DuanWu, The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival in China

What is the "Dragon Boat Festival" in China?

什么是中国的端午节? [Zhōng guó duān wǔ jié]

DuanWu, transliterated from two Chinese characters 端午 (Duān wǔ) (the key Chinese name of Chinese Duanwu Festival), refers to one of the oldest traditional festivals The Duanwu Festival in China with over 2000 years' history and folk celebrations.

端午节，是中国民间的最古老的传统节日之一，在中国已拥有两千多年的历史。其英文 Duanwu 正是从“端午节”中前两个汉字“端午”音译而来。

Additionally, the DuanWu Festival is also known by the world as the Dragon Boat Festival due to the Dragon boat as its significant and eye-catching cultural symbol in the long historical celebrations and folk customs in China.

另外，由于在悠久的历史庆典和民间习俗中，龙舟是其中重要且醒目的文化象征，端午节也被世人熟知为“龙舟节”。

In modern China, the DuanWu Festival, written as 端午节 (Duān wǔ jié) in Chinese now has become one of China’s important legal festivals and holidays since 2008. As the DuanWu Festival comes every year, all Chinese people will enjoy a three-day public holiday for celebrating the Duanwu Festival.

在现代，端午节更是成为了中国法定的重要节日之一(自2008年后)。每年端午节到来时，中国人都可以享受到 3 天的公众假期。

The Origin Stories of DuanWu Festival

端午节的起源 [Qǐ yuán]

In the very beginning, the DuanWu Festival was originated from the custom that the Chinese ancient ancestors held boat races for the worship of the Dragon God, paying homage and their fears to the rivers and seas in nature, certainly as well as to the Dragon god who was regarded as the dominant controller of all rivers, lakes, and seas in China.

最初，端午节起源于中国上古先民以龙舟竞渡的形式祭祀龙祖，以示人们对大自然中河海的敬畏。

As passed down to the 278 BCE (close to the end of the Warring States Period in China) and the later thousands of years in China, the DuanWu Festival was closely connected with a great patriotic ancient Chinese poet "Qu Yuan" 屈原 (qū yuán) from a huge tragedy. By his brave and resolute jumping into the Miluo River (now in Hubei province, China), the tragedy of Qu Yuan's death with his life for the country has greatly surprised the states of that period and the people. Thus, the DuanWu Festival also becomes a big memorable day for the Chinese people to recall the memory and show their respect to this patriotic and also very famous Chinese poet, who meanwhile has left lots of well-known poems including "Li Sao" in the Poetry of Chu (Chu Ci).

到公元前 278 年（战国末期）及后世千年里，端午节也和一位伟大的中国爱国诗人“楚原”紧密联系在了一起。因感于屈原义无反顾投身汨罗江（现湖北省内）、以身殉国的行为，以及这位伟大诗人留给后世的包括《楚辞· 离骚》在内的诸多诗词名作，端午节也成为了中国人向这位著名爱国诗人屈原表达敬意和怀念的纪念节日。

With the local custom of rowing dragon boats and throwing Zongzi (a kind of glutinous rice dumplings), one of the traditional Chinese food, into rivers for dispelling fishes and shrimps from eating the body of QuYuan, Zongzi has become a popular DuanWu Festival food in China, and the DuanWu Festival hence is given the folk name like the Zongzi Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and more.

在中国传统习俗里，当地百姓会划着龙舟，将粽子（中国的一种传统小吃，带馅的糯米团食物）投入江中喂食鱼虾，以保护屈原遗体免遭鱼虾咬食。因此，粽子成为了中国端午节盛行的节令小吃。而端午节在中国也可称作龙舟节，或粽子节，等等。

When Is The DuanWu Festival? And Holidays?

端午节日及放假时间？ [Jié rì shí jiān]

Usually, the Duanwu Festival takes place on the fifth day of the lunar fifth month according to the traditional Chinese calendar. Turning into the Gregorian calendar, the DuanWu Festival Day will fluctuate in late May or June.

按中国农历计算，每年农历五月的第五天为中国的端午节。若换算成阳历，通常是在五月底或六月初的日子里。

Due to its falling in the early summer of China, the Dragon Boat Festival is also the period for all Chinese ethnic groups to go fitness, prevent the plague from spreading, dispel virus diseases, and pray for health.

因常位于中国的夏初时节，端午节也是中国各民族全民健身、防疫祛病、避瘟驱毒、祈求健康的日子。

The DuanWu Holidays or the Dragon Boat Long Weekend Holidays, are generally referring to 3-consecutive-day holidays including 1-Day traditional DuanWu Festival Day plus the nearest weekend (2-Day), which belong to the Chinese legal public holidays in China.

而端午小长假，指的是围绕端午节这一天展开的，由端午节当天外加借调前后周末双休两日形成的连续3日的中国小长假，属于中国法定的公众节假日。

The DuanWu/Dragon Boat Holidays certainly fall in late May or June but the days are not fixed in the Chinese calendar. For example, the Chinese DuanWu or Dragon Boat Day in 2019 took place on June 7th, 2019, then the 3-day long weekend holiday of the year began from June 7th to June 9th, 2019.

具体的端午小长假假期，每年日期并不固定。例如，2019 年的端午节在阳历 6 月 7 日这一天，2019年的端午小长假则从 6 月 7 日开始一直到 6 月 9 日为止。

What Does the Duanwu/ Dragon Boat Festival Mean to the Chinese?

更多端午节的意义[Duān wǔ de yì yì]

How to Say The DuanWu/Dragon Boat Festival Greetings and Wishes

端午的节日祝福 [Jié rì zhù fú]

Different from the popular formula sentence for Chinese festival wishes, the Duanwu/Dragon Boat Festival Greeting and wish uses a unique structure and characters. That is the Chinese sentence 端午安康！ (Duān wǔ ān kāng).

有别于一般常见的中文节日祝福句式，端午节在中国拥有其独特的中文祝福语，即“端午安康！”。

The blessing words 安康 (ān kāng) in Chinese means to bless others to be safe and healthy, which respectively implied by the Chinese character 安 (ān) and 康 (kāng). Connecting with its origin stories above, it is easy to find out why these blessing words become the most popular festival greeting and wish for the DuanWu/Dragon Boat Festival in China.

其中的祝福词“安”与“康”分别代表着祈求对方平安和健康的愿望。结合上文的端午节起源故事，不难发现为何端午安康这四个字会成为在中国最流行的端午节祝福语了。