Chinese+Customs

= = = Chinese Customs = = The Dragon Boat Festival By: Christie = Festivals and holidays are celebrated around the world, throughout the year. One thing that the festivals have in common is that there is a message related to their traditions. For example, Christmas is a story from the bible and it is about the birth of Jesus Christ. By learning about Christmas you can learn more about Christianity. To understand a culture you have to take a look at its customs and history behind it. To understand the Chinese culture you have to take a look at their customs. One of the major public festivals that take place in China is the Dragon Boat Festival. It is the second most celebrated festival in China. The Dragon Boat Festival helps us learn about the Chinese culture through a study of how it started its customs, and its superstitions that are related to the festival. By studying all of these topics you can get a better understanding of the Chinese culture. The origin of the festival is based on the legend of Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan is from a family of nobles and has a lot of power. He eventually becomes the minister of the State of Chu and tries to keep peace between the states. Legend has it that the Chu king fell under the power of other corrupt and jealous ministers banishing Qu Yuan. Therefore his attempts to maintain order and strengthen the Chu state against the enemy Qin state fails. He is banished and during his travels he becomes a poet greatly loved by the people. After hearing that the Chu state is now under the Qin state he does something unthinkable. Instead of staying to serve the Qin state “Qin Yuan threw himself into the Mei Lo River on the fifth day of the fifth month in the year of 287 B.C.” (Traditional Chinese Festivals par. 3). When the townspeople found out they went searching in the river for his body. The festival is called the Dragon Boat Festival in remembrance of the search of Qu Yuan’s body.

By learning about the origins of this great festival, or more specifically about Qu Yuan, one can get a better picture of the Chinese customs and cultures. In looking at the reason for why the people commemorate a person we can see what they value. In the Chinese culture, having a loving nature, serving one’s country, and having the courage stand up for one’s beliefs is highly valued. Qu Yuan fulfilled all these requirements for one can see that he was loving as well as loved when “After his death, the people of Chu crowded to the bank of the river to pay their respects to him” (Traditional Chinese Festivals). He definitely served the country to his best abilities for “he did much to fight against the rampant corruption that plagued the court-- thereby earning the envy and fear of other officials” (Celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival). He also had the courage to stand up for his beliefs. All of these characteristics tell a lot about the Chinese culture and the traditions that take place on the Dragon Boat Festival tell even more.

There are many traditional foods, rituals, and events that take place but the most well known event is the dragon boat races. It is where 40 to 100 feet long boats, decorated with dragon heads and colorful designs, are races with up to 80 rowers. During the event there are two ceremonies that take place, “one is the “awakening” of the dragon and the other is the “repose.” Then a benediction ritual is done where the Chinese burn paper bills in front of the dragon boat as an offering to purify and bless the dragon boat” (Chinese Festival History par. 8). Through these traditions one can see that the Chinese is very religious and conserved for the people dislike change. The festival has been “celebrated for more than 2,400 years” (Chinese Festival History Par. 1). By studying the traditional event that takes place on the festive day one can learn more about the Chinese ways. Furthermore, the superstitions that are related to the fifth day on the fifth month tell even more about the Chinese culture. One popular superstition is where the parents “sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and finally string them with silk threads” (Traditional Chinese Festivals par. 5). The bags are then able to ward off any evil. Another belief is that if they “hang the picture of Zhong Kui, guardian against evil spirits,” (Celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival par. 5) on the wall and it will protect them. They also believe that on the festive day “you balance a raw egg on its end at exactly noon then the rest of your year is lucky” (Celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival par. 9). All of these superstitions show that the Chinese are very cautious people and a little insecure. The culture of the Chinese is to not take risks.

All of these different things about the Dragon Boat Festival show different facts about the Chinese culture. When studying the origin of the festival, the traditions that take place and the superstitions that are believed on that day one can learn a lot about the Chinese culture. One sees that the people value love, courage, and pride for their country. That the people have a very religious background and like to keep things constant. They are also very cautious and avoid taking risks. Just by studying one of the Chinese festivals one can learn so many facts about the Chinese culture.

