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Teaching traditions even the locals have forgotten
By Wang Shouyi |
March 28, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN American teacher called Tom in my senior high school wonders how many people nowadays remember the traditional Cold Food Festival.
Tom came to China as he was fascinated by Chinese culture. He becomes quite excited once he understands a Chinese cultural expression and then imparts it to his students.
Tom invited some students and fellow colleagues to hold a dormitory Christmas party in 2002 when he talked about the origin of the Cold Food Festival. However, we knew little about the traditional festival at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) in Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Chong Er, heir to the state of Jin was persecuted by the emperor's favorite concubine into exile. A loyal official Jie Zitui cut off his own flesh to save starving Chong Er. Later, Chong Er went back to Jin to be crowned and wanted to bestow the official. However, Jie who had already lived in seclusion with his mother declined the favor from Chong Er. The king then tried to personally persuade Jie to take the post, but Jie hid himself intentionally. Chong Er didn't have any other choice but to set the mountain where Jie lived on fire in order to make him appear, but Jie and his mother were unfortunately burned to death. Chong Er ordered every citizen across the nation not to light a fire to cook but to have cold food once a year in memory of Jie Zitui on the exact day he died. The Cold Food Festival around the Tomb-sweeping Day (or Qingming Festival, around April 5), was once paralleled with Chinese New Year's Day as a major traditional festival.
Tom called everybody to celebrate the festival a week after the party. We set up stalls in front of the dormitory building at the weekend to provide cold food for the occasion. The final festival menu consisted of pastries, cookies, fruit and rice wine. We offered a variety of pastries made by jujube, glutinous rice or peanut and school-grown fruit. Echoing the festival tradition of hanging willow, we also collected quite a few willow leaves on campus ready to distribute to students. The willow is regarded as an emblem of Jie's indifference to fame or wealth. Students passing by the stalls would get a serving of cold food for free if they were willing to put a willow leaf in their pocket. Tom introduced the origin of the festival to students in not very fluent Chinese when they were having the cold food. We also took a walk around the park outside the school with willow leaves in our pockets according to another custom of going for a walk in springtime to celebrate the festival.
Tom said that the traditional festivals bear time-honored cultural customs. He said, "A country's traditions will fade away when people stop celebrating it."
Tom came to China as he was fascinated by Chinese culture. He becomes quite excited once he understands a Chinese cultural expression and then imparts it to his students.
Tom invited some students and fellow colleagues to hold a dormitory Christmas party in 2002 when he talked about the origin of the Cold Food Festival. However, we knew little about the traditional festival at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) in Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Chong Er, heir to the state of Jin was persecuted by the emperor's favorite concubine into exile. A loyal official Jie Zitui cut off his own flesh to save starving Chong Er. Later, Chong Er went back to Jin to be crowned and wanted to bestow the official. However, Jie who had already lived in seclusion with his mother declined the favor from Chong Er. The king then tried to personally persuade Jie to take the post, but Jie hid himself intentionally. Chong Er didn't have any other choice but to set the mountain where Jie lived on fire in order to make him appear, but Jie and his mother were unfortunately burned to death. Chong Er ordered every citizen across the nation not to light a fire to cook but to have cold food once a year in memory of Jie Zitui on the exact day he died. The Cold Food Festival around the Tomb-sweeping Day (or Qingming Festival, around April 5), was once paralleled with Chinese New Year's Day as a major traditional festival.
Tom called everybody to celebrate the festival a week after the party. We set up stalls in front of the dormitory building at the weekend to provide cold food for the occasion. The final festival menu consisted of pastries, cookies, fruit and rice wine. We offered a variety of pastries made by jujube, glutinous rice or peanut and school-grown fruit. Echoing the festival tradition of hanging willow, we also collected quite a few willow leaves on campus ready to distribute to students. The willow is regarded as an emblem of Jie's indifference to fame or wealth. Students passing by the stalls would get a serving of cold food for free if they were willing to put a willow leaf in their pocket. Tom introduced the origin of the festival to students in not very fluent Chinese when they were having the cold food. We also took a walk around the park outside the school with willow leaves in our pockets according to another custom of going for a walk in springtime to celebrate the festival.
Tom said that the traditional festivals bear time-honored cultural customs. He said, "A country's traditions will fade away when people stop celebrating it."
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