I remember when I was in primary school, my life was still very hard. Every Dragon Boat Festival, my mother, who usually expects hens to lay eggs and sell them for money, is always cruel as usual, saving ten eight eggs to satisfy our brothers and sisters. As for us, we take eggs that we can't bear to eat, choose a thick one, and play the game of touching eggs with other children at school. No matter whose eggs rot first, we don't care about winning or losing, because there are eggs to eat! That simple game once a year always makes me happy, and I still miss it in retrospect.
Now it seems that the Dragon Boat Festival is just a day to eat eggs in my childhood impression, not a festival to remember Dr. Qu Yuan. However, it seems a little vague to know that Qu Yuan is a patriotic minister. He threw himself into the river because he couldn't serve his country, but he never understood the way people commemorated him. What a pity to throw a good egg into the river! Fortunately, every household in our country throws eggs into the "five zang-organs temple" instead of throwing them away in vain. Looking back now, if there is any gain from ideological education, it is that Dr. Qu is a good man, at least because of him, we have the opportunity to eat eggs.
Time passed quickly, and the days when I was a child with insufficient food and clothing gradually faded out of my memory. When I was a child, I am now a father, but I tried to make my children spend the Dragon Boat Festival like me, but I couldn't get my daughter's approval. Looking at her pouting expression at the egg, I can't help but get lost in thought: How should I spend the Dragon Boat Festival today? Is it just for eating or for perfunctory holiday forms? Material is only the carrier of festivals. In the era of material poverty, our first thought is how to fill our stomachs, while in the era of material abundance, what we should pursue is how to tap the cultural connotation of traditional festivals.
As the anniversary of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Festival shows people's admiration for his lofty spirit of caring for the people of the country and not seeking personal gain, and is the carrier of patriotism education and traditional culture edification for children. What we need to do now is not to recall painful experiences, nor to innovate the form of festivals, but to explore the cultural connotation of traditional festivals, especially to educate children on excellent traditional culture. The generation coming out of the era of material poverty lacks traditional culture and education and should be rediscovered from the generation of children.
In the era when foreign festivals are rampant, many young people gradually lose interest in traditional festivals in China, but they strongly admire western festivals, such as Valentine's Day and April Fool's Day. Even many people who come from tradition are sighing: the taste of the year has faded, and the taste of festivals has changed. Are the traditional festivals in China really out of date? Isn't a festival that has been passed down for thousands of years and carries Chinese historical civilization and fine traditions worse than a foreign festival without a traditional cultural foundation?
A scholar once said: "Many habits condense into a tradition, and many traditions precipitate into a period of history." As a national custom and historical tradition, China Festival bears the changes of China culture and the ancestors' thinking and pursuit of life. Every festival contains the blood and spirit of our nation. For example, the Spring Festival pursues universal celebration and social harmony, the seventh day of July celebrates the beautiful love of the world, and the Mid-Autumn Festival prays for reunion and bumper harvest ... For thousands of years, China people still interpret their ancestors with infinite piety, whether it is the prosperous time of Kaiyuan, the time when rice is flowing and chestnut is white, or the difficult time when everyone sings.
From this perspective, what is important to celebrate traditional festivals is not the form of festivals, but the connotation of festivals. Rice cakes, moon cakes, zongzi and eggs are just props for festivals. If we ignore the cultural connotation of traditional festivals, then festivals only provide us with an excuse to squander things or an opportunity to stimulate consumption, then the significance of celebrating traditional festivals will be greatly reduced.