端午节(Dragon Boat Festival)是中国的传统节日之一,为每年农历五月初五。它与春节、清明节和中秋节并称为中国汉族的四大传统节日。端午节的来源有多种说法,但最被人们接受的是为了纪念著名爱国诗人屈原。
Dragon Boat Festival is one of Chinese traditionalfestivals. It's on the fifth day of the fifth lunarmonth. It is known as one of the four majortraditional festivals of Han Chinese together withthe Spring Festival, the Qingming Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. A number of theoriesexist about its origins, but the best accepted one is that it's for memorizing the famouspatriotic poet Qu Yuan.
屈原是一位忠诚和受人敬仰的大臣(minister),他给国家带来了和平和繁荣。但最后因为受到诽谤(vilify)而最终投河自尽。人们撑船到他自尽的地方,抛下粽子,希望鱼儿吃粽子,不要吃屈原的身躯。几千年来,端午节的特色在于吃粽子(glutinous dumplings)和赛龙舟,尤其是在一些河湖密布的南方省份。
Qu Yuan was a loyal and highly esteemed minister, who brought peace and prosperity to the state but ended up drowning himself in a river as a result of being vilified.People got to the spot by boat and cast glutinous dumplings into the water,hoping that the fishes ate the dumplings instead of Qu Yuan's body. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by glutinous dumplings and dragon boat races, especially in the southern provinces where there are many rivers and lakes.
端午节的习俗有吃粽子、赛龙舟、喝雄黄酒(realgar wine)等。自2008年以来,它被列为中国的国家法定假日。2009年9月,联合国教科文组织正式批准将其列入人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录,端午节成为中国第一个入选世界遗产的节日。
On the Dragon Boat Festival, people have the customs of eating zongzi(rice dumpling),racing dragon boats and drinking realgar wine, etc. Since 2008, it has been listed as a national legal holiday in China. In September, 2009, UNESCO officially approved it to be included in the List of Representatives of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the Dragon Boat Festival became the first festival in China to be selected as a world heritage.