BEIJING: China on Thursday celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, a day dedicated to commemorating Qu Yuan, whose legacy of patriotism and perseverance has influenced the country and its people for thousands of years.
Qu was a loyal statesman and a patriotic poet in Chu, a major state in the Warring States Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.). He was unjustly exiled by the king of Chu, who disregarded Qu’s policy advice. Heartbroken by the news of rivaling forces seizing Chu’s capital, Qu eventually chose to end his life, by plunging himself into the river of Miluo clutching a heavy stone.
Hearing Qu’s tragic death, local people rushed to boats to search for his body. Over time, this practice evolved into a millennia-old tradition of dragon boat racing in memory of the poet.
Throughout his lifetime, Qu wrote a great number of poems expressing his love and concern for his country and people. Perhaps his most famous line is “Long as the way is, I will keep on searching high and low,” which embodies the poet’s ceaseless spirit of exploration.
The famous verse has been recited by generations of Chinese people, including President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
In 2016, Xi quoted the line in his address at a ceremony marking the 95th founding anniversary of the CPC, calling on all Party members to preserve the Party’s tradition of struggle and have the courage to change and innovate in the continuing test of history.
This is an example of the president’s quoting of Qu’s impassioned verses, which have inspired the entire Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to put the ancient poet’s legacy into action and brave challenges through reform and innovation.
The sense of mission and the endeavors to surmount all difficulties for achieving the goal can be seen in various fields. For example, regarding China’s reform, Xi called on people to “act with courage while moving forward with steady steps,” to push reform forward on the right track.
In the battle against poverty, the Chinese leader led the Party and the people to forge ahead against all odds and manage to lift the remaining 98.99 million rural poor people out of poverty in about eight years. –Agencies
