save him but were unable to even recover his body. thereafter, the state declined and was eventually conquered by the state of qin.
the people of chu who mourned the death of qu threw rice into the river to feed his ghost every year on the fifth day of the fifth month. but one year, the spirit of qu appeared and told the mourners that a hugereptile（爬行动物）in the river had stolen the rice. the spirit then advised them to wrap the rice in silk and bind it with five different-colored threads before tossing it into the river.
during the duanwu festival, a glutinous rice pudding called zong zi is eaten to symbolize the rice offerings to qu. ingredients such as beans,lotus seeds（莲子）,chestnuts（栗子）, pork fat and the golden yolk of a salted duck egg are often added to the glutinous rice. the pudding is then wrapped with bamboo leaves, bound with a kind of raffia and boiled in salt water for hours.
the dragon-boat races symbolize the many a