Dragon Boat Festival, often known as Tuen Ng Festival or Duan Wu Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Double Fifth. It has since been celeated, in various ways, in other parts of East Asia as well, most notably Korea.
The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan of the Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the Chu government. The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fishes to prevent them from eating Qus body. They also sat on dragon boats, and tried to scare the fishes away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking dragon-head in the front of the boat.
In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celeated as "Poets Day", due to Qu Yuans status as Chinas first poet of personal renown.
Today, people eat zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fishes) and race dragon boats in memory of Qus dramatic death.
端午节,通常被称为端午节或是端午祭,是中国日历上五月五号的一个传统节日,它也被称为五五。人们以多种方式庆祝端午节,甚至在东亚地区,最明显的是韩国。
端午的确切起源尚不明确,但有传统的观点认为,端午是为了纪念中国战国时期诗人屈原。他由于反对楚国国政腐败而投河自尽。当地的人,知道他是一个好人,于是将食物投放进河里喂鱼,以防止它们吃了屈原的尸体。他们坐在龙舟上,并试图用敲鼓的方式和船头具有龙头的船来吓跑鱼
在早期的中国,端午还被称作为“诗人节”,因为屈原是作为中国第一个个人声誉的诗人。
今天,人们用吃粽子(食物原本打算喂养鱼)和赛龙舟来纪念屈原的死。