Today is “Tomb Sweeping Day”! It is similar to our Memorial Day. Chinese citizens go out and clean up the tombs of their ancestors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival

There are some differences. The Chinese people take off three day for Tomb Sweeping Day.
They obviously sweep the tombs. (Clean them up just like we plant flowers in our country)
They burn fake money and offer food and other things in the belief that this will help there ancestors in the after life.
( I will try to take some pictures in the next video)
They take off three days instead of one.
They set off fire works.
It divides the growing season for green tea.

Roughly speaking, swordplay consists of such basic skills as the slash, parry, strike, thrust, prick, press and cut. A performer has to pay attention to achieving coordination between the movements of the body and those of the sword, and to guiding the sword with the mind. In ancient times, anyone who was proficient in swordplay would enjoy the respect of society. In ancient literary works, stories about the heroic deeds of people adept in swordsmanship were legion. Various styles of swordplay were developed through the centuries, the most popular being the Tianshan, Wudang and Dharma styles. We practiced the Wudang form of sword play. This form of sword play became popular in the Tang dynasty when the soldiers wore swords as a part of their uniforms.

Today in Chinese Culture class we learned about the Chinese Festivals.

The Lunar Calendar is the basis

for the main traditional Chinese festivals.

Pronounced “Sno leet” Lunar Calendar

Spring Festival like our Christmas

• First day of the first lunar month (most important festival, 45 days)
• Middle of December to February
• 8^th of December “la ba por” (a festival food)
• 23^rd of December (Clean the house for spring festival, sacrifice to the kitchen god, food)
• Many delicious foods including many deserts, new clothes, decoration of homes
• The decorations are red paper with messages of wealth and good luck
• Happiness putting a decoration upside down means it is coming
• Festival letters
• Guards to keep evil spirits away and protect your family
• Paper cutting “of animals” like dragons placed on the windows
• Spring festival eve 30^th of December Big dinner (Meat, ) TV 1
• People stay up until the Spring festival comes at midnight
• Spring festival comes on January first Father set off fire works
• nian gau eat higher gluttonous rice rice cake with white sugar also steamed or fried rice
• yau sa dumplings
• The end of spring festival is the end of the  First lunar month around Feb 3^rd.

Lantern Festival

• 15^th of the first lunar month 2000 years ago Jade emperor angry,
• A crane is killed which is the emperors favorite. The emperor plans to destroy the village with fire.
• A wise minister from another town tells them to light the lanterns to fool the Jade emperor into not destroying the village with fire.
• Yuan xiao are Glutinous rice balls fillings which are sweet.
• There are riddles inside the lanterns
• There is dragon boat racing looking for the minister who thought of the idea to light the lanterns.

Qingming Festival Like our Veteran’s Day

• First day of April tomb sweeping Veterans Day
• Bow at the memorial
• Paper money,
• Playing outside becomes popular Kites, plant trees

Dragon Boat Festiva

5^th day of lunar month

• Qu’ Yuan  minister of Chou is deposed by other ministers
• Conquered the city (Tru state) and jumped in the river with a stone clamped to him
• The people cried into the bank of the river, People throw Zong Zi, eggs and wine into the river to make the fish drunk so they will not eat the minister.
• So they drink wine and race dragon boats to look for the minister.

Double Seventh Festival

Qi’ xi   7^th day of the seventh lunar month like our Valentine’s Day

• Niu’ Lang, a cowboy who lived with his elder brother
• The cow was a god
• Niu’ Lang’ marries the seamstress Zhi nu
• Turn my hide into a pair of shoes which carries them into the heavens.
• Magpie birds form the milky way to form a bridge to allow the two lovers to meet together who are separated until the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.

Mid-Autumn Festival

15^th of the 8^th lunar month

• There were 10 suns in the sky it was very hot
• Rivers ran dry.  A hero Hou Yi’ and
• Shot the suns with arrows
• Chang e’ gave Hou Yi a flower as a small token of affection
• Hou Yi gave a gift of fox fur to the girl
• They got married and had a happy life
• 17^th day of the fifth lunar month they drink medicine for immortality
• A wicked man kills Hou Yi
• Chang e’ drinks the medicine
• She leaps into the sky and lives in the moon
• This is why we express our love for each other when we see the moon.
• Sweet filled wheat cakes
• Dragon boat racing

This will be the place that you can interact with the students in China. We also have a trip going on in Panama. Please consider interaction with our students on the Panama trip as well.

http://blog.palcs.org/panama2011/

Mr. Parris