JUN 09 '86 20:12 GIS HK
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SPEECH BY THE HON SIR S Y CHUNG,
SENIOR UNOFFICIAL MEMBER OF HONG KONG EXECUTIVE COUNCIL,
AT HONG KONG ASSOCIATION DRAGON BOAT DINNER AT LONDON INTERCONTINENTAL ON 11 JUNE 1986
Mr President, Secretary of State, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am much honoured to have been invited to this triennial Dragon Boat Dinner and to reply to the Toast of the Guests this evening. According to the Cantonese tradition, we normally make our speeches at the midst of the banquet and, to be exact, immediately after the sharks-fin soup. In China today, however, it is common to deliver all the speeches prior to dinner. In those circumstances it would have been somewhat difficult for me to anticipate how the dinner would have fared, But I have no difficulty this evening to say how much my fellow guests and I have greatly enjoyed both the delicious dinner and the good company and, on behalf of all of them, I express to you, Mr President and the Hong Kong Association, our deep appreciation of your excellent hospitality.
As
some of you may know, the Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the Fifth Month Festival because it falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. As the Secretary of State rightly said, the true origins of Dragon Boat Festival have been lost in antiquity. Consequently, there are many legends about this major Chinese festival but they all are centred around the great poet and patriotic political figure called Qu Yuan in the years around 300 B.C. According to this particular legend, this righteous minister of state was very upset when the king did not listen to his advice on a very important national issue. order to impress upon the king by giving up his life for the country, he jumped into the river. This sad event took place on the fifth day of the fifth month.
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In
Because of his uprightness and patriotism, he had gained the love and respect of the people. When they learned of his death, many people rowed out to the spot to search for his body, but without success. Such is the origin of dragon boat racing which, based on popular legend, has been held every year on that very day to honour the memory of Qu Yuan.
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