今天是农历5月初5，我们也迎来了端午节这一传统节日。关于端午节，你知道该节日的起源、习俗和意义吗？你又知道多少与端午节有关的英文表达呢？

小编帮大家做了个总结，我们一起来看看吧。

“端午节”用英语该怎么说？

提到端午节，想必大家脑海中跳出来的第一个对应英文表达就是 The Dragon Boat Festival啦，这没毛病。

不过，小编通过查证，发现也有很多外媒将端午节说成“Duanwu Festival”了，这可以吗？ 当然可以，而且也有官方认证。例如联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）的官方文件中使用“Duanwu Festival”。

不过需要注意一点，“Duanwu”对他们来说则是个妥妥的外来词，单独使用的话就需要再解释一下。

可以学习一下中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室的做法：

China's traditional festival Duanwu falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is a major folk festival featuring deity worshiping, ancestor commemora- tion, praying for happiness, exorcising evil spirits, celebration, entertainment, and gourmet food.

中国的传统节日端午节在农历五月初五。这是一个以祭神、祭祖、祈福、驱邪、庆典、娱乐和美食为主要内容的民间传统节日。

当然，也有根据日期直译成“ Double Fifth Festival”的，即农历五月初五的节日。

The Story Behind Dragon Boat Festival

端午节的“幕后故事”

Dragon Boat Festival(龙船节), also known Duanwu Jie(端午节) falls on the fifth day on fifth lunar month of every year (Saturday this time around) and since 2008, has been considered a public holiday. Main activities during this time include eating zongzi(粽子, steamed glutinous rice with various fillings wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves), drinkingxionghuang jiu(雄黄酒, a kind of alcohol made from realgar), and watching dragon boat races.

龙船节又称 “端午节”，在每年农历五月初五（这次是星期六），自 2008 年起被定为公共假日。端午节的主要活动包括吃粽子、喝雄黄酒和看龙舟赛。

There are many legends about the origins of the festival, but the most popular one tells that it was established to commemorate the death of the poet, Qu Yuan.

关于端午节的起源存在着很多传说，但最流行的说法是，它是为纪念诗人屈原而设立的。

Qu Yuan, lived between 340 and 278BC and was a poet during the State of Chu. At that time, the State of Qin was trying to take control of the Chu, motivating Qu Yuan to try and help strengthen the Chu's military forces.

屈原生活在公元前 340 年至公元前 278 年之间，是楚国时期的诗人。当时，秦国试图控制楚国，促使屈原试图帮助楚国加强军事力量。

However, he was opposed by a number of the state's top aristocrats, leading to his deposition and exile by King Huai. In 278BC, when Qin finally conquered Chu, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

然而，他遭到了一些国家高级贵族的反对，导致他被怀王废黜和流放。公元前 278 年，秦国最终征服了楚国，屈原于农历五月初五投汨罗江自尽。

The people of Chu admired the poet's actions, and to show their appreciation threw zongziand xionghuang jiuin the water to keep fish away from Qu Yuan's body. Fishermen sailed their boats up and down the river, looking for him, thus creating the customs of dragon boat racing, eating zongzi, and drinking xionghuang jiuto commemorate Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival.

楚国人民敬佩屈原的行为。为了表示感谢，他们就把粽子和雄黄酒投入水中，让鱼儿远离屈原的尸体。渔民们驾船在江上来来回回寻找屈原，于是就有了赛龙舟、吃粽子、喝雄黄酒等纪念屈原和端午节的习俗。

Zongzi

Zongzi(粽子) are made of glutinous rice stuffed with fillings, then wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, and tied with colored thread. The fillings vary region by region. In the north, the fillings are usually sweet: red bean paste, tapioca, or taro. In the south, they tend to be more savory. Fillings include duck egg, pork, chicken, or mushrooms.

粽子是用糯米做馅，然后用竹叶或芦苇叶包裹，再用彩线捆扎而成。馅料因地区而异。在北方，馅料通常是甜的：红豆沙、木薯或芋头。在南方，馅料则偏向于咸味。馅料包括鸭蛋、猪肉、鸡肉或蘑菇。

注：关于“粽子”，我们最常说的英文表达是rice dumplings或sticky rice dumplings，不过中文拼音Zongzi也是正确的，更推荐大家使用拼音，因为可以弘扬我们中华传统文化，但在使用该表达的时候需要注意加以解释。

Xionghuang Jiu

Xionghuang jiu(雄黃酒), also known as realgar wine, is a Chinese liquor seasoned with realgar. The tradition of drinking xionghuang jiuis also related to the fact that Dragon Boat Festival marked the beginning of summer and the appearance of dangerous animals and evil spirits. Since xionghuang jiucontains arsenic sulfide (considered to be an antidote for poison), drinking it was meant to protect people from these doers of harm.

雄黄酒是一种用雄黄调味的中国白酒。喝雄黄酒的传统还与端午节标志着夏季的开始以及危险动物和邪灵的出现有关。由于雄黄酒中含有硫化砷（被认为是一种解毒剂），因此饮用雄黄酒可以保护人们免受这些害人者的伤害。

Dragon Boats