About Chinese Language Day
In 2010, the United Nations Department of Public Information (now the Department of Global Communications ) announced the launch of the United Nations Language Day. This initiative aims to celebrate the use of multiple languages and cultural diversity and to promote the equal use of the six official languages in the United Nations.
Among them, the Ministry of Information has set the Chinese Day as the "Gu Yu" of the 24th solar terms in the lunar calendar to commemorate the contribution of Cangjie, the "ancestor of Chinese characters".
Gu Yu is the last solar term in spring. At this time, the seedlings in the fields are first planted and new crops are planted, and they most need the rain to moisturize, so "spring rain is as expensive as oil". In this season when spring is about to end and summer is about to come, duckweed in the pond begins to grow, and spring tea is also harvested around this time. At this moment, it gives people a scene of all things growing and prospering, as the saying goes, "The season of a year lies in spring."
Regarding the origin of the Guyu Festival, according to the "Huainanzi", Cangjie’s creation of characters was an earth-shattering event. The Huangdi issued an edict in late spring and early summer, announcing the success of Cangjie’s creation of characters, and called on the world's subjects to learn them together. According to legend, he moved the Emperor of Heaven because of his merit in writing characters. At that time, the world was suffering from a famine, and he ordered the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Commanders to open the granary of the Heavenly Palace. There was a rain of grains, and the people of the world were saved. Later generations named this day Gu Yu as one of the twenty-four solar terms.
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