How do you view South Korea’s declaration of the Dragon Boat Festival culture as a world cultural heritage essay?

Gangneung, which once caused a dispute between China and South Korea regarding the "Dragon Boat Festival" application for World Heritage, is located on the coast of South Korea's East China Sea and to the east of the Taebaek Mountains. Since 1363, it has been successively established as a province, a prefecture, a county, and a county under the name of Gangneung. city. Gangneung covers an area of ??approximately 1,040 square kilometers and has a population of more than 200,000.

According to information from the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee in South Korea, the concept of "Dragon Boat Festival" was first mentioned in the history book "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" during the Silla period of the Korean Peninsula, and it recorded that people at that time worshiped gods to pray for safety. However, what is described in the history books are the scenes and contents of the sacrifices, and there are no more detailed records on how the Dragon Boat Festival was formed and developed. The data also mentioned that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from a religious activity to worship gods, and later gradually developed into a large-scale celebration with practical content. Choi Jong-se, chairman of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee, told reporters: "The Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival has a history of thousands of years and has been passed down from generation to generation. It is no longer possible to verify how it came into being." According to American historian Rhodes In "A History of Asia" written by Murphy, there is a record about "by the 3rd century BC, iron-making technology was introduced from China to North Korea", but there is also no text about how the "Dragon Boat Festival" was spread to the Korean Peninsula.

In order to find South Korea's official records of the Dragon Boat Festival Gangneung Festival, the reporter also read the Chinese version of "Introduction to South Korea (2003 Revised Edition)" sent by the Cultural Information Office of the South Korean Embassy in China. In this manual published by the Overseas Publication Service of the Republic of Korea, there is a paragraph about introducing Korean festivals and holidays: "The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. Farmers take a day off to indicate that sowing has been completed, and women cook iris (the original translation is this) ——Editor's note) Washing hair and praying for blessings. In the old days, the Dragon Boat Festival was a major festival. Today, except for some rituals, people's interest in the Dragon Boat Festival has long diminished. "South Korea began to hold the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival. The application for World Heritage was in 2004, and the successful application was in 2005. In this introduction to South Korea revised in 2003, the reporter did not even see an introduction to Gangneung. It seems that Koreans have a history of neglecting the Dragon Boat Festival culture. According to a reporter from Seoul Daily, South Korea’s cultural protection has also gone through the detour of “destroying first, then protecting”. In the 1960s and 1970s, when South Korea’s economy began to take off, there were also cases of traditional festivals being left out and being squeezed out by Western festivals. Phenomenon.

The Dragon Boat Festival is not a national holiday in South Korea

The Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea, which was successfully declared a World Heritage Site, refers to the festival to welcome the gods, drink offerings to the gods, Dragon Boat Festival witchcraft festivals, farewell sacrifices to the gods, and various performances and performances during the Dragon Boat Festival. Entertainment is not a simple festival. The form of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival has been preserved intact. It was designated as a national intangible cultural heritage by South Korea as early as 1967. However, the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May has not become a national holiday in South Korea, and the Korean government has not designated the Dragon Boat Festival as a legal holiday. A person working in a Korean government department told reporters that the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Spring Festival have a very high status in the hearts of Koreans. During these two festivals, the country has a three-day holiday, and everyone has to go home to worship their ancestors. In the lives of modern Koreans, places other than Gangneung have become quite indifferent to the traditional festival of "Dragon Boat Festival". Young people in many big cities basically do not celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

According to Choi Jong-se, chairman of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee in South Korea, in addition to Gangneung, there are also Dragon Boat Festival festivals held in some places such as Gyeongsangbuk-do. However, the scale is small and has little impact. There are no Dragon Boat Festival activities in other places. However, the enthusiasm of the people in Gangneung has always been very high. People in the Gangneung area will widely participate in the annual Dragon Boat Festival. On the Dragon Boat Festival in the lunar calendar, people in the Gangneung area can have a day off, and the school also has a day off on this day, which undoubtedly adds to the excitement. Local festive atmosphere. With the successful application for World Heritage in 2005, the influence of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival is slowly expanding.

The Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival mainly worships gods

A Korean girl named Kim told reporters that she has not seen the "Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival", but she has heard about the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival There are many beautiful legends about the festival: It is said that the beautiful female mountain god and the male mountain god have been "separated" for a long time, and only at this time can they meet together, just like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in China can only meet once a year, so they make it grand and grand. For a period of time, witches, gods and men from all over the country will gather there.

