端午节

　　农历五月初五，是中国民间传统的端午节，也叫“五月节”。过端午节时，人们要吃粽子、赛龙舟。据说，举行这些活动，是为了纪念中国古代伟大的爱国诗人屈原。

　　屈原是战国时期楚国人。战国时的齐、楚、燕、韩、赵、魏、秦七国中，秦国最强，总想吞并其它六国，称霸天下。屈原是楚国的大夫(dafu)，很有才能。他主张改革楚国政治，联合各国，共同抵抗秦国。但是，屈原的主张却遭到了奸佞的反对。楚王听信了谗言，不但不采纳屈原的主张，还把他赶出了楚国的国都。屈原离开国都后，仍然关心国家的命运。后来，他听到楚国被秦国打败的消息，非常悲痛，感到自己已经没有力量拯救祖国，就跳进汨罗江自杀了。这一天正是公元前278年农历的五月初五。

　　人们听到屈原跳江的消息后，都划船赶来打捞他的尸体，但始终没有找到。为了不让鱼虾吃掉屈原的身体，百姓们就把食物扔进江中喂鱼。以后，每年五月初五人们都要这样做。后来，人们又改为用芦苇的叶子把糯米包成粽子扔进江里。于是，就形成了端午节吃粽子、赛龙舟的习俗。

　　The Dragon Boat Festival

　　The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional Chinese folk festival ?the Dragon Boat Festival, also called the "Festival of the Fifth Month". On that day, people eat zongzi (pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves) and hold dragon-boat races. It is said, these activities commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuana in ancient China.

　　Qu Yuan lived in the State of Chu in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Among the states of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin, the State of Qin was the strongest, and it wished to annex the others to become even more powerful. Qu Yuan was a Dafub. He maintained that Chu's politics should be reformed and that it should unite with other states to resist Qin. But his stand was opposed by crafty sycophants, who used malicious accusations to persuade the king of Chu not to adopt the idea and to drive Qu Yuan from the capital. Despite being exiled, Qu Yuan was still concerned about the fate of the state. Later, when he heard the news that Qin had defeated the State of Chu, he was very grieved and felt that he had no power to save his motherland, and drowned himself in the Miluo Riverc. It was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC.

　　When people heard the news, they rowed their boats to try and find his corpse, but failed. In order not to let the fish and shrimps eat the corpse, people threw food into the river to feed them. Thereafter, on each fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people would throw food into the river. And later, people used reed leaves to wrap glutinous rice into pyramid-shaped dumplings (zongzi) for this purpose. Thus the custom of eating zongzi and staging dragon-boat race was formed.