Enjoying the Culture 165often place flowers on the tomb and burn ghost money for
the departed. It usually falls on 5 April, and on 4 April in
leap years.
Water Splashing Festival (Po Shui Jie)
Held in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, and in Thailand and
Vietnam, this festival is in mid-April. The purpose is to wash
away the dirt, sorrow and demons of the old year and bring
in the happiness of the new.
Mazu’s Birthday (Ma Zu Sheng Ri)
Mazu is the goddess of the sea. Her birthday is celebrated in
south China, mainly the Fujian Province. It is celebrated at
Daoist temples in the coastal regions and down the cost of
South China Sea all the way to Vietnam. This usually occurs
in April or May.
Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Jie)
A huge holiday in south China, this festival commemorates
a third-century poet and statesman named Chu Yuan who
despaired because he was slandered by another and lost
favour with his king. He threw himself in a river to drown.
Tradition has it that people will throw rice dumplings down
the river for the fishes to eat so that they will not eat Chu
Yuan’s body. The modern festival also has teams of dragon
boat oarsmen battling it out on the rivers of China. It is
thought that the boat race averts misfortunes. The holiday
is on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar
(around June).
Ghost Month (Gui Yue)
Not recognised by the Chinese government, this holiday is
based upon an ancient belief that people who travel at this
time are prone to death. During this time, the ghosts from
hell walk the earth, believed to interfere with the safety of
the living. Superstition dictates that people who die during
this month (usually August) are not buried until the following
month. The Ghost Month is the seventh lunar month.