Today marks the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival in China. It is a traditional and meaningful celebration, which comes the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
This festival is more than rowing, eating rice dumplings, or Zongzi in Chinese, and hanging Artemisia on doors. As one of the four traditional Chinese festivals, it has a rich history spanning over two millennia. It's the first Chinese festival that was classified as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage in 2009.
Unlike other holidays which is usually greeted with the word "happy," such as "Happy New Year," the Dragon Boat Festival spurns this usage. Because traditionally, the day has been though of as an "evil" day.
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the beginning of summer season. It's believed that during hot weather, people can easily fall ill and epidemics can spread, especially with the prevalence of mosquitoes.
Such potential risks make the day look evil, so that ancient people regarded it an important timing to prevent diseases.
Facing the ongoing coronavirus, we hope you can both take modern epidemic preventive measures and follow traditions and hope for good health.
(By Liuqin/Fanying)
