[In the following essay, Yu discusses ancient and modern celebrations honoring Chu Yuan.]

On the fifth day of the fifth moon of the Lunar Calendar which this year fell on June 15, the Chinese people commemorated Chu Yuan, their first great patriot-poet. But this was not a usual celebration. In addition to traditional rites there were ceremonies that this 2,230-year-old occasion had never yet seen—scholarly dissertations and exhibitions on the poet and his life and times, all the most modern resources of public discussion of radio, press and theatre linking this great figure of the ancient world with the modern manifestations of the things he fought for—peace, freedom, justice and the happiness of the people.

Ancient Customs

Peasants living beside the Milo River in Hunan Province attended a great memorial meeting at the newly renovated shrine to the poet on a hill beside the River. Dragon boats swept past on the Milo in a long procession. This was the spot where, according to tradition, Chu Yuan, exiled from the court of Chu (one of the seven Warring Kingdoms), drowned himself as a final act of bitter protest against the betrayal of his country and his people by inept and corrupt rulers.

Throughout the land the people honoured the annual Tuan Wu Festival—literally the Festival of the Double Fifth—in many folk customs which have originated in their love for their poet. This year, as in the past, the people held the traditional dragon boat races. These symbolised how the people rushed out in their boats to try to save the life of Chu Yuan. In every household, triangular-shaped tsung. tze are made, stuffed rice dumplings wrapped in lien tree leaves. These delicacies are exchanged between friends, and formerly some were thrown into rivers or lakes so that, according to legend, the water dragons would be sated and not devour the body of Chu Yuan. No other poet has been so widely or so lovingly remembered by the people as Chu Yuan.

New Celebrations

Meanwhile, on June 15 in Peking, a commemorative meeting was sponsored by the All-China Federation of Writers and Artists to mark this 2230th anniversary of Chu Yuan's death. It discussed the question of how to proceed with the study of Chu Yuan's works in the light of the principles of historical materialism. Feng Hsueh-feng, the noted writer, in his address analysed how Chu Yuan's life work voiced the demands of the people of that time; how it mirrored the irreconcilable conflict between the people and the feudal lords; how it is this popular character that accounts for the greatness of Chu Yuan.

Cheng Chen-to, writer and archaeologist, reported on the cultural relics of the time of Chu Yuan that have been collected. They form valuable source material for a more scientific understanding of the works of Chu Yuan and in making his period live for us today. They include about a thousand cultural relics of the State of Chu (ca. 847 B.C.—222 B.C.) which have been discovered in Hunan Province. An exhibition of some of these rarities was opened on the same day in the Historical Museum in Peking. Among the 420 exhibits recently unearthed are beautifully designed lacquer objects, silk fabrics and wood sculptures, bronze and iron ware and weapons testifying to China's high level in handicrafts and art 2,200 years ago.

A Chu Yuan Tragedy

Peking will soon see a new production of Kuo Mo-jo's poetic drama Chu Yuan revised by the author for this year's celebrations.

This play was completed and first staged in Chungking in 1942 when the reactionary Kuomintang clique was pressing ahead ever more blatantly with its plot against the Chinese people and to submit to the Japanese invader. It was impossible at that time to give public performances to a play that attacked the Chiang clique in so many words, but this exposure of corruption and treachery was done hardly less effectively by drawing the historical parallels with Chu Yuan's time. Chu Yuan's unwavering adherence to his ideals of truth and justice and his staunch struggle against traitors and wily aggressors has been an ever-living example to the Chinese people throughout the ages. The courageous performance of this play in the Kuomintang's war-time capital, its ridicule and denunciation of the reactionary rulers and their literary hacks was a powerful encouragement to the democratic forces at that time.

Previews of this production to mark Chu Yuan's anniversary have revealed a creation of great beauty. Chang Kuang-yu, Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Chang Chen-yu, the well-known painter, have collaborated to design rich and authentic settings and costumes. Most of the original Chungking cast of ten years ago have been gathered together again for what promises to be a memorable theatrical event.

New Research

The national press has given prominence to articles on Chu Yuan's works, his life and times by Kuo Mo-jo, Professors Cheng Chen-to, Yu Kuo-en, Lin Keng and Ho Chi-fang, who have specialised in research on these subjects.

Recent publications on Chu Yuan are best sellers in all bookstores in Peking. They include a new edition of Kuo Mo-jo's tragedy Chu Yuan and his versions of Chu Yuan's poems in modern Chinese, and the Collected Works of Chu Yuan compiled and annotated by Wen Huai-sha. The National Peking Library has arranged a special display of various editions and translations of Chu Yuan's poems.

Chinese men of letters and scientists are busy applying the latest knowledge to a deeper study of the poet, his work and times. They are providing new translations and explanations of his poems for popular editions to make Chu Yuan's great legacy available to the broad masses of the Chinese people.

In answer to the World Peace Council's call for the interchange of the best cultural riches of the people, China this year is making a special effort to present its great patriot-poet in all the brilliance of his truth and creative art for the furtherance throughout the world of the fine ideals he fought for to the death.