Editorials

Cultural roots

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-17 07:55

Sticking to tradition for the likes of the Dragon Boat Festival, which fell Wednesday, is neither pragmatic nor possible despite the great effort to ensure that the ritual is conducted the way our ancestors did.

Related readings:  Dragon Boat Festival  Dragon boat racing to celebrate festival

The custom was devised for a way of life closely attuned to the harvest seasons of yore. This time of the year usually involves a transition from mild summer days to scorchers. Initially, our ascendants concocted herbal medicines and organized rites at the festival to prevent people from contracting diseases associated with the hot season.

Later on, the legend of patriotic poet Qu Yuan (340 - 278 BC) added a political dimension to the occasion. And, the dragon boat race and preparing glutinous rice dumplings gradually developed into a celebration of the winter harvest.

In order to let urbanites carry on the tradition, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Tomb Sweeping Day of April 4, were declared public holidays starting 2008.

Of course, it is hardly possible for urbanites or even villagers these days to follow the tradition meticulously like their forebears once did. In fact, the holiday has come in handy for those wanting to do a bit of travel or sightseeing.

Be that as it may, citizens have to be made aware of the cultural roots of this festival.

Some governments at the local level and quite a few non-governmental organizations do arrange public ceremonies to celebrate the occasion, but the mass media should give wider publicity to the practice to spread the time-honored tradition. This is the best way to retain the cultural connotations behind archaic observances.

(China Daily 06/17/2010 page8)