今天是传统端午节。不过在彻底放飞自己之前，我们还是先来了解一下与“端午节”相关的英文表达吧！

端午节的英文表述

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar. The exact date varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. The festival was long marked as a cultural festival in China, the government, however, did not officially recognize Duanwu as a public holiday until 2008.

The official English name for the holiday, "Dragon Boat Festival," directly translates into two alternative Chinese names for the holiday, Lóngchuánjié and Lóngzhōujié. Among Malaysian, Singaporean people, the festival is also known as the "Fifth Month Festival," the "Fifth Day Festival," and the "Dumpling Festival." In Indonesian, the festival is known as "Peh Cun", which is derived from the Hokkien phrase（扒船).

“端午节”的英文名称表述为：Dragon Boat Festival，因为选取端午节中的核心意像—— “龙舟 (dragon boat)” 作为节日的名字，十分形象生动，也很好记。再比如“中秋节”，很多老外都喜欢“Mooncake Festival”的这样的名字，即“月饼节”。

端午节的日期为中国农历五月初五，用英文表示就是：5th day of 5th month in Chinese Lunar Calendar， 中国传统节日都是按照“农历”来计算的，而“农历”就是按照月亮的圆缺周期来制定的，所以被称为“Lunar Calendar”，即“月亮的历法”；而跟“农历”相对的“公立”是按照太阳的运行规律来制定，故被称为“Solar Calendar”，也叫做“the Gregorian calendar”。

端午节的起源

The story best known in modern China holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty. A cabinet member of the Chu royal house, Qu Yuan served in high offices.

However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and even accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.

It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him or at least retrieve his body. This is said to have been the origin of dragon boat races. When his body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.

端午节被认为是为了纪念屈原的节日，除了屈原之外，部分地区也有纪念伍子胥、曹娥等说法。

英文小故事，讲述端午节的来龙去脉

端午节的习俗

The focus of most celebrations involves eating zongzi (sticky rice / glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.

Zongzi, is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous / sticky rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings, or sticky rice dumplings.

Glutinous rice filled with meat, nuts or bean paste and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It is associated with Dragon Boat Festival with historical meaning. The custom of eating zongzi is now popular in North and South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

“粽包分两髻，艾束著危冠。旧俗方储药，羸躯亦点丹。”端午节不可不吃的美味食物就是粽子。在糯米中加入肉、干果或者豆沙，再以竹叶包裹。在端午节吃粽子是一个具有历史意义的传统。这个传统现在在朝鲜、韩国、日本以及东南亚国家都很流行。

我们一起来看看如何用英文介绍包粽子的步骤：

1）have bamboo leaves watered.

粽叶先浸水。

2）Fill the boat shape with a few tablespoons of the soaked sticky rice. Top with a sprinkling of mung beans.

在船型粽叶中填入几勺浸湿的糯米，再加少许绿豆。

3）Add some smoked meat and shrimps.

再加入腌制过的肉和虾。

4）Packed it with line with three, four, or five angles.

用线把粽子裹起来，可以做成三角、四角或五角。

5）Boiled them, first with big fire, then turn to small fire till rip.

然后再进行蒸煮，先用大火，再转成小火直到粽子壳开裂。

Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all over the country. As the gun is fired, people will see racers in dragon-shaped canoes pulling the oars harmoniously and hurriedly, accompanied by rapid drums, speeding toward their destination.

“鼓声三下红旗开，两龙跃出浮水来。棹影斡波飞万剑，鼓声劈浪鸣千雷。”端午节最应景的节目就是赛龙舟。赛龙舟是端午节重要的组成部分，枪声一响，人们就会看到龙舟上的运动员，伴随着快速的鼓点，迅速又整齐划一地划动船桨，冲向终点。

赛龙舟是端午节最盛大的活动。这首儿歌，韵律十足，动感无限。 快来看看吧!

On Dragon Boat Festival, parents also need to dress their children up with a sachet. They first sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines（草药）, and finally string them with silk threads. The sachet will be hung around the neck or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. They are said to be able to ward off evil.

The sachets (Hsiang Pao in Chinese 香包) are very popular with children and they vie (竞争) with each other to collect as many as possible. Children are not the only ones who collect Hsiang Pao. Older people are often given them as a symbol of respect, and they are highly prized because of the intricate (复杂的) and beautiful embroidery (刺绣) that adorns (装饰) them.

端午节最有特色的饰物就是香包（sachet）。佩戴香包，传说有避邪驱瘟之意。用含有多种香味的药用植物做成的香包也可以预防疾病。在端午节，父母会给孩子们戴上香包。他们首先用彩色的绸布缝制成小包，然后在小包里装上香料和草药，最后用丝线将小包缝上。香包被挂在孩子的脖子上或系在衣服的前面作为装饰。

People hang branches of moxa and calamus around the doors of their homes display portraits of evil's nemesis, Chung Kuei.

“不效艾符趋习俗，但祈蒲酒话升平。”挂艾叶菖蒲和悬钟馗像都是为了驱疾避凶，讨个吉利。

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