which means i had to get up early
which means i gotta sleep early in order for my brain to function properly
which means i was pressured to do well
which made me nervous at work
which made me forget it was Dragon Boat Festival -.- dawwww
But fear not ! Went out and chilled with sis and Gerbie....so chilled that I actually brought her home......and discovered that Gerbie:
- has her quiet moments
- love to dig dig dig
- shits a lot
- can go a long time without drinking water
- loves my fleece hoodie...she burrows deep and she
- squeaks ! but sis didn't know O.o
- has a dick o.O I....think
- enjoy a back massage once in a while
oh gawd T^T
Anyway this blog is to make up for me not remembering Dragon Boat Festival, despite the fact I had already devoured a zongzi or two ¬_¬ Sources for the DBF related blogs are found frm wikipedia, just search duanwu festival for more info~
Belated 端午節快樂 !
Dragon Boat Festival: Introduction and Cultures
Dragon Boat festival is a traditional and statutory holiday associated with Chinese, and other East Asian and South-east Asian societies.
It is a public holiday in mainland China (since 2008 ) and Taiwan, known by the Mandarin name "Duan Wu Jie", as well as in Hongkong and Macau, where it is known by the Cantonese name "Dyun Ng Zit". The festival is also celebrated in countries with significant Chinese populations, such as in Singapore and Malaysia. Equivalent and related festivals outside Chinese-speaking societies include the "Kodomo no hi" in Japan, "Dano" in Korea, and "Tet doan ng" in Vietnam.
The festival occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Lunar calendar on which the Chinese calendar is based. This is the source of the alternative name of "Double Fifth". This year it will fall on June 16th.
The focus of the celebrations include eating zongzi (rice dumplings), drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.
Dragon Boat Festival: the Origin
Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan (c. 340BC - 278BC).
A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu Yuan served in high offices. He was a loyal minister who served the King of Chu during the Warring States Period in c. 300BC of the Zhou Dynasty.
Initially, Qu Yuan's sovereign favoured him, but over time his wisdom and erudite ways antagonised the other court officials. When the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu Yuan was accused of treason and was banished for opposing the alliance. During the exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now renowned. His work expresses the anger and sorrow he has towards his sovereign and people.
28 years later, Qin conquers the capital of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan commited suicide by drowning himself in the Milo River on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. Knowing that Qu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river in a desperate attempt to save him, but were unsuccessful.
Note: Lazy me is actually copying and pasting bits from the DBF blog I wrote last year, and some people thought, hey, this festival is just here to celebrate a dead nerd ?! So this was my response..
"Qu Yuan is a hero, considering his continuous efforts to protect his country and its people, until his death. Honour and loyalty are regarded as 2 of the most important attributes in the Chinese culture, esp in ancient China, almost more so than "something cool" like gaining victory at war. if there was no honour or loyalty, wat use does a fantastic warrior have to a leader?
oh and back in those days they didnt have newspaper. poetry could almost used as a form of news spreading, equating journalism of the modern world. it is not merely the work of a "nerd".
thanks for d comment."
Zong Zi
When the local people realised that Qu Yuan cannot be rescued, they commenced the tradition of throwing cooked rice into the river for their lost hero.
There are two different versions to this story:
1) A local fisherman dreamt that Qu Yuan did not receive the cooked rice because fish had eaten it. And so, the locals decided to make zongzi -wrapped rice dumplings in bamboo leaves - to sink into the bottom of the river, in the hope that it would reach Qu Yuan's body.
Or...
2) A local fisherman had a dream that the fishes in the river were eating Qu Yuan's body. The local people came up with the idea that if the fishes were not hungry, then they would not devour Qu Yuan's body. They thus began throwing zong zi into the river to feed the fishes in hope that Qu Yuan's body would be spared.
Both stories have the same conclusion: zong zi were made and thrown into the river. To this day, they are still being made and eaten by households celebrating Dragon Boat Festival. An example is the red-been filled zong zi
The Dragon Boat
The Chinese Dragon has always been closely associated with yang, masculinity, positivity, liveliness etc in Chinese / Oriental culture. Dragon worship at the sea is a common practice in ancient China, bearing the story of 4 legendary dragon kings of the east, south, north, and west. According to mythology the kings have the power to control the weather and thus influence the ways of the sea.
In the case of the Dragon Boat festival, it may be possible that the local people believes in the sacredness and power of influence of the dragon, therefore, carving their paddle boats into the shape of the dragon, aiming to either scare the fish away or to retreive Qu Yuan's body. This is the origin of dragon boat racing.
*godspeed*
. . .
. . .
moqi
ɯod!
ɯod!
No comments:
Post a Comment