One#
Time flies, and it's already the Dragon Boat Festival. Many countries have many holidays in the first half of the year, but fewer in the second half. I've always wondered why. The next long vacation will have to wait until the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to the introduction of "China's Statutory Holidays and Related Vacation Standards," our country's current vacation system is divided into five parts: rest days, which means working 5 days a week and resting 2 days; holidays, which include 1 day for New Year's Day, 3 days for Spring Festival, 1 day for Qingming Festival, 1 day for Labor Day, 1 day for Dragon Boat Festival, 1 day for Mid-Autumn Festival, and 3 days for National Day, totaling 11 days; annual leave, which is 5 days for those who have worked for more than 1 year but less than 10 years, 10 days for those who have worked for more than 10 years but less than 20 years, and 15 days for those who have worked for more than 20 years; as well as home leave and bereavement leave.
This vacation system is the result of multiple evolutions.
In December 1949, the then State Council issued the "National Festival and Memorial Day Holiday Regulations," which stipulated that New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day are national statutory holidays, totaling 7 days. And the single rest day system was implemented, with 6 working days and 1 rest day per week. It wasn't until 1994 that the State Council issued the "Regulations on Working Hours for Employees," which began to implement the "two-day weekend every other week" system, with an extra Saturday off every other week. It wasn't until 1995 that the 5-day workweek was officially implemented. Therefore, our country has only had a two-day weekend for 30 years.
As for the "Golden Week," it was not until 1999 that it was introduced, combining the holiday periods of Spring Festival, May Day, and National Day with the weekends before and after, creating a 7-day long vacation. However, in 2007, the State Council revised the "National Festival and Memorial Day Holiday Regulations" again, adding Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival as statutory holidays. Although the "Golden Week" was gone, several small long weekends were created through the adjustment system.
The adjustment system has been criticized many times, and I'm too lazy to criticize it anymore. In this magical country, there will always be some policies that seem to consider everything but are actually thought up in the office.
"The tail wags the dog," this is a difficult situation to change. Whether it is in this magical country or in other countries, this phenomenon exists. The difference lies in who the head is responsible to, in other words, who evaluates the head's performance. Therefore, there is a distinction between "favoring the superior and neglecting the inferior" and "the people are the most important, followed by the state, and the ruler is the least important."
The same goes for work. When we participate in a project, we need to clarify whether we are responsible for the project, the boss, or the investor. Clarity leads to understanding, and understanding leads to success.
Two#
There are many explanations for traditional festivals around the world, either commemorating a historical figure or a historical event.
The Dragon Boat Festival is probably the most significant among the many traditional festivals of the Han Chinese. The most common one is, of course, to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, and there is also a saying that it commemorates Wu Zixu. A less well-known saying is that it commemorates Cao E, a filial daughter from the Eastern Han Dynasty. In addition, some scholars believe that Dragon Boat Festival is an evil day and that every household must ward off evil spirits, which gradually formed the festival tradition. There is also a saying about worshipping Chi You.
Whether it is Qu Yuan, Wu Zixu, Cao E, Chi You, or the commemorative practices such as making zongzi, racing dragon boats, wearing sachets, drinking realgar wine, and hanging mugwort and calamus, they are all related to the southern part of China or the Yangtze River Basin. This is in contrast to other traditional festivals in northern China (Yellow River Basin).
Although the Han Chinese are now collectively referred to as the Han ethnic group, if we go back to ancient times, the Han Chinese can still be divided into the Huaxia people living in the Yellow River Basin, the Baiyue people living in the Yangtze River Basin and the southern regions, and the Dongyi people distributed in Shandong and Jiangsu. Perhaps the fusion of the Dongyi people and the Huaxia people happened early on, and among the various traditional festivals that have been passed down to this day, only the Dragon Boat Festival is related to the Baiyue people.
Exploring this topic is very interesting, and the more I learn, the more I feel the mystery of the evolution of human races and societies. Therefore, I am very fond of archaeology, history, and sociology. On YouTube, HereIsAleph_旧闻如是说 has produced many videos about Chinese history, which are rich in knowledge and well worth watching.
Another interesting thing is that many traditional festivals are closely associated with specific foods. There are dumplings and rice cakes for the Spring Festival, mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, turkey for Thanksgiving, and candies for Halloween, just to name a few. I believe that this phenomenon is closely related to the sense of ritual. During the festival, family and friends gather together to enjoy the specific delicacies of the festival, which not only satisfies their appetites but also strengthens their relationships, providing psychological and emotional comfort.
