Revival of 2,000 year old tradition of dragon boat festivals
SHOTLIST
1. Man in traditional dress presenting incense at an altar
2.
Close of
Chinese traditional food offered at
Dragon Boat Festival, "
Zong zi" (rice dumpling wrapped in lotus leaf)
3.
Symbolic offerings of golden animal sacrifices
4.
Official in traditional dress walking to water and pouring liquor into water
5.
Painting of famous scholar and minister
Qu Yuan in third century
B.C. (Dragon Boat Festival commemorates his life and death)
6. SOUNDBITE (
Mandarin) Jin Xiaoyoung,
Drummer and
Coach of the
Dragon Boat Teams:
"When they went to collect the body of Qu Yuan, the old doctors of the time figured that they would make ceremonial offerings of wine to the fish and shrimp in the
Milo River, because if they were drunk they would not eat the body of the scholar Qu Yuan."
7.
Various of dragon boats racing on lake
8. Various of spectators standing by lake watching race
9. Various of dragon boats racing
10. Man taking photos
11. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) vox pop,
Fang Haifu, dragon boat festival spectator:
"In the past these festivals were not really observed for a long time, except maybe in the countryside, but now even in the cities people are more and more turning to folk traditions and respecting them."
12. Wide of spectators, pan to dragon boats
STORYLINE
China started its annual Dragon Boat Festival, or
Duan Wu Jie, on Wednesday, a traditional event nearly two-thousand years old, which is making a comeback as more Chinese become interested in cultural leisure activities.
The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated around China,
Hong Kong,
Taiwan and
Singapore.
The festival commemorates the life and death of a righteous scholar who, legends say, drowned himself for honour nearly two-thousand years ago after being banished from a court by corrupt officials.
The tradition originates in
Central and
Southern China, but since becoming a national holiday, it is gaining popularity in the
North as well.
Participants make ceremonial offerings to the water, hoping to please the water spirits and fish so that they will not harm the body of the scholar Qu Yuan.
They hold dragon boat races as part of the traditional activities.
In Southern China, Hong Kong and Singapore, the dragon boat races are huge competitive events, but in
Beijing, where the tradition is a recent arrival, the event was more of a display.
Fang Haifu was visiting the park with his young daughter, and it was the first time they had seen a dragon boat display
.
"In the past these festivals were not really observed for a long time, except maybe in the countryside, but now even in the cities people are more and more turning to folk traditions and respecting them," he said.
As China develops and Chinese living conditions improve, many people have the leisure time, and money, to revive older customs, and the resurgence of the Dragon Boat Festival is typical of that trend.
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