“六一”系列2
[ 2007-05-31 20:15 ]
The International Children's Day (ICD) is celebrated in
numerous countries, usually (but not always) on June 1 each year.
Origin
The ICD had its origin in the
World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children （世界兒童福利大會）in Geneva,
Switzerland in 1925. It is not clear as
to （關于）why June 1 was chosen as the ICD: one
theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a
number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon
Boat Festival （端午節）in 1925, which happened to
be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.
June 1 has since been observed as the ICD by numerous
countries, especially by Communist countries; in the Western world the ICD is
usually celebrated on other days of the year (if at all), and there is often
little public awareness about these celebrations. Consequently there is
sometimes a misperception（錯誤觀點）that June 1 as
the ICD was a Communist invention. Nonetheless, in recent years even some groups
within the United States started observing the ICD on June.
Children's Day in Japan
National Children's Day in Japan is known as Kodomo no
Hi（日本兒童節，每年5月5日）. It is celebrtaed on
May5. The family celebrates the festival with Kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with red beans and
wrapped with oak leaves) and Chimaki (rice cakes wrapped with bamboo leaves).
According to the Kodansha encyclopedia, the origin of the
festival was from China in 839. On May 5, Chinese people hang medical herbs from
the eaves of the roof in order to repel disease. When the custom came to Japan,
people used Shobu (irises) instead since irises were believed to repel evil
spirits.
Children's Day in India
Most schools have cultural programmes for the day, with the
students managing it all. All over the country, various cultural, social, and
even corporate, institutions conduct competitions for children.
Children's Day is a day for children to engage in fun and frolic.
Schools celebrate this day by organising cultural programmes. Teachers of the
school perform songs and dances for their students. Various competitions like
quizzes, fancy dress competitions, elocutions are organised on this day.
Children are also treated to a movie and lunch.Television networks have
in the recent years started to air special programmes all day long for kids on
November 14, making this day a special treat. |