The interpretation of Korean scholars is different from the romantic story told by this ordinary Korean girl.

Choi In-hak, honorary president of the Korean Comparative Folklore Society, told the Global Times reporter that the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is also called "Dragon Boat Festival" in South Korea. This concept originated from China, and the Korean Dragon Boat Festival has some customs that are similar to those in Shandong, China and other places. Some places are similar. People perform sacrifices during the Dragon Boat Festival mainly because this is a period when diseases are common. In ancient times when medical conditions were backward, people hoped to drive away the plague god and ensure peace by offering sacrifices to gods. However, he also emphasized that the Gangneung Dano Festival is a sacrifice to the gods of the Yeongdong region of South Korea, and the rituals and content of the sacrifice have become the unique culture of the Korean nation.

Different from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival mainly focuses on worshiping gods, with the purpose of praying for people's happiness and health in the new year. Some customs are also very different from China. For example, in the Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea, there is no custom of dragon boat racing, and no rice dumplings are eaten. The Chinese plant mugwort and hang calamus on the Dragon Boat Festival, while Koreans use mugwort to make cakes and calamus. Wash your hair "Global Times" reporters rushed to Gangneung on the afternoon of the 26th and watched the complicated process of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival up close. In the God-Welcoming Ceremony held on the third day of the fifth lunar month, the gods people worship are the "Daegwallyeong Kingdom Master City God" and the "Daegwallyeong Kingdom Master City God God". According to legend, the Seonghuang God is the incarnation of the "Brahma Il Patriarch" during the Silla period. It is said that the female Seonghuang God is the wife of the Seonghuang God and the daughter of the Jeong family of Daegwallyeong. People who ask the gods include local officials, respected elders and wizards. During the process of welcoming the gods, local people will also hold lanterns and follow the procession of worshiping the gods, marching around the entire Gangneung City. During the four days from the fourth to the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, people have to perform ritual offerings and Dragon Boat Festival witchcraft sacrifices at the Dragon Boat Festival Altar. The ceremony of the libation offering originated from the Confucian worship ceremony and is held at the Dragon Boat Festival Altar at 9 a.m. every day. Because it is to pray for a good harvest and peace in Gangneung and Yeongdong areas, and for the happiness and health of the people, officials from Gangneung City serve as the sacrificial officials. And local respected and experienced elders serve as deacons who preside over the sacrifices. During the four days, the mayor of Gangneung, the police chief, the education director of the Department of Education and the speaker of the city council took turns serving as official officials. The Dragon Boat Festival Witch Sacrifice is held after the daily libation offering, and is jointly participated by local wizards and people. The wizards worship various gods through dancing, singing, performances, etc., while the people can participate in the process of the Witch Sacrifice. Go to the Dragon Boat Festival altar and burn paper to make a wish. On the seventh night of the seventh day of the lunar month, after the last witchcraft ceremony, people will also hold a grand ceremony to send off the gods. The shamans will burn the sacrificial props used in this year's Dragon Boat Festival with fire, and the team to invite the gods will then burn the sacrifices of the two gods. The sacred tablets were returned to the ancestral halls dedicated to the two gods respectively. After the sending-off ceremony was over, the official end of the Dragon Boat Festival was announced. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people also perform performances such as official slave mask drama and Gangneung non-musical music, and carry out entertainment activities such as swinging, wrestling, and pot throwing. This year’s Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival will be held from May 26 to May 30. According to organizers, related activities can attract more than 2 million tourists.

Korean and Chinese scholars cool down the "dispute over the application of the Dragon Boat Festival as a World Heritage"

Regarding the debate between China and South Korea four or five years ago about the application of the Dragon Boat Festival as a World Heritage, Cui Jongse, chairman of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee, believes that, South Korea has not listed the Chinese festival as a World Heritage. The form and content of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival are very different from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. The main reason is that the Chinese people have misunderstood it. Now with the deepening of exchanges, the misunderstanding has been slowly eliminated. .

In order to avoid the "cultural dispute" between China and South Korea surrounding the Dragon Boat Festival being mentioned again, relevant South Korean authorities have done early work to "clear doubts". Yonhap News Agency reported on May 12 that in order to resolve the Dragon Boat Festival dispute in South Korea, a variety of activities such as the "Korea-China Dragon Boat Festival International Academic Conference", experience activities and tourism exchanges will be held. This is the first time that the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee of South Korea has invited Chinese scholars to Seoul for academic discussions. The purpose is to explain the differences between the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival and the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. It is particularly worth mentioning that the "Chinese Dragon Boat Festival Promotion Hall" is specially set up at the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival experience site. At the academic conference held on May 25, Cui Zhongxi said: "Since 2004, we have invited Chinese scholars to visit Gangneung every year. This seminar in Seoul is mainly to further deepen mutual understanding. At present, China's domestic Many people still have misunderstandings about the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival, which has even affected the folk sentiments between the two countries. We also hope to eliminate the misunderstandings among Chinese friends through exchanges."

