The entry in wikipedia had many interesting details and stories (a visit highly recommended). I highlighted some below.
The thing about zongzi is that we can buy it everyday, and we eat it many times throughout the year. So there was hardly anyone making a special effort to sell it today! Those who have mothers making the zongzi at home are the lucky ones (check out this blog entry for pictures and details).As usual, with the many thousands of years, there were over-lapping stories about this festival. The most known one was that the festival concerned the suicide of the poet Qu Yuan in 278BCE. The zongzi were thrown into the lake each year to feed him.
Other lesser known versions included the suicide of a loyal advisor Wu ZiXu (sometime around 500BCE), the drowning of Cao E (143CE) while searching for her father who had fallen into the river. It would seem these all had something to do with water; ergo the Dragon Boat Festival?
But "Double Six" also refers to the commemoration of the tragedy that occurred in Kota Kinabalu on 6th June 1976. I blogged on this last year (gallery and the opening). This morning, there was a simple remembrance ceremony there.
Once a year the monument was decked with flowers and wreaths ...
... after getting a fresh coat of paint ...
... then you can read all about it tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment