Junior students and their teachers from Beijing Normal University No. 3 Affiliated Middle School stage an hour long play on the patriotic life of the great ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan on June 17, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]
The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is one of China's most important traditional holidays, and the one with the longest history. It has been passed down through generations and is usually marked by eating Zongzi-glutinous rice wrapped to form a pyramid using bamboo or reed leaves, and by racing dragon boats. However some junior students have created their own ways to celebrate this upcoming festival, which falls on June 19 this year as it is the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
A group of junior students and their teachers from Beijing Normal University No. 3 Affiliated Middle School on Sunday staged an hour long play about the patriotic life of the great ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan.
Qu was a minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475-221BC). He was upright and highly esteemed for his wise counsel. However, when a dishonest official vilified Qu, he was disgraced and dismissed from office. Thereafter, the state declined and was eventually conquered by the State of Qin. In great pain, Qu Yuan wrote "Lisao" or "The Lament", considered as a new style of poetry in ancient Chinese literature. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, he drowned himself in the Milo River.
Qu Yuan died thousands of years ago, but he is remembered for his love of and loyalty to his country and his people. Each year on the day of Qu Yuan's death, during the Duanwu Festival, people race dragon boats to commemorate him, recreating how the people of Chu tried, at the time, to recover Qu Yuan's body from the river. Zongzi were thrown into the river to feed the fish, so they would stay away from Qu Yuan's body. Nowadays, this is still one of the customs associated with the festival.
The drama started with a grandmother teaching her granddaughter how to make Zongzi and later the young girl asked why all Chinese ate Zongzi on this special occasion. Then the scene turned to the Warring state period dating back to some 2,000 years ago…At the end of the play, the girl went to the lake to see a dragon boat competition which her father was participating in.
After the play, the teacher and the children shared their thoughts and experiences with the audience.
(CRIENGLISH.com June 17, 2007) |