Time of the Dragon Boat Festival

The shape of the Taiwan island is said to have been similar to a giant fish-like creature of ancient legend called a “kun” lying on the sea, so it was nicknamed “Kun Island.” Since the Three Kingdoms period, Taiwan has also been recorded in history as “Yizhou,” a time coinciding with the movement of people to Taiwan and the start of the influence on and development of traditional Chinese culture on the island. From the records of the Dragon Boat Festival on Taiwan in Qing dynasty documents, we can capture a glimpse of the customs for this unique summer festival from the overseas island of Taiwan during this period in Chinese history.