CULTURES OF CHINA FESTIVALS

China is well-known for its various and colourful festivals. During the ancient China, many festivals were celebrated as a welcome chance for a change of pace. Festivals such as Chinese New Year, The Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Winter Solstice were distributed across the four seasons. These festivals as for the Chinese are a symbol of happiness, wealth and family reunion. During traditional agricultural society, festivals were even national holidays. One of the traditional festivals in the Chinese culture is The Dragon Boat Festival. This festival was celebrated as a remembrance to an ancient poet and patriot who had committed suicide by jumping into the Milou River after losing the trust of the emperor. His body was not found so the people so the threw rice dumplings into the river in order to feed the sea creatures so that the poets body would not be mutilated. This is why the Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated. In line with this, the glutinous rice was also eaten as a symbol of the festival. Other than the dragon boat festival, there are many other festivals celebrated by the Chinese. The Chinese New Year comes in winter when the farmers were unable to work in the field. The Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Chung Yuan Festival, The Mid- Autumn Festival, The Double Ninth and Tung Chin are the festivals celebrated by the Chinese. And now today, even though the lifestyle of the modern Chinese has change, but the tradition of celebrating these important festivals still remains.

By : Salaswatie bt Mohd Shukri