Qu Yuan, Jeremiah and Christ
Written by Rev Tay Piak Kheng 21 June 2026
Every year on the fifth day of the fifth Lunar month, the Chinese in Singapore will eat rice dumplings and race dragon boats. The Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in China. He was a loyal minister of the State of Chu, but was later ousted and exiled to the south by treacherous ministers. Seeing that his country was about to perish, Qu Yuan, feeling despondent, jumped into the Miluo River and ended his life.
Qu Yuan’s patriotism and love for his kinsmen remind us of the Israeli prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sent by God to warn the political and religious leaders of Israel because they were immoral and greedy, oppressing the poor, and leading God’s people away from worshipping the Lord to worship Baal. God was about to send the Babylonian army to destroy Israel. But God would restore Israel because of His faithfulness. However, the leaders of Israel did not listen; instead, they maligned Jeremiah and put him in prison.
Both Qu Yuan and Jeremiah wrote patriotic poems. In Qu Yuan’s “Li Sao,” all we see is despair; whereas in Jeremiah’s Lamentations, we see hope: “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” (Lam 3:24, 25) Subsequently, the nation of Israel was destroyed by Babylon, and from then on, Her people were scattered all over the world. But the nation was re-established in 1948! Jeremiah’s hope came to pass!
Hope is the driving force for survival. When a person is in a desperate situation and can no longer see the meaning of living, his soul is in great agony and may choose to end his life. Nonetheless, many did not know that death cannot end our existence or suffering. As the Bible tells us, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Heb 9:27) But for those who know and trust God, they will surely not be trapped but led out of the valley of death peacefully by God.
Who is the true God, and where can we find Him? Well, surely not in religion, for religion is not an objective truth but a mere invention of the human mind based on conjectures about supernatural forces. God is in eternity, and man is in the realm of time; without God revealing Himself to us, there is no way to know God. Hence, the only way that leads us to God is Jesus Christ, as He declared in the Bible, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Hardships are inevitable, but hardships are not necessarily dead ends. Friends, Jesus Christ is the only hope for humanity. Come and know Him, and your will trust him as your God and Saviour in no time!
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