Domestic Affairs

Spirit of Qu Yuan still shines today

By Zhang Xi (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-16 09:19

The 2,000-year-old Duanwu Festival, or the Dragon Boat Festival, falls on June 16 this year. The most popular legend about the origin of the time-honored festival is to commemorate the famous ancient poet Qu Yuan.

As a minister of the state Chu, one of seven large nations fighting to organize a central power during the Warring States Period, Qu Yuan assisted his ruler in adopting reformatory policies to develop the economy and joined forces with another state to withstand invasion from the most powerful nation. But sadly, he was later exiled because of vilification and ended up drowning himself after learning that his nation's capital was captured.

Qu Yuan's tragedy was certainly a circumstance of history, but why do today's Chinese still hold magnificent rituals every year to honor a man who lived thousands of years ago?

In today's China, the reforms go beyond those of the Warring States Period. China has entered a new stage of reform and is experiencing huge changes in the economic system, social structure, interest pattern and ideology. The country is working to change an agricultural, rural and closed traditional society into an industrial, urban and open society. In just decades, China has shifted from an agricultural nation to an industrial one, the same task that took centuries in the West.

It's certainly China's golden period of development. However, conflicts are emerging quickly in this transition period. The country is experiencing social disorder, mental imbalance and changing social ethics standards. There seem to be a huge number of choices for Chinese, but it only makes people more confused about the future and their social roles. They don't know what to choose and easily lose their direction in a country changing at unprecedented speeds.

In these times, Qu Yuan's spirit shines a brilliant light in today's society.

Qu had a strong sense of responsibility. He considered the prosperity of his nation and the happiness of his people the most vital thing in his life. He focused on increasing his own moral standards and was never corrupted. Later generations often likened the glory and the continuation of his noble spirit to the sunshine and the earth.

Qu's most admirable quality was his belief that "Although the road is endless and far away, I still want to pursue truth in this world." This is just what today's Chinese, who're living with rapid changes, should focus on. There are surely many distractions to lure and puzzle people, but they only need to remember their original goal and do what Qu wrote: "For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I don't regret a thousand deaths." This was also quoted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a speech earlier this year.