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Dragon Sport News - Emagazine “The Independent Voice of Dragon Boat Sport” December 2017 Winter Edition TALKING POINT ! – a Look At The Issues Of The Day A MORE IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE 2017 IDBF CONGRESS. In the IDBF President’ report to the IDBF Members Congress, in Kunming on 23 October 2017, reference was made to the fact that the IDBF was now a legally registered limited company in the Isle of Man but no details were given or discussion held on exactly what this change in the IDBF’s legal status means.. All such Companies have Articles of Association that are the legal framework of the organisation concerned and effectively its constitution. The IDBF’s present constitution is its Statutes and Bye-Laws, so the question is what do the new IDBF Articles of Association say and where do the Articles and present Statutes merge or indeed clash. For example, in the election of the ‘Directors’ of the new IDBF Ltd – the present IDBF Executive & Council members and what accounting and auditing procedures are to be followed, etc, etc. The logical step is to merge the IDBF Statutes with the Articles of Association or at least cross reference them where similar ground is covered in both documents. They would also have to be tied in with the IDBF Bye-Laws. A lot of work certainly and then the whole thing will have to be presented to and formally adopted by the IDBF Members in a Congress. Proposed changes to the Comp Regs and Racing Rules were also reported verbally to the Congress by the Competition & Tech Commission, Chairwoman (C&TC) but no proposals on paper were handed out. Presumably these proposals will be put forward in writing to the 2019 Congress to come into effect in 2020, unless the IDBF Council provisionally ‘trial’ the proposals concerning the date on which the IDBF age limits for Seniors, Under 24s and Juniors take effect which would mean the reinstatement of original regulation of all ages being as on the 1 st January in a given year and not as at 1 June. In response to the IDBF Treasurer’s Report proposal to increase the IDBF Membership Fee from 2018, the Delegate from Trinidad & Tobago suggested that in addition, each IDBF Member should be required to pay an extra 1 USD per registered individual in their federation, as he estimated that this would increase the IDBF’s income by many hundreds or thousands of USD, per year. In debate the majority view of the delegates was not to increase the standard Membership Fee but to trial the 1 USD surcharge per individual and see in practice how much extra income that would generate for the IDBF. The one change that will definitely come into effect in 2018 is the Council’s decision to only hold a World Nations Championship for the U24s but to open the Club Crew World Championships to Universities, Colleges and Schools. The biggest discussion at the Congress was over the International Canoe Federation’s (ICF) proposal to hold joint world championships, with the IDBF, potentially from 2020 onwards and jointly develop the Sport. The strong view of the Congress was that there could only be one World Championships for the Sport and that if the IDBF were to consider such proposals then 2020 was far to early for such an initiative. in any event, the Congress agreed that the ICF would have to clearly lay out what its long-term aims were in helping to ‘develop’ the Sport and its short-term objectives with regard to the IDBF’s recognition by the International Olympic Committeee. In general the Congress delegates felt that the ICF’s track record of co-operation with the IDBF was not good and for any future collaboration to be meaningful, the ICF would first have to ensure that the small number of ICF Members involved in Dragon Boating, who are not also IDBF Members, acknowledge the standing of IDBF Members and work in harmony with them at National and Continental level and not against them, as hitherto been the case. Following the IDBF Congress in Kunming, a further meeting took place between the Presidents’ of the IDBF and ICF at the Sport Accord Convention in Lausanne, where it was agreed that a joint Memorandum of Understanding would be prepared to include the recognition of the independence of each Federation. At the IDBF Council meeting held in Kunming, China before the World Championships, the International Ice Dragon Boat Federation (IIDBF) was accepted as an Associated Organisation of the IDBF. In recognising the work of the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission (IBCPC), the Council, also gave the Commission (previously part of the IDBF Competition & Technical Commission) Associated Organisation status, in line with the IIDBF. Being an IDBF Associated Organisation gives both the IIDBF and the IBCPC a seat at the Council table and a voice on IDBF matters. Instagram – hkdragonblover Instagram - teammushu Dragon Boating. " More than a Sport – a Tradition " 30.
