(Special Correspondent of Orient Today in Beijing: Wang Qiuxin, Liang Xinhui, Liu Changzheng, Gao Dongli, Dong Caihong Essay: Mi Fangjie) The 8th day of the 12th lunar month is the Chinese traditional Laba Rice Porridge. Therefore, Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin, the NPC representative, stuggests that makes the Laba Rice Porridge Festival as a new national holiday.
Laba Rice Porridge Festival is a Chinese traditional festival as well as a Buddhist festival, which expresses the wish of health, happiness and the best luck of Chinese. Among the traditional Chinese festivals, the Spring Festival is for ringing out the old year and ringing in the new year; the Mid-autumn Festival is for reunion; the Qingming Festival is for tomb sweeping; the Dragon Boat Festival is for keeping us from illness and disaster; the Laba Rice Porridge is for worshiping ancestors and showing filial respect to parents, and these festivals are very important in our traditional festivals.
NPC representative, Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin
"Since the late 20th century, with the deep development of our country's reform and opening up, the foreigh religious cultures and holiday cultures came along with the all-round progress of our society, the rapid development of economy. Celebrating foreigh festivals, eating foreigh foods and having English names have become a kind of fashion for Chinese. Foreigh festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Valentines's Day and so on, has a great potential to replace our Chinese traditional festivals." Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin said. Folk customs is the root of a nation, while culture is the blood vessels of a nation. Moreover, the Laba Rice Porridge Festival is a Chinese traditional festival,while traditional festivals are one of the typical root cultures, and it is developed by the Chinese nation in the long history of social life, which has played an important role in cultivating national spirit, strengthening national identity and national self-confidence.
According to Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin, whether from the perspective of cultural security, custom inheritance or from the prespecive of Chinese dream, our nation needs to "take nutrients"from the brilliant Chinese traditional culture, and encourage the revival of traditional festival culture.
"For more than 1,000 years, on Laba Rice Porridge Festival, either the Chinese ancient court, local authorities, temples or the common people cooked Laba Rice Porridge. In recent years, Shaolin Temple has insisted to provide Laba Rice Porridge for free, which has been widely recognized by Buddhist worshipers" Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin said, in order to carry forword the folk culture of Laba Rice Porridge Festival, and pass the positive energy of almsgiving,compassion,appreciation and happiness of Laba Rice Porridge Festival to common people, Shaolin Temple is going to make Laba Rice Porridge Festival on the World Heritage List. At present, the preparatory work has been conducted.
As far as Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin is concerned, protecting the traditional festivals is an important measure to promote our brilliant traditional Chinese culture and strengthen the national cohesive force and centripetal force.
Therefore,Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin suggests that protecting the inheritence of Laba Rice Porridge Festival and make it as a national holiday through the legislation, besides, Chinese people also can enjoy this one-day's holiday. At the same time, Ven.Abbot Shi Yongxin advocates that we should hold a series of charity activities,folk culture festival,wellness experiences, Buddhist philanthropic activities and so on on this festival. (Orient Today on March 6,2015)