The Art of Storytelling: A Visual Narrative of Arlington Chinese Association
Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival
Have you ever heard of the Dragon Boat Festival? The Dragon Boat Festival celebrates the coming of a new season. It was made in order to ward off germs and bad weather. Our event consisted of three parts: a slide show about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, an arts and crafts part, and a reenactment of Qu Yuan’s dive into the river using leather shadow play (Pi Ying Xi, or 皮影戏 in Chinese).
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Experience Art & Culture with Arlington Chinese Association
SLide Show Presentation
The first part was a slideshow presentation, in which we talked about how the Dragon Boat Festival came to be and also how and why people celebrated it. During the presentation, children were asked to pay close attention because there would be a quiz at the end where children could answer questions about the slide show and earn prizes. The slide show talks about what happens during the festival and how all the rituals were performed.
Leather Shadow play
The second part was the leather shadow play, in which three actors guided small figures across a lit surface using sticks and other props. The actors reenacted out how the Dragon Boat Festival began. The show was mainly based of Qu Yaung committing suicide after failing to warn his country about invaders. Many people
Arts and Crafts
The third part was an arts and crafts part where children and parents are given instructions on how to make paper boats. After that, they are given additional colored sheets to decorate their boats to look colorful and exciting.