chinese people have various activities to celebrate this festival, and all this is in memory of the great patriotic poet -- Qu Yuan.
In the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the State of Qin in the west was bent on annexing the other states, including the state of Chu, home of Qu Yuan. Holding the second highest office in the state, Qu Yuan urged that the Chu State should resist Qin and ally with the State of Qi to the east. This was opposed by Zhangyi, a minister of the State of Qin who was trying to disrupt any anti-Qin alliances. He seized upon an incident with a jealous court official in Chu to get rid of Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan had refused to let Jin Shang, the chief minister in the State of Chu, have a look at a draft of a decree he had been asked to draw up. In anger Jin spread the rumor that Qu Yuan was leaking state secrets. He said that Qu Yuan had boasted that without his aid no decree could be drafted. This made the King of Chu feel that Qu Yuan was belittling him. When the story reached the ears of Zhang Yi in Qin, he secretly sent a large amount of gold, silver and jewels to Chu to bribe Jin Shang and the king's favorite concubine to form an anti-Qu Yuan clique. The result was that the King of Chu finally banished Qu Yuan from the capital in 313 BC.
The next year, as relations between Qin and Chu worsened, Qu Yuan was called back and named to a high office, but the clique continued its machinations against him. In 299 BC after several unsuccessful forays against Chu, Qin invited the King of Chu over, ostensibly for talks. Qu Yuan feared this was a trap and urged his king not to go. The latter would not listen and even accused Qu Yuan for interfering. On the way, the King of Chu was seized by Qin troops. He died in captivity three years later. Chu came under the rule of the king's eldest son, later known as King Qing Xiang. Under him the state administration deteriorated. Qu Yuan hoped to institute reforms and in poems satirized the corruption, selfishness and disregard for the people on the part of dubious characters who had achieved trusted positions. Neither this nor Qu Yuan's resolve to resist Qin set well with King Qing Xiang, who was in fact married to a daughter of the King of Qin, In 296 BC, Qu Yuan, then in his mid 50s, was banished for the second time. Grieving for the condition of his homeland, for years he wandered about south of the Yangtze River. During this period he poured out his feelings of grief and concern for his homeland in the allegorical Li Sao, a long autobiographical poem in which he tells of his political ideal and the corruption and mismanagement of the court. In 280 BC Qin launched an overall invasion of Chu, and captured the Chu capital in 278 BC. The news reached Qu Yuan while he was near the Miluo River in today's northeastern Hunan Province. In frustration at being unable to do anything to save his state, he clasped a big stone to his breast and leaped into the river to end his life. Qu Yuan's sufferings had gained the sympathy of the people of Chu. In memory of him, every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the day he drowned himself, dragon boat races, which are said to represent the search for his body, are held, and the Chinese people eat Zong Zi, little packets of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, which was originally thrown into the river to keep the fishes from eating the body of Qu Yuan. In addition, it is said that when hearing the news of Qu Yuan's suicide, some doctors poured realgar wine into the Miluo River to anaesthetize the fishes, hence preventing them from eating Qu Yuan's body. |
The Eye Dotting Ceremony Dragons in South East Asia are looked upon with great reverence and are to be worshipped. Chinese emperors of old called themselves "Dragons", so dragon boats have good spirits dedicated to providing enjoyment for the racers. Before the races commence a Taoist Priest offers prayers to the spirits of the dragon boats. The Priest makes offerings of fruit, jasmine tea, alcohol and rice that appease the spirits of the water and calm them in preparation for the racing ahead. If this was not done, legend has it that the Water Gods would clash with the Dragon spirits of the boats, with potentially disastrous consequences. Having warded off evil spirits with his prayers the Priest can now bring the dragon boats to life by dotting the eyes of the dragon head and make them strong for the racing ahead. Thanks are offered to heaven and the Gods, paving the way for successful racing.
The dragon boats are now ready to do battle! |
