Just as we set aside a whole day to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. as an important figure in U.S. History, so have people here in China dedicated a whole festival -- the Dragon Boat Festival -- to the memory of a cherished Chinese poet. Here are some quotes from his most famous poem "The Lament".
"The road ahead is long and I can see no end,
Yet high and low I'll search along this road for the truth, without yielding."
What do you think about this view of life? How do you try to learn new things in your life?
The Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu festival) is an important Chinese holiday celebrating a Chinese poet named Qu Yuan. I always loved celebrating this holiday because it meant my family would buy loads of zongzi to eat. Wrapped in bamboo leaves, zongzi (粽子) are delicious, sticky rice snacks with either a salty or a sweet filling.
Quan Yu, who lived during the Warring States Period (475 – 221BC), was a dearly loved Chinese poet who wrote favorably about his country. When he was wrongly accused of treason and exiled, he grew very sad and chose to jump into the river to his death. The local people were terribly sad, but could not find his body.
