特色英文介紹DragonBoatFestival端午節

特色英文介紹DragonBoatFestival端午節

特色英文介紹Dragon Boat Festival（端午節）

5th day of the 5th lunar month

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is

celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the

Chine calendar. For thousands of years, the festival has been

marked by eating zong zi (glutinous rice（糯米）wrapped to form

a pyramid using bamboo or reed leaves) and racing dragon boats.

The festival is best known for its dragon-boat races,

especially in the southern provinces where there are many rivers

and lakes. Thisregatta（賽舟會）commemorates the death of Qu

Yuan , an honest minister who is said to have committed suicide

by drowning himlf in a river.

Qu was a minister of the State of Chu situated in prent-day

Hunan and Hubei provinces, during theWarring States

Period(475-221BC)（戰國時期）. He was upright, loyal and highly

esteemed for his wi counl that brought peace and prosperity

to the state. However, when a dishonest and corrupt prince

vilified Qu, he was disgraced and dismisd from office. Realizing

that the country was now in the hands of evil and corrupt officials,

Qu grabbed a large stone and leapt into the Miluo River on the

fifth day of the fifth month. Nearby fishermen rushed over to try

and save him but were unable to even recover his body.

Thereafter, the state declined and was eventually conquered by

the State of Qin.

The people of Chu who mourned the death of Qu threw rice

into the river to feed his ghost every year on the fifth day of the

fifth month. But one year, the spirit of Qu appeared and told the

mourners that a hugereptile（爬行動物）in the river had stolen

the rice. The spirit then advid them to wrap the rice in silk and