China the Beautiful

[chinapage]

Double Fifth Festival - Duan Wu Jie

In commemoration of The Great Poet Qu Yuan.



http://www.chinapage.com/quyuan.html

June 22, 2004

[Tin-Kay Goh]

Dear Ming

In early April this year I was at Miluo River where Qu Yuan took his life. His commemoration site is impressive and well maintained but there were few visitors in April. It is during the Dragon Boat Festival that this area becomes alive. It is surprising that my tourist guide and driver had to ask the locals before arriving at the Miluo River. The road to Miluo River from Changsha has a short 5 km section of gravel road till arrival at a ferry. Once past the ferry, one is on the same bank as the Qu Yuan commemoration site. Both the hall and the gardens are well kept.

Believe it or not, I was the only visitor there that day, and it is sad that many historical sites in China are not well visited by the Chinese people who are busy uplifting their standard of living for a better lifestyle. Many historical memorial sites are not supported by the Chinese government and allowed to fall into neglect. The Tang Bohu (famous painter aka Tang Yin) home in the Suzhou area survived on having faithful workers to raise money. I also visited the Han Shizhong and Liang Hongyu memorial site in the Suzhou area some seven years ago. The memorial hall there could not afford new light bulbs and a visitor has to peer in darkness to read the history of these famous Song Dynasty husband and wife generals. Han Shizhong was a good friend of Yue Fei, and he was so saddened by the execution of Yue Fei at the hands of the traitorious Qin Hui that he reisgned from military service.

I have posted 14 pictures of the Qu Yuan memorial site at the CTB Yahoo site Photo section. To see the pictures readers can click here.

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/chinathebeautiful/


New readers to Yahoo must register and join this Group immediately.

Du Fu mentioned Miluo River in his poem "Thinking of Li Bai at Heaven’s Edge"

天末怀李白
凉风起天末，君子意如何？
鸿雁几时到？江湖秋水多。
文章憎命达，魑魅喜人过。
应共冤魂语，投诗赠汨罗。

Tian Mo Huai Li Bai
Liang feng qi tian mo, jun zi yi ru he?
Hong yan ji shi dao? Jiang hu qiu shui duo.
Wen zhang zeng ming da, chi mei xi ren guo.
Ying gong yuan hun yu, tou shi zeng mi luo.

Thinking of Li Bai at Heaven’s Edge
Cold winds from heaven’s edge blow,
My friend, what are you thinking of?
When will the wild geese arrive?
In autumn the rivers and lakes overflow
You’ve skill with the brush, but fate’s unkind,
Hungry demons wait for the unwary traveller,
With a wronged spirit you ought to speak,
For him cast a poem into the Miluo River.

http://www.whisperingwords.net/archives/2004/02/du_fu_heavens_edge.php

http://www.chinatown-online.co.uk/pages/culture/legends/quyuan.html
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…Ç悹ç

[sllee]

Duanwu festival is also celebrated by Koreans who have applied to the UN for Cultural Heritage. Although they claim that their celebration is different, there is potential conflict with the Chinese Duanwu. It is known as Dano Festival to the Koreans.

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20040604/320000000020040604091748E9.html
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SL Lee
http://www.asiawind.com