Food has become a meme, closely tied to festival customs. Even in a foreign land, seeing the specific food of a festival can evoke thoughts of "thinking of loved ones during the holidays."
When I was a child, I used to go with my elders to cut mugwort and collect bamboo leaves before the Dragon Boat Festival. Fresh mugwort would be hung on doors and windows, while the rest would be crushed and dried in a winnowing basket, and then made into sachets or added to other Chinese medicinal herbs for boiling water or foot soaking.
As for the bamboo leaves, after washing them clean, the stems would be removed and then blanched in hot water. A fragrant aroma would rise from the steaming leaves. Then, the softened bamboo leaves would be placed in cold water for later use.
It's strange to say, but I like to eat dumplings, but I don't know how to make them. I never eat zongzi, but I can make them perfectly.
Three#
The "Chronicles of Master Yangming" records the story of Wang Shouren's last moments. It was the seventh year of the Jiajing era (1528 AD), when the nearly seventy-year-old Wang Shouren was in charge of military affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi. His old illness, tuberculosis, suddenly worsened. He knew that his time was running out, but he always had his hometown in his heart and wanted to return to his homeland in his final moments. So he first submitted a resignation letter, and then, despite dissuasion, he took a boat from Wuzhou and headed north through Shaoguan, vowing to return to his soul-stirring hometown even in his dying moments.
When he left Guangdong, Wang Dayong, his loyal disciple and the provincial governor, was filled with anxiety. He knew that his master was seriously ill and worried that the journey by boat and carriage would be too much for him, so he prepared a coffin and silently followed the returning team, ready to take care of the funeral at any time.
On the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh month, the returning team reached the border between Meiling in Guangdong and Nan'an in Jiangxi by boat. Zhou Ji, a local official, was also a student of Wang Yangming. When he heard the news, he hurried to pay his respects to his teacher. Although Wang Yangming was coughing and wheezing, weak and powerless, he struggled to sit up and looked in the direction of his student, saying to himself, "My condition is critical, but what remains is just my vitality." His words revealed that although he was seriously ill, he still clung to the hope of returning home. However, the disease was merciless, and his condition worsened. Worried that he wouldn't be able to make it through the journey, everyone decided to stay in Nan'an for five days to see how things would develop before making a decision.
Who would have known that early on the morning of the twenty-ninth day, Wang Yangming suddenly summoned Zhou Ji. Zhou Ji hurried to his teacher's side and saw him lying in bed, gasping for breath. He struggled to open his eyes and weakly said to Zhou Ji, "I'm leaving."
Zhou Ji had already been in tears, and he choked up and asked, "Is there anything else you want to say, Master?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Yangming smiled self-deprecatingly, and slowly said, "This heart is bright, what more is there to say!" As soon as he finished speaking, he closed his eyes forever.
"This heart is bright, what more is there to say!" These eight words, if we don't think about the philosophical connotations behind them and only look at their surface, are actually very similar to the current state of many Chinese people—everything is understood without words.
This is a higher state than "the road is seen through the eyes." There is still communication through eye contact on the street, which means that the practice is not complete. The heart and the mirror are alike, person A knows what person B knows, and person B also knows that person A knows, but there is no need for any form of communication. Isn't this a higher state?
But the hidden worries that come with this state are even more worrying. After all, "the road is seen through the eyes" involves actions, while "the heart understands without words" is like a hidden reef in the sea, only discovered when the tide recedes.
Why has it become like this today? I can't understand, and I don't want to understand. Because the "Tao Te Ching" has already stated:
Its peace is easily maintained; its unmanifestedness is easily planned for; its brittleness is easily broken; its smallness is easily scattered. Attend to it before it exists; regulate it before it becomes chaotic. A tree as big as a man's embrace grows from a tiny sprout; a nine-story tower rises from a heap of earth; a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. Those who act will fail; those who grasp will lose. Therefore, the sage does not act and therefore does not fail; he does not grasp and therefore does not lose. The people's actions are always on the verge of success and then fail. Be cautious at the end as at the beginning, and there will be no failure. Therefore, the sage desires not to desire, does not value rare treasures; learns not to learn, returns to what the majority has passed by; assists the natural development of all things without daring to act.
This is where I will end my Dragon Boat Festival essay. See you at the Mid-Autumn Festival.