Dragon Sport News - Emagazine “The Independent Voice of Dragon Boat Sport” December 2017 Winter Edition CULTURE CORNER THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF THE DRAGON BOAT The use of dragon boats for racing and dragons are believed by scholars, sinologists, and anthropologists to have originated in southern central China more than 2500 years ago, in Dongting Lake and along the banks of the Chang Jiang (now the Yangtze) during the same era when the games of ancient Greece were being established.. Dragon Boat Racing has been practiced continuously since this period as the basis for annual water rituals and festival celebrations and for the traditional veneration of the Chinese dragon water deity. The celebration was an important part of the ancient Chinese agricultural society, celebrating the summer rice planting. Dragon Boat Racing was historically situated in the Chinese subcontinent’s southern-central “rice bowl”; where there were rice paddies, so were there dragon boats. Dragons were traditionally believed to be the rulers of water on earth: rivers, lakes, and seas; they also were thought to dominate the waters of the heavens: clouds, mists, and rains. There are earth dragons, mountain dragons, and sky or celestial dragons (Tian Long) in Chinese tradition. Mythical dragons and serpents are also found widely in many cultures around the world. Some Western scholars have speculated that sacrifices through drowning may have been involved in the earliest boat racing rituals. Based on this theory, some of these accounts have suggested speculatively that perhaps during ancient times, violent clashes between the crews of the competing boats involved throwing stones and striking each other with bamboo poles. This unsubstantiated idea claims that paddlers or even an entire team falling into the water would receive no assistance from the onlookers as their fate would be considered the will of the dragon deity. In this highly speculative scenario, boaters who drowned would have been thought to have been sacrificed. That Qu Yuan sacrificed himself in protest through drowning, may speak to this notion. Tang dynasty painting of a dragon However, this theory of human sacrifice is in direct contradiction to most accounts of the boat race attributed to Li Zhaodao origin of the races, which hold that the dragon boat festival began as a way to rescue Qu Yuan The traditional food zongzi is often thrown into the water, originating from the idea of keeping fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body. [8] Modern academics continue to attempt to confirm the origin of the race, which is open to speculation. [9] Some modern researchers suggest that the story of Qu Yuan was superimposed on a pre-existing holiday tradition. The promotion of the story, over the earlier lore of the holiday, seems to have been encouraged by Confucian scholars, seeking to legitimize and strengthen their influence at a time. The life of Qu Yuan is recorded in Sima Qian‘s Shiji, completed 187 years after his death. While Sima Qian gave high praise to Qu Yuan, there is no evidence of a link between him in Shiji and the festival in his name. Traditional dragon boat racing, in China, coincides with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month (varying from late May to June). The Summer Solstice occurs around 21 June and is the reason why Chinese refer to their festival as “Duan Wu” or “Duen Ng”. Both the sun and the dragon are considered to be male. (The moon and the mythical phoenix are considered to be female.) The sun and the dragon are at their most potent during this time of the year, so cause for observing this through ritual celebrations such as dragon boat racing. It is also the time of year when rice seedlings must be transplanted in the paddy fields. Wu or Ng refers to the sun at its highest position in the sky during the day, the meridian of ‘high noon’. Duan or Duen refers to upright or directly overhead. So Duan Wu is an ancient reference to the maximum position of the sun in the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year or summer solstice. Venerating the dragon deity was meant to avert misfortune and calamity and encourage rainfall which is needed for the fertility of the crops. Celestial dragons were the controllers of the rain, the Monsoon winds and the clouds. The Emperor was “The Dragon” or the “Son of Heaven”, and Chinese people refer to themselves as “dragons” because of its spirit of strength and vitality. Asian dragons are regarded as wholesome and thus worthy of veneration. But if rainfall is insufficient drought and famine can result. Dragon veneration in China seems to be associated with annually ensuring life giving water and bountiful rice harvests. Another theory, advanced by Wen Yiduo, is that the Duanwu Festival had its origins in dragon worship. Support is drawn from two key traditions of the festival: the tradition of zongzi, or throwing food into the river, and dragon boat racing. The food may have originally represented an offering to the dragon king, while dragon boat racing naturally reflects reverence of the dragon and the active yang energy associated with it. This combines with the tradition of visiting friends and family on boats. Another suggestion is that the festival celebrates a widespread feature of east Asian agrarian societies: the harvest of winter wheat. Offerings were regularly made to deities and spirits at such times: in the ancient Yue, dragon kings; in the ancient Chu, Qu Yuan; in the ancient Wu, Wu Zixu (as a river god); in ancient Korea, mountain gods (see Dano (Korean festival)). As interactions between different regions increased, these similar festivals eventually merged into one holiday. The festival was long marked as a festival culturally in China and is a public holiday in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. However, the People’s Republic of China government, established in 1949, did not officially recognize Duanwu as a public holiday. Beginning in 2005, the government began to plan for the rerecognition of three traditional holidays, including Duanwu. Since 2008, Duanwu has been celebrated not only as a festival but also a public holiday in the People’s Republic of China. Article extracted from Wikipedia. Dragon Boat History And Cultural Traditions. THE DRAGON BOAT RACE IN WU-LING, HUNAN By Yang Ssu-Chjang Igor Sitnikov∗ 47 COMMON SYMBOLS IN EURASIA-PACIFIC UNCONSCIOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE: A CASE STUDY OF THE TAIWANESE 18 DEITIES’ CULT, IJAPS, Vol. 7, No. 1 (January 2011) Dragon Boating. " More than a Sport – a Tradition " 31.
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