2025年5月1日

There are three days we pay special attention to in May this year. The first one is the International Workers’ Day on 1 May. According to various internet sources, 1 May is the date of the European spring festival of May Day. The International Workers Congress held in Paris in 1889 established the Second International for labour, socialist, and Marxist parties. Mainland China celebrates it by linking it with several other days, creating a golden week for workers to travel or return home nowadays. In Hong Kong, we enjoy a one-day holiday.

Next, the Internet sources provide information for Youth Day, a holiday celebrated annually on 4 May in China, in honour of young people aged 14 and older. It was established to commemorate the 1919 May Fourth Movement. The movement was about accepting advancement and new ideas. Although there might have been conflicting ideas toward traditional doctrines, the movement did move young people into thinking more about progress and improvement for the greater good. At Peking University, one of the universities where the May Fourth Movement began, the holiday is celebrated with speeches, singing competitions, and other activities.

On 31 May this year, we celebrate Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate Qu Yuan who was the beloved prime minister of the southern Chinese state of Chu during the Warring States period, from 600 B.C. to 200 B.C., and is celebrated by holding dragon boat races and eating sticky rice dumplings called zongzi, which were southern Chinese traditions. In September 2009, UNESCO officially approved the holiday's inclusion in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, becoming the first Chinese holiday to be selected.

These three days in May have Chinese flavour, but they are not monopolised by Chinese; they all have an international duty, glamour, and significance. Like what we have been saying, from classroom to the world, we need to use everyday learning and connect the dots with the rest of the world. So, learn about their origins, participate in their related celebrations, and enjoy the days.

 

Anson Yang