Fishing-dragon Rice Bun

钓龙饭

It is said that Heqing Dam used to be a boundless sea where inhabited ninety-nine dragons lead by an alpha dragon named Tadpole, who stirred up trouble and unrest, leaving no peace to the nearby villagers. Since the founding of Nanzhao (an ancient Chinese country), Heqing invited a dignified monk named ChandraGupta, who led local people to expel the dragons and pave the sea. Thereafter the war among dragons and people went on incessantly for a decade and a truce was still not in the picture. So people pray to kwan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy, for a solution, which was to make a hook with bean sprouts and fiddleheads, a fishing line with potato noodles, and a bait with a steamed rice bun mixed with green barley and green beans. On the Beginning of Summer day, the alpha dragon was celebrating his birthday with his fellows in the Abyss Pool near Guanpo in Lijiang (a city in Yunnan Province). ChandraGupta lead people there to fish the alpha dragon from the sea. They pulled it southward toward the peak of East Mountain with the hope of sacrificing it to the demon in Dali (a city in Yunnan Province). However, the dragon struggled violently, with its tail leaving deep winding ditches on the ground, which later became Yang River flowing through Lijiang and Heqing with a fame of having a hundred and eight twists. Dragged to the Peace village, the dragon attempted to escape but in the end surrendered to the villagers who were beating him with sticks and rice buns. Since then, there was a full moon-like river course near the river flowing through Peace village and people named it “a pouch bag”. To commemorate the success of the great endeavor of their ancestors, later generations celebrates Fishing Dragon Festival on the Beginning of Summer day by holding public memorial ceremony and riddle-guessing-feasts while eating the Fishing-dragon Rice Bun.