“All
work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” This quote from The Shining is well-known. Nowadays people use it to complain about
overtime working or not enough vacation. And in Spain there is a saying
“Trabajar como un chino”, in English is “working as a Chinese”, which means
work too much. So why do they in Spain have this expression? What kind of
impression they have here in Spain about those Chinese workers? Do Chinese
really like Jack, a dull boy, only work no play?
I’d like to tell a true story of my
personal experience. I remember when I studied in my language school here in
Madrid; we had a topic once, which was about THE VACATION. Our teacher told us
that in Spain employees have a vacation of 30 natural days every year, and not
to mention those various kinds of fiestas. This really made me jealous for a
while, cos by our Chinese law, it says the employee who has been working for
one full year but under 10 years, would have 5 days as his annual vacation; and
who has accumulatively worked for full 10 years but less than 20 years, 10 days
annual leave; for those working for 20 full years and above, 15 days of annual
vacation. (In here the years of working doesn’t mean to serve for one company
but during a person’s whole working life.) So after I told these to my teacher
and my classmates, they said to me: “stay here!”
This story might make a worse impression,
but I do want to clarify that this policy is regulated by the government and serves
for the bigger economic system of our country. It doesn’t represent the
characteristics of Chinese people. I believe Chinese are the same as the others
in the world, in their culture there are also countless holidays for
celebrating and for enjoyment.
In 2008, China made some rectifications in
the legal holiday, added 3 more traditional Chinese holidays, so far, there’re
15 days of 7 legal holidays in China, there are:
- 元旦 (Yuan Dan) , The New Year. 1 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 清明节 (Qing Ming Jie), Tomb-Sweeping Day is a holiday on which people hold a memorial ceremony for the dead. 1 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 劳动节 (Lao Dong Jie), The international Labor Day. 1 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 端午节(Duan Wu Jie), Dragon Boat Festival is a summer festival which celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar. 1 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 中秋节 (Zhong Qiu Jie), The mid-autumn Festival or Moon Festival is a popular lunar harvest festival. 1 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 国庆节 (Guo Qing Jie), The National Day：5 Day off unite with one weekend.
- 春节(Chun Jie), Spring Festival. 5 Day off unite with one weekend.
All of the above
are the official holidays in China nowadays, but
if you look at an ancient Chinese calendar, you will find that Chinese people
have a huge enthusiasm about festivals and celebrations, since as long as we
could remember. Though a lot of festivals we are not celebrated any more or we
don’t have a day-off for it, some old folk customs preserved still. For
example, the one called 冬至(Dong Zhi), Winter Solstice Festival, the origins of this festival
can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the
cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours
and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. Traditionally, it’s
also a time for the whole family to get together and one activity that occurs
during these get together is the making and eating of some typical dishes.
For the next coming festival, the
mid-autumn festival, what would Chinese people do, and what’s the difference
between the traditional and modern way to celebrate?
First, here is some basic
information about this festival.
It was celebrated on the fifteenth day of
the eighth month in the lunar calendar, around the time of the autumn equinox.
Many refers to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In
the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurs between the second
week of September and the second week of October. The custom of worshipping the
moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000
B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold
ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn
Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)
that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty
(1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as
gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes
dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to
celebrate the festival.
Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) and Qing Dynasties
(1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes
unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appeared some
special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense,
planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances.
However, the custom of playing under the moon is not as popular as it used to
be nowadays, but it is still popular to enjoy
the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at
the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking
of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best
wishes to them.
Interview of two Chinese students who live in Madrid, let's find out how they think about Mid-Autumn Festival.
So I hope now you will have some different idea about how Chinese people live their lives, and eventually start to believe that they do have a way to play, to relax, and to enjoy their vacations or holidays, that they are not dull boys like Jack.
