Qu Yuan, whose given name was Ping and courtesy Yuan, was an aristocrat. His family name was the same as the Emperor of the State of Chu. His first ancestor was Qu Xia, and his father was Xiong Tong. In 741 B.C. Bin Mao died and his brother, Xiong Tong, after killing the son of Bin Mao, proclaimed himself sovereign of the State of Chu. Then in 704 B.C. he again proclaimed himself Emperor Wu, the first feudal king in the history of China and his son Xia distinguished himself in many battles was invested with a feudal estate in Qu. Thus the area Qu became his son’s hereditary fief, and his son was accordingly called marquis Qu. But today it is very difficult to figure out where Qu is located. Many materials in Qu Yuan’s hometown indicate that it might locate in Dangyang, Zigui County. Li Daoyuan cited Yuan Shansong’s Records of Yidu County in his book Commentary on the Waterways Classic, “Zigui used to be Qu Yuan’s hometown, and the farmland and houses are still well preserved”, “Qu Yuan’s old farmland and houses are located dozens of li north-east of Zigui County. Qu Yuan\'s former residence is 80 km away from the north of Zigui County, and the foundation is made of stones. This area is named Lepingli by later generations. In the north-west of Qu Yuan\'s residence about 30 km is Nǔxǖ Temple, where Daoyi Stone(a place where Nǔxǖ washed clothes for Qu Yuan) can still be seen.” All of these are the most detailed descriptions about Qu Yuan’s hometown, accumulated since the Han and Wei Dynasties. There are also a lot of historical spots at Lepingli, Zigui, such as Zhuoying Spring, Mirroring Well, Book-reading Cave, Three Paddies Growing Jade-white Rice, which reflect ordinary people’s deep love and respect for Qu Yuan.

　　Qu Yuan and the Emperor Huai had the same ancestor. That is why he became zuotu. He was quite active in politics, assisting the Emperor Huai to deal with inner and foreign affairs, for instance drafting out rules and laws, conducting political reform, joining the expedition of the six states to fight against the State of Qin, going to the State of Qi for two times on the diplomatic mission and so on.

　　The ultimate cause for his estrangement, however, lies in the fact that his political reform plan threatened the interests of aristocrats and finally resulted in the attack of them. Moreover the struggle between them was also reflected in the foreign policy.

　　After the death of Emperor Huai of the State of Chu, he was succeeded by the eldest son Qing Xiang, and the emperor Qing Xiang appointed his younger brother Zi Lan Lingyi(an official title). People in the State of Chu at that time all hated Zi Lan, because he had advised the Emperor Huai to invade the State of Qin. So Qu Yuan received a lot of sympathies. Zi Lan then didn’t realize his faults at all, but goaded the courtier to speak ill of Qu Yuan to the Emperor Qing Xiang. With great anger the Emperor Qing Xiang sent him again in exile to the south of the Yangtze River. Ying, the capital of the State of Chu, at that time was not peaceful, and its people fled away to escape the war. Qu Yuan had to go back to his hometown, rambling for nine years in the regions of Yuan and Xiang (today’s Hunan Province). He felt sad for he lived far away from his motherland and could do nothing. Moreover, the situation of the State of Chu was worsening when Qu Yuan was in the exile. Taking into consideration all of these, he finally commited suicide on May fifth, which used to be a traditional festival of the State of Chu. So people have always been commemorating him this day, while the original meaning of that day slowly faded away.

　　In addition to zuotu, he had also been san lǚ da fu. His work included the management of the affairs of clans, education of the children of aristocrats. He devoted lots of his energy into education, but finally his students became the forces against him.