The Duanwu Festival (known as Dragon Boat Festival), a traditional Chinese holiday, is coming soon, but it doesn’t seem that the current celebration and festival are not as vibrant as in my childhood. I remember faintly the scene of the festival when I was a child.
At that time, I lived in a small mountain village. There’s a river flowing by my village, which is as clear as the eyes of a girl gazing at this land with affection. If you move the river pebbles away, you see tiny fish and shrimp hurriedly darting away and finding a new hiding place. It’s as if they are playing hide and seek with you. They’re so lovely that I can't bear to touch them. At that time, my simple thoughts and nature gave me a feeling of the simplicity in my thoughts made my soul natural.
Both sides of the river were covered with grass. It's a paradise for birds and insects, where a lot of Artemisia grows. On every Duanwu my older sister and I would get up before the sunrise. My sister would go to the field to pick achnatherum, also called henna.
It’s a kind of ordinary flower which demands no particular conditions. It’s so tough and can grow anywhere. There are many kinds of colors of this flower: deep red, light purple, white and yellow, light gold, pink and so on. Mash the flowers and you’ll get henna in red color. The color will never fade away. How beautiful it is!
That's a girl's scene, and I as a boy would go to the small river by the village to pick Artemisia. I’d take them home and them under the low eaves of our thatched house. At that time, I didn't know why I had to do it. The holiday custom left by the older generations is such that there is no why-you simply need to obey.
Now in my old age, long ago I left my village home. The holiday fun is no longer there.
Later I learned that Artemisia contains a special fragrance which can irritate insects so that they don’t annoy you. That’s why we keep the custom of putting up Artemisia in the house. And now as the mosquito repellent products are in full bloom, who would use Artemisia? And about henna, who would remember their presence when a girl can have a manicure anytime anywhere now? Even nail polish is out of date. The development of the times has begun to make people forget the past, which will lead them to forget God’s grace.
In fact, every traditional festival has a special meaning. Actually, every festival was initially a manifestation of the Lord’s love to human beings. Later, people's thoughts were added to all the festivals. That caused confusion and a misunderstanding of the original meanings of festivals.
Take Duanwu as an example, the character "duan" means "initial" and "wu" represents time. So Duanwu originally was a reminder to people that this time of year the air is humid and you need to look out for irritating mosquitoes. People learned from nature by using Artemisia and achnatherum to repel mosquitoes. However, now in addition to the time concept in Duanwu, the festival was given names such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Bath Orchid Festival, Qu Yuan (a famous ancient patriotic poet) Day, Daughter's Day, Dilla Festival, Dragon Day, and Lenten Festival and so on. According to statistics, there are now more than 20 names for the festival. It can be called a holiday with most names. After each name, people have given different connotations to the festival, which replace the most original meaning. Artificially attaching content leads people closer to idols and keep them away from understanding the Creator. This is also the root cause of ignorance and forgetfulness.
Finally, let me share with you my latest discovery. The Bible's Song of Songs is a poem about the love between Solomon and Rami. It reads: "My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi." (Song of Songs 1:13-14) The phoenix flower mentioned here is, in fact, the achnatherum of the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as henna.
In this coincidence, I feel God's simple love is everywhere.
- Translated by Charlie Li
回味儿时的端午节，对神的爱有了更深的认识
中华传统节日端午节马上就要到了，而节日的气氛似乎没有儿时那样浓郁了，依稀的记得，儿时过端午的情景。
那时候，我生活在一个小山村，村边有一条涓涓流淌的小河，河水清澈，像少女脉脉含情的眼眸，深情的眷恋着这块土地。翻开河卵石，鱼虾在河水中嬉戏，好像在与你躲猫猫，不忍心触碰到它们，那时候，纯朴的思想使灵魂自然。
小河的两侧，长满了青草，那是鸟儿与昆虫的乐园，在那里生长了很多艾蒿。每当端午节，在太阳还没有升起来的时候，我和姐姐们便早早起来，姐姐会去田园的地边去采芨芨草，也叫指甲花。
这种花很朴实，它不选择土地，对周围的环境也没有要求，在哪都可以生长。这种花的颜色有很多种，有大红的，浅紫的，白黄的，浅金的，粉红色等等。采摘回来后，捣碎后，使指甲变成红彤彤的颜色，一直都不会掉色，很漂亮。
那是女孩子的专属，而我作为一个男孩子，要去村边的小河旁，去采艾蒿。把它拿回来插在低矮茅草房的屋檐下。那时候，我不晓得为什么这样做？老辈留下的节日规矩就是这样的，没有为什么，只有一味地顺服。
如今上了年岁的我，早已离开了家乡。节日趣味的事，如今已经荡然无存了。后来得知，艾蒿中含有特殊的香味，能够起到驱虫的作用，因此在农村会有插艾蒿的习俗。而如今驱蚊虫的产品琳琅满目，谁还会用艾叶呢？还有指甲花，如今女孩子随时随地都可以美甲了，连指甲油都已经过时了，谁还会记得指甲花的存在呢？时代的发展，开始让人们健忘过去，这会导致人们忘记恩典。
