| This weekend is Dragon Boat Festival weekend
here in China. It is a national holiday from what I can gather. Everyone gets
Friday and the entire weekend off to celebrate. We plan to go watch some races
tomorrow in the local river. I hear lots of music coming from the streets. The streets
are packed with people coming from out of town to have their holiday here in
the city. I love how all the holidays here are rooted deep in history. I
suppose ours are too, but it feels fresh and interesting from an outsiders
perspective. Here is some interesting history that I could find about this
holiday. Dragon Boat Festival | |
The
Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of Chu Yuan (340 –278 BC),
a political leader of the state of Chu.
Chu Yuan was a
respected poet as well as politician of ancient China. When he lost the trust of
the King and saw his home state of Chu fall into the hands of inept officials,
he saw his country weakened with the ensuing invasion by its powerful neighbor.
This saddened him so much that he drowned himself in the Mi-Lo River in despair.
The people of
Chu rushed to rescue him, but rushed in vain. In memory of Chu Yuan’s loyalty to
the kingdom, and as a symbol to keep the fish away from his body, the people
threw rice dumplings wrapped with bamboo leaves, called tzung-tze, into the
river.  |
| These are tzung-tze and they are every where right now. |
Each year, on
the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (usually June) crews of paddlers re-enact
that frantic rush to save Qu Yuan, by powering long narrow boats with the
ferocious heads of dragons mounted on the prow through the water, to the
frenzied, rhythmic beating of drums. It is not known how the dragon boat prow
came into being, but it is thought that over the years, they were added to ward
off evil water spirits. This probably arose because the combination of the 5th
lunar numbers is thought to be a bad omen and dragon boat races held, at this
time, would ward off evil spirits; protect the health of the people and ensure a
good crop each year.
Special foods
are also eaten at this time of year, including replicas of the Rice Dumplings
(tzung-tze) that the fishermen threw into the Milo River, all those years ago in
a desperate attempt to save Chu Yuan.
It is interesting how the stories behind the holidays reflect a country's values. I can not imagine an American holiday based on a story in which someone is so "saddened...that he drowned himself in the ....River in despair" or one in which someone is rewarded for loyalty.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying reading the family's blogs as I have never been to China.