端午节 Duanwu Festival

[laoshi]

"Dragon Boat Festival" redirects here. For dragon boating as a sport, see dragon boat.
端午節
Duanwu Festival

Dragon Boat Festival (18th century)
Official name Dragon Boat Festival (端午節)
Dragon Boat Festival (端午節)
Tuen Ng Festival[4] (端午節)
Also called Duanyang (端陽節)
Double Fifth Festival (雙五節)
Dragon Boat Festival (龍舟節)
Fifth Month Festival (五月節)
Fifth Day Festival (五日節)
Dumpling Festival (肉粽節)
Observed by Chinese
Type Cultural
Observances Dragon boat racing, consumption of xionghuangjiu and zongzi
Date 24th day of the 11th lunar month
2013 date June 12
2014 date June 2
2015 date June 20
2016 date June 9
Frequency annual
Related to Children's Day, Dano, Tết Đoan Ngọ, Yukka Nu Hii
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 端午节
端阳节
Traditional Chinese 端午節
端陽節
Literal meaning Opening the Seventh
Opening Yang
[show]Transcriptions
Dragon Boat Festival
Simplified Chinese 龙船节 / 龙舟节
Traditional Chinese 龍船節 / 龍舟節
[show]Transcriptions
Double Fifth Festival
Fifth Month Festival
Fifth Day Festival
Simplified Chinese 双五节
五月节
五日节
Traditional Chinese 雙五節
五月節
五日節
[show]Transcriptions
Dumpling Festival
Simplified Chinese 肉粽节
Traditional Chinese 肉粽節
Literal meaning Pork Zongzi Festival
[show]Transcriptions
Portuguese name
Portuguese Festividade do Barco-Dragão
The Dragon Boat or Duanwu Festival is a traditional and statutory holiday originating in China.

The festival now occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese calendar, the source of its alternate name, the Double Fifth Festival. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so the date varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. In 2012, it fell on June 23; in 2013, on June 12; and in 2014, it will occur on June 2. The focus of most celebrations involves eating zongzi (sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves), drinking realgar wine (雄黃酒, xiónghuángjiǔ), and racing dragon boats.

The sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of summer solstice, as the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun, like the Chinese dragon, traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon, like the phoenix, traditionally represents feminine energy. The summer solstice is considered the annual peak of male energy while the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, represents the annual peak of feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon was thus naturally associated with Duanwu .

[laoshi]

The usual English name for the holiday, "Dragon Boat Festival," directly translates into two alternate Chinese names for the holiday, Lóngchuánjié and Lóngzhōujié.

The official Chinese name of the festival is 端午节 on the mainland and 端午節 on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. This is pronounced variously in different Chinese dialects. In Mandarin, it is romanized as Duānwǔjié on the mainland and Taiwan; in Cantonese, it is romanized as Tuen1 Ng5 Jit3 on Hong Kong and Tung1 Ng5 Jit3 on Macao. All of these names (lit. "Opening the Seventh") refer to its original position as the first seventh-day (午日, Wǔrì) in the fifth month (五月, Wǔyuè) of the traditional Chinese calendar, which was also known as 午 (Wǔ). Both the People's Republic and the Republic of China use "Dragon Boat Festival" as the official English translation of the holiday, while Hong Kong calls it the "Tuen Ng Festival" and Macao calls it "Dragon Boat Festival (Tun Ng)" in English and Festividade do Barco-Dragão (Tung Ng) in Portuguese.

Among Malaysian, Singaporean, and Taiwanese Hokkien speakers, the festival is also known as the "Fifth Month Festival," the "Fifth Day Festival," and the "Dumpling Festival." In Singapore, it is known in Malay as Pesta Kapal Naga and in Tamil as Nākak Kappal Pantayam (நாகக் கப்பல் பந்தயம்), both meaning "Dragon Boat Festival."

In Indonesian, the festival is known as "Peh Cun", which is derived from the Hokkien phrase 扒船 (Hokkien POJ: pê-tsûn; Hanyu Pinyin: bā chuán).

[laoshi]

屈原 Qu Yuan

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

[SunflowerJessica]

还真不知道一个端午节有这么多的称谓呢。原来马来也庆祝这个节日呢，印尼的部分华人好像也保留了这个传统，但并没有被政府认可。
屈原是一位伟大的诗人，除了《离骚》，更重要的是他爱国精神被尊重和颂扬。

I have never known there are so many different names for Dragon Boat Festival. Malasia also celebrate this holiday which I didn't know. It seems that partially Indonesia Chinese also hold this tradition, however not acknowledged by the government. The obvious prove is no holiday in Indonesia on that day.

Qu Yuan was a very great poet, not only because of his masterpiece of <Li Sao>, but more because of his patriotism.