Yizhou primary school students celebrate Sanyuesan Festival

Teachers and students of several primary schools in Yizhou district, Hechi recently carried out a series of online activities to celebrate the annual Sanyuesan Festival due to the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

Sanyuesan, which refers to the third day of the third month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, is a traditional festival for many ethnic groups across China. This year's festival kicked off on March 26 and will last until April 26.

More than 2,000 teachers and students of Yizhou Experimental Primary School joined in the flag-raising ceremony online at home at 8:30 am on March 23, which marked the beginning of the celebration activities for the Sanyuesan Festival.

Students then learned about the history of the Sanyuesan Festival of the Zhuang people, as well as their traditional culture and ethnic customs by watching short videos and photo albums.

Online classes on how to hand paint eggs, weave egg nets, make embroidered balls, learn to sing folk songs, and steam five-color glutinous rice were also given to students to enrich their lives at home.

"I think it's very good for the school to carry out these activities," said the mom of Li Haozhe, a fifth grade student of Yizhou Experimental Primary School. "In the face of the epidemic outbreak, the school has used online teaching to let children who have been at home for a long time to feel relaxed and experience the charm of ethnic culture. It can not only inspire their interest in the traditional culture, but also help carry forward the ethnic culture, as well as enhance their national confidence and pride."

A student of Yizhou Experimental Primary School learns how to make painted eggs for the celebration of the the annual Sanyuesan Festival. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Online cultural activities, such as creating folk songs, quizzes on ethnic culture and epidemic prevention information, clothing design, as well as photographic works on ethnic cuisine were also carried out by Yizhou No 1 Primary School.

By March 28, more than 1,000 folk songs have been created by the school's teachers and students, while over 600 clothing design works and 800 photographic works have been submitted to the school. Over 4,000 people have taken the online quizzes on ethnic culture and epidemic prevention information.

Yizhou No 1 Primary School is an intangible culture inheritance base in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. It has been devoted to creating a cultural brand with local ethnic characteristics since 2014.

Online education activities themed around the Sanyuesan Festival of the Zhuang people were also carried out by Yizhou No 2 Primary School, spanning lessons on how to make painted eggs, steam glutinous rice, sing folk songs, and perform stilt walking.

"In view of the videos sent back by students, they have done careful research in the traditional activities of the Sanyuesan Festival," said Zhu Qunzhen, principal of Yizhou No 2 Primary School.

By holding the series of online thematic education activities, we are also doing our part to inherit and carry forward the excellent ethnic traditional culture, added Zhu.