Duanwu Festival 端午节

Duanwu Festival

The Duanwu Festival is also known as Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The celebration includes dragon boat racing and the eating of zongzi, dumplings, made of glutinous rice and wrapped in leaves.

Duanwu Festival is closely associated with the death of Qu Yuen, a patriotic minister of the State of Chu in China. Although he wanted his country to be strengthened militarily, he was deposed by his king due to opposition from the aristocracy. In the end, the capital of Chu was conquered by the Qin State. Facing the tragic outcome of his country, he committed suicide by plunging into the Miluo River.

Certainly, Qu Yuen deserves much respect for being patriotic to his country. However, committing suicide is neither a good example nor a recommended legacy. It is not really a sacrificial death like fighting against the enemies invading of one’s country. Qu Yuen died tragically and that was a form of giving up before the battle was really over.

I remember when I was studying in primary school. One day I made a comment that committing suicide was a way of escape from suffering or bad consequence. My teacher responded by saying that committing suicide was a stupid act. I asked her regarding Qu Yuen who had committed suicide. She then commented that Qu Yuen was different. It implied that it was alright for Qu Yuen to commit suicide though I was not convinced by her remark.

After all these years, I still respect Qu Yuen for being patriotic. But I was not inspired by his choice of committing suicide. To me, his battle was not really over. Beside that, it was not a good example or legacy, but it could cause confusion to people especially to the young and innocent just as I experienced when having such dialogue with my teacher. After all, life is precious and we have no right of taking away one’s life.

According to legend, those who remembered Qu Yuen would throw the dumplings into the river to prevent the fishes to eat his body. That was an indication that people regarded life as precious and even a corpse would worth more than food. Hence, how should human beings give up life and commit suicide?
据传说，思念屈原的人把棕子投入江中以避免鱼去吃他的身体。可见人以为食物还比屍体重要，人又豈可放弃生命自杀身亡呢?

端午节

端午节落在农历五月初五。通常庆祝活动包括了龙舟赛和吃粽子，即是用叶子包裹的糯米饭。

端午节与古代楚国爱国诗人屈原的死有着密切关系。虽然他曾欲使国家在军事上加强，但是由于贵族的反对，他被君主捨弃了。最后，楚国首都被秦国侵佔了。面对他国家的悲惨光景，他结果选择投汨罗江自尽。

当然，屈原的爰国情懐是值得尊重。然而，自杀并不是一个好榜样，亦非受推荐的传承。这和侵略者打仗而牺牲有很大的分别。屈原自杀身亡，这如同在戰争中的一种放弃形式。

我记得在念小学的时候。有一天，我曾说到自杀是一种解决问题的方式。我的老师即回答说，自杀是一个愚蠢的行为。我则问她关于屈原的自尽，她表示屈原的死是不同的。这意味着屈原可以自杀，然而我必竟未被她说服。

经过这么多年，我尊重屈原的爱国精神。但对于他的自杀我却不以为然。对我来说他的战斗还没有结束而选择死乃是一种放弃。而且，这不是一个好的榜样或传𠄘，反而会让人感到困惑，尤其是対年幼的一群，正如我当年並没有在和老师対话中獲得合理的答案。最重要的是生命極为宝贵，我们没有权利夺取自己的生命。