Delving Into Chinese Culture In Liuyin Park

By Amirul Mohd Sajadi BEIJING, June 19 (Bernama) -- It was a bright and sunny spring morning and with the mercury down at 13 degrees Celsius, the weather was perfect for an outing to Liuyin Park which was hosting the ninth edition of the yearly Willow Culture Festival. The writer, accompanied by two friends, Mahmoud from Egypt and ‘Elvis’ from Namibia, took an underground train to their destination located in the Dongcheng district, just seven kilometres from the heart of Beijing city. The 17-hectare Liuyin Park is rather unique as it is the only place bearing some semblance of the countryside in the central downtown area of Beijing. Greeting visitors to the park are two decorative lion statues that adorn the gateway painted in red. Just step into the park and one is immediately bowled over by its lush greenery. Surrounded by picturesque weeping willows (wide, tall trees with branches drooping to the ground) of various species and ornate pavilions, the park is the venue for the three-day Willow Culture Festival, which coincides with the 'Qing Ming' festival or Chinese All Souls Day that falls in early April. Qing Ming is celebrated to remember and honour the dead and on the day the festival is observed, the Chinese would clean the graves of their loved ones and place offerings there. TRADITIONAL ATTIRE Most of the locals who thronged Liuyin Park were dressed in traditional attire which, to visitors like this writer and his friends, was a pleasant surprise as people dressed up like that was not a common sight on the streets of Beijing. Whilst observing the goings-on, we were approached by three young women who, dressed in traditional garb, resembled the Chinese princesses from the olden days. Introducing themselves as students from Beijing Language and Culture University, they said they were participating in the Willow Cultural Festival and invited us to wear their traditional costume, known as 'hanfu', a long flowing robe with loose sleeves and cross collar and worn with a silk sash tied around the waist. One of the students, Zhang Qian, then handed three sets of hanfu to us; I immediately donned mine and felt like a Kung Fu movie hero! Zhang said the hanfu's origin went back to the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) and that the costume has since evolved into various styles. She said besides having its own historical value, the hanfu also symbolised civility and graciousness. "Wearing the hanfu makes me feel confident. I am also happy to showcase China's rich culture which has its own uniqueness. This is why we make it a point to bring several sets of this attire with us when we participate in this festival so that we can loan it to the foreign visitors," she said, adding that the theme for this year's Willow Culture Festival was 'Promoting China’s Traditional Culture through the Willow'. Among the cultural activities that took place at the park were poetry recitals, calligraphy writing and traditional dance performances, as well as classical music renditions with one of the musical instruments used being the pipa, a four-stringed Chinese instrument. IN MEMORY OF LOYAL SOLDIER Meanwhile, explaining to us why the Chinese celebrate Qing Ming, Zhang said it all started with the Hanshi Festival which falls a day before Qing Ming but Hanshi is a day for commemorating a loyal soldier named Jie Zitui (772-481 BC). Apparently, Jie had cut some of his own flesh to feed his starving emperor, who had been exiled from his state. Eventually, when the emperor regained his throne, he completely forgot to reward his loyal soldier who was then living with his mother in the jungle of a remote mountain. When the emperor realised his mistake, he and his men went in search of Jie in the jungle but they set it on fire thinking that it would be easier for them to find Jie that way. But they only found the bodies of Jie and his mother. The emperor then ordered his people to hold a festival, called Hanshi, in memory of Jie. On the second anniversary of the soldier's death, the emperor returned to the mountain and found a weeping willow growing at the site where Jie's body was found. The emperor named the tree 'Qing Ming Willow' and ordered his people to observe Qing Ming a day after Hanshi. (The writer is currently in Beijing participating in a programme organised by the China International Press Communications Centre.) Translated by Rema Nambiar -- BERNAMA