端午节的由来英文版.doc

端午节由来英文 The Dragon Boat Festival is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar, and is therefore often called Double Fifth Festival. In Chinese, the holiday is called Duan Wu Jie. The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar-statesman Qu Yuan, who lived some three centuries before the birth of Christ. Qu Yuan was a loyal minister that served the King of Chu during the Warring States Period. Qu Yuan was a highly respected and trusted advisor to the King of Chu. He fought the corruption of other officials of the court. Initially, Qu Yuan was favored by his sovereign, but over time, his wisdom and erudite ways antagonized the other court officials. Eventually, the intrigues of his rivals exerted enough ill influence on the King that Qu Yuan soon found himself in disfavor. The King began to not listen to Qu Yuans suggestions and advice. Not long after, the King banished Qu Yuan from Chu. While in exile, Qu Yuan composed many poems expressing his sorrows and concerns for his country and people. Amongst his most famous poems is Encountering Sorrow, a poem describing his search for a good sovereign that would listen to good advice regarding government. In the year 295 B.C., at the age of 37, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Milo River. He clasped a heavy stone to his chest and leaped into the water. Knowing that Qu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him. The people desperately searched the waters in their boats looking for Qu Yuan, but they were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue him. Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan. When it was known that Qu Yuan had been lost forever, the local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for their lost hero. However, a local fisherman had a dream that Qu Yuan did not get any of the cooked rice that was thrown into the river in his honor. Instead, it was the fishes in the river that had eaten the rice. So, the following year, the tradition of wrapping the cooked rice in bamboo leaves was begun. The cooked rice wrapped in bamboo leaves later came to be known as zong zi. There is also another version of the story. When it was known that Qu Yuan had been lost to the river, the local fisherman had a dream that the fishes in the river were eating Qu Yuans body. The local people came up with the idea that if the fishes in the river were not hungry, then they would not eat Qu Yuans body. So the local people began the tradition of throwing zong zi into the river to feed the fishes in hope that Qu Yuans body would be spared. 端午?的由?nbsp; The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Double Fifth Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar. It is one of the most important Chinese festivals, the other two being the Autumn Moon Festival and Chinese New Year. The origin of this summer festival centers around a scholarly government official named Chu Yuan. He was a good and respected man, but because of the misdeeds of jealous rivals he eventually fell into disfavor in the emperors court. Unable to regain the respect of the emperor, in his sorrow Chu Yuan threw himself into the Mi Low river. Because of their admiration for Chu Yuan, the local people living adjacent to the Mi Lo River rushed into their boats to search for him while throwing rice into the waters to appease the river dragons. Although they were unable to find Chu Yuan, their efforts are still commemorated today during the Dragon Boat Festival. 風俗習慣 Dragon Boat race Traditions At the center of this festival are the dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. These exciting races were inspired by the villagers valiant attempts to rescue Chu Yuan from the Mi Lo river. This tradition has remained unbroken for centuries. Tzung Tzu A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat festival is tzung tzu. This tasty dish consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves. The tradition of tzung tzu is meant to remind us of the village fishermen scattering rice across the water of the Mi Low river in order to appease the river dragons so that they would not devour Chu Yuan.Ay Taso The time of year of the Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth lunar moon, has more significance than just the story of Chu Yuan. Many Chinese consider this time of year an especially dangerous time when extra efforts must be made to protect their family from illness. Families will hang various herbs, called Ay Tsao, on their door for protection. The drinking of realgar wine is thought to remove poisons from the body. Hsiang Bao are also worn. These sachets contain various fragrant medicinal herbs thought to protect the wearer from illness. 白蛇傳的故事 There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou. When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist monk, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wifes deceptive appearance and suggested to him a plan. On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of peoples houses. Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hais instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very