其实每一个传统的节日都寄予一种特殊的含义，其实节日最初，都是生命造物的主对人类爱的一种表现。而后来，在所有的节日中，人为地加入了人的思想内容，这就造成了节日的混乱。
就像这端午节，“端”字有“初始”的意思，“午”也是代表时间。端午本是时节的概念，是提醒人们到了这个季节，湿气重，蚊虫叮咬厉害。人们从大自然中得了启示，用艾蒿和芨芨草来驱赶蚊虫等。而如今，除了端午节和端五节代表时间以外，还有人把端午节叫龙舟节、浴兰节、屈原日、女儿节、地腊节、龙日、灯节等等。据统计如今达二十多个，堪称节日别名之最。每一个名称后面，人们都赋予了不同的节日内容，也就取代了最原始的节日内涵。人为地附加内容的改变，让人步入亲近偶像，远离了对造物主的认识，这也是导致人愚昧、健忘的根源。
最后把自己的新发现告诉大家。圣经的雅歌书是描写所罗门和书拉密女之间爱情的诗歌，其中说道： 我以我的良人为一袋没药，常在我怀中。 我以我的良人为一棵凤仙花，在隐基底葡萄园中。这里提到的凤仙花，其实就是端午节的芨芨草，也叫指甲花。这种巧合，我感受到神朴实的爱，是随处可见的。
http://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/52727
The Duanwu Festival (known as Dragon Boat Festival), a traditional Chinese holiday, is coming soon, but it doesn’t seem that the current celebration and festival are not as vibrant as in my childhood. I remember faintly the scene of the festival when I was a child.
At that time, I lived in a small mountain village. There’s a river flowing by my village, which is as clear as the eyes of a girl gazing at this land with affection. If you move the river pebbles away, you see tiny fish and shrimp hurriedly darting away and finding a new hiding place. It’s as if they are playing hide and seek with you. They’re so lovely that I can't bear to touch them. At that time, my simple thoughts and nature gave me a feeling of the simplicity in my thoughts made my soul natural.
Both sides of the river were covered with grass. It's a paradise for birds and insects, where a lot of Artemisia grows. On every Duanwu my older sister and I would get up before the sunrise. My sister would go to the field to pick achnatherum, also called henna.
It’s a kind of ordinary flower which demands no particular conditions. It’s so tough and can grow anywhere. There are many kinds of colors of this flower: deep red, light purple, white and yellow, light gold, pink and so on. Mash the flowers and you’ll get henna in red color. The color will never fade away. How beautiful it is!
That's a girl's scene, and I as a boy would go to the small river by the village to pick Artemisia. I’d take them home and them under the low eaves of our thatched house. At that time, I didn't know why I had to do it. The holiday custom left by the older generations is such that there is no why-you simply need to obey.
Now in my old age, long ago I left my village home. The holiday fun is no longer there.
Later I learned that Artemisia contains a special fragrance which can irritate insects so that they don’t annoy you. That’s why we keep the custom of putting up Artemisia in the house. And now as the mosquito repellent products are in full bloom, who would use Artemisia? And about henna, who would remember their presence when a girl can have a manicure anytime anywhere now? Even nail polish is out of date. The development of the times has begun to make people forget the past, which will lead them to forget God’s grace.
In fact, every traditional festival has a special meaning. Actually, every festival was initially a manifestation of the Lord’s love to human beings. Later, people's thoughts were added to all the festivals. That caused confusion and a misunderstanding of the original meanings of festivals.
Take Duanwu as an example, the character "duan" means "initial" and "wu" represents time. So Duanwu originally was a reminder to people that this time of year the air is humid and you need to look out for irritating mosquitoes. People learned from nature by using Artemisia and achnatherum to repel mosquitoes. However, now in addition to the time concept in Duanwu, the festival was given names such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Bath Orchid Festival, Qu Yuan (a famous ancient patriotic poet) Day, Daughter's Day, Dilla Festival, Dragon Day, and Lenten Festival and so on. According to statistics, there are now more than 20 names for the festival. It can be called a holiday with most names. After each name, people have given different connotations to the festival, which replace the most original meaning. Artificially attaching content leads people closer to idols and keep them away from understanding the Creator. This is also the root cause of ignorance and forgetfulness.
Finally, let me share with you my latest discovery. The Bible's Song of Songs is a poem about the love between Solomon and Rami. It reads: "My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi." (Song of Songs 1:13-14) The phoenix flower mentioned here is, in fact, the achnatherum of the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as henna.
In this coincidence, I feel God's simple love is everywhere.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Recalling Dragon Boat Festival in My Childhood Deepens Understanding of God's Love