__ Chinese Foot Binding: By,Emily __ Did you ever wish that your feet were smaller? Well, up until the 1900’s, all Chinese women were forced to go through extreme pain in order to reach a smaller, 3-inch long foot, through a process called foot binding. Ancient Chinese foot binding was a technique used to make a woman’s foot a much smaller size. When a girl was a new born, her mother would start by breaking the baby’s toes and wrapping them underneath the rest of the foot. They would gradually break and bend under more and more until it was small enough, that it would be approved by the other people of the country, all of those accepting that custom in China. Chinese foot binding includes; a lot of history, pain to women, and deadly results. The practice of foot binding had an interesting history. It all started out as a way to look more beautiful. “Foot binding began in China during the Tang Dynasty in the tenth century. Tang dancers would bind their feet to keep them small, allowing them to make the light steps" (Martin, 1) that were important when practicing this style of dancing. What began as a way for these women to show off and impress men, quickly spread among the wealthier then even to the poorer citizens in China . In the beginning, only some women bound their feet, but as time went on it became more popular, so popular, that it was a mandatory custom and if the women’s foot was larger than 3 inches, no man would marry her. It is said, “Pain before beauty”, but no women should have to go that far and completely disfigure her feet.   Everyone in China did not take part in this custom; it was only the women who were forced to go through this terrible process. In most cultures it is and was all about the man, the head of the house. The male was superior to the female, and that was socially accepted. That is why the women had to bind their feet and the men did not. Most of the women ended up “ binding their feet to turn them into the prized "three-inch golden lotuses" (Lim, 1), which is what they referred to them as because the lotus flower is one of the most beautiful in all of China, and that is exactly how they thought of small feet, perfect and beautiful.

The results and affects of foot binding turned very badly, leaving almost all who took part in this tradition, unable to walk properly because of infected toes or blood poisoning and both often lead to death, because they were incurable. “If the bindings were too tight they could cut off circulation which could lead to gangrene and blood poisoning” (Crites, 1). With outcomes this serious, during the nineteen hundreds the practice of foot binding was ended, but many are still suffering from it today. There are so many different customs and traditions practiced all over the world today, and in the past. In ancient China they practiced numerous customs, all based around rich culture, some customs were cherished and practiced by all, and others were practiced by just the women. The women took part in a custom where all of the females were forced to go through a painful process where their feet would be broken in order to make them smaller, called foot binding. The custom of foot binding had a lot of history, frequent pain towards women, and deadly results. Out of all of the customs practiced by the ancient Chinese, foot binding was by far the worst and most painful to take part in.

"Celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival." __Chinese__ __Culture Center__ __» Home__. 24 Feb. 2009 < [] >.

"Chinese Festival History." __Kingston__ __Dragon Boat Festival__. 24 Feb. 2009 < [] >. Crites, James A. "CHINESE FOOT BINDING. " 25 Oct. 1995. 1 Mar. 2009 < [] >.

"China and the Yangtze." 16 Mar. 2009. < [] >.

Egg Balancing. online image available [], March 23, 2009.

Hand-carved "Dragon Boat". online imiage available [], March 23, 2009.

Legendary Poet: Qu Yuan. online image available [], March 23, 2009.

Lim, Louisa. "Painful Memories for China's Foot Binding Survivors." 16 Mar. 2007. __NPR__. 24 Feb. 2009 [].

Martin, Shyla. "The History of Chinese Foot Binding." 26 Sept. 2007. 1 Mar. 2009 [|http://http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/386810/the_history_of_chinese_foot_binding.html?cat=37] >.

"Traditional Chinese Festivals - china.org.cn." __ [|China.org.cn] - China news, weather, business, travel, language courses, archives and more__. 24 February. 2009 [|. 