8.15.1.1.2. Qu Yuan (屈原, 340-278 BC)

He is celebrated in the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节, Double Fifth Festival, 重五节), the third most important festival in modern China.

Held during the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

He committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River, modern Hubei Province (湖北省), while holding a rock, after his country’s (Chu (楚国)) capital was taken by the Qin enemies during the Warring States period (战国时期, 475-221 BC).

He is a symbol of patriotism respected to this day.

A reference to one of his poems appears e.g. at Hu Yaobang’s memorial in Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 (六四事件).