President of the Gangwon-do Folklore Society of Korea, Gangwon. University professor Zhang Zhenglong believes that the Dragon Boat Festival culture originated in China, but has developed into a culture with Korean national characteristics in South Korea.

He also emphasized that in addition to South Korea and China, unique Dragon Boat Festival culture also exists in some Asian countries such as Japan and North Korea. From the perspective of protecting human culture, it is necessary for all countries to strengthen research on the inheritance and development of Asian Dragon Boat Festival culture, and South Korea The Dragon Boat Festival culture of China and the two countries can complement each other and develop independently.

Wang Xin, a member of the Chinese delegation and from the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, told reporters: "I didn't expect that South Korea's Dragon Boat Festival would be so rich. After watching the Yingshen Festival, I felt quite shocked. We This visit is not only to promote Chinese culture and let Korean people understand the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, but also to learn from South Korea to better protect our cultural heritage," said the Chinese Art Research Institute who came to participate in the seminar. Researcher and folklore doctor Yuan Li also said that from the perspective of human cultural inheritance and development, China should respect South Korea's Dragon Boat Festival culture, and our country has also started the application process for the Dragon Boat Festival, and there is no need to apply for the successful application of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival. Worried about it. In addition, Yuan Li also explained that applying for World Heritage does not mean registering a festival, but refers to specific activities with actual content. If a festival only has holidays, eating and shopping, and no cultural activities as a carrier, it cannot be applied for World Heritage. UNESCO wants to protect cultural diversity, which means protecting the diversity of cultural activities. The same festival has different contents as long as the activities have different contents. It is understood that "China's Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam Art" was successfully applied for World Heritage in 2005 after Muqam in Azerbaijan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other countries had successfully applied for World Heritage status individually or jointly.

Let more Koreans know about Chinese Qu Yuan

For the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan, people from the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival Committee of South Korea and Korean scholars and experts are relatively familiar with it, but ordinary people But know very little. The reporter did a random survey among Korean friends around him and found that Koreans who have studied Chinese know about the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and have some understanding of Qu Yuan. However, only a small number of people who have not studied Chinese know that China celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. However, I don’t know who Qu Yuan is. A Korean tour guide told reporters that she had studied in China for five years. At that time, Chinese people did not rest during the Dragon Boat Festival, but they just heard that China has also begun to take holidays for traditional festivals such as Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival in the past two years. In Gangneung, the reporter randomly asked several Korean people outside the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival Promotion Center and found that they basically did not know about the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and Qu Yuan.

For Koreans who don’t know much about Qu Yuan, Dr. Wang Dashan, a researcher at the Confucius Institute at Renmin University of China, explained that the core of Korean Dragon Boat Festival culture is to offer sacrifices to ghosts and gods to pray for peace, and it is impossible for Koreans to offer sacrifices to the patriotic poet in Chinese history. Wang Dashan believes that the origin of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea has become a "historical mystery" for two reasons: First, compared to China, the written history of the Korean Peninsula is shorter, resulting in no written records of the specific origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. , or the words were unclear when recorded; secondly, early Chinese history books recorded many major events, but few records of their impact on folk customs. Wang Dashan told the "Global Times" reporter that compared with modern people's strong concept of nation-state, ancient people would not deliberately incorporate the origin and inheritance of a certain historical and cultural tradition into the cultural genealogy of their own country. He believes that no matter how different the Dragon Boat Festival culture is between China and South Korea, the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea originated from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival or was deeply influenced by the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. In other words, the "invention right" of the Dragon Boat Festival culture belongs to China. This is beyond doubt. If both Chinese and Korean people can calmly view and accept this fact, it may help resolve some unnecessary misunderstandings and disputes between them. Shelving and calming down the Dragon Boat Festival dispute between China and South Korea, especially among netizens, and making concerted efforts to create and promote the unique Dragon Boat Festival culture in East Asia are the top priorities. "Fighting in the nest" will only bring losses to both sides.

So, although there is a Dragon Boat Festival and a Dragon Boat Festival, the customs are completely different