AAE教你用英文给外国友人介绍“端午节”传统文化

屈原是一位历史上伟大的浪漫主义诗人，他自感无力挽救楚国的衰亡，于五月五日自沉汨罗江而死。老百姓很同情屈原的遭遇，为了避免屈原的尸体被鱼鳖吞食，便于五月五日这一天划着龙舟在江中驱赶鱼鳖，并将包好的粽子投放江中来喂鱼鳖，以保护屈原的尸体。

Qu Yuan is a great Romantic poet in history. In a desperate protest, he drowned himself into the river. Later Qu Yuan's sympathizers rowed in the river on their dragon boats and scattered rice dumplings wrapped in reed-leaves (zongzi) into the Miluo River in the hopes that the fish in the river would eat the rice dumplings instead of the body of the deceased poet.

2008年，端午节被确立为法定节假日。

In 2008, Dragon Boat Festival was officially recognized as a National Holiday.

《牛津英语词典》收录了“端午节”的英文 Dragon Boat Festival，其定义如下：Dragon Boat Festival, which takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar throughout China and in Chinese communities worldwide. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan (c340–278 b.c.), China's first known poet, who drowned himself when his home state of Chu was overthrown; the dragon boat races traditionally represent the search for his body.

端午节在农历 5 月 5 日，中国各地和全球的华人小区均有庆祝。这个节日纪念的是中国第一位著名的诗人屈原，他因故土楚国灭亡而投江自尽。传统上，龙舟竞渡代表的是搜寻他的遗体。

因此，对外国人介绍端午节的时候，不要说Duanwu Festival，因为大多数外国人不明为何物，而Dragon Boat Festival却为外国人所熟悉。

我们该如何给外国友人介绍端午节的起源？以下四句话足以：

1

Legend has it that Qu Yuan, one of China's most famous poets, drowned himself when his home state of Chu was overthrown.

传说诗人屈原因故土出国灭亡而投江自尽。

2

People rowed dragon boats and scattered rice dumplings into the Miluo River to protect the body of Qu Yuan.

百姓们划龙舟驱赶鱼鳖、用粽子喂鱼鳖，以保护屈原尸体。

3

In 2008, Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, was officially recognized as a National Holiday.

自2008年起，每年农历五月初五被确定为端午节的法定节假日。

4

Dragon Boat Festival is a way to commemorate the great ancient poet named Qu Yuan.

端午节是为了纪念一位古代的伟大诗人屈原。

端午节之习俗

端午节吃什么？

What do we eat?

端午节不可不吃的美味食物就是粽子。粽子的内馅一般是糯米、猪肉、坚果或豆沙，然后用竹叶或香蕉叶包裹起来煮熟。吃粽子的习俗，现在已经在朝鲜、韩国、日本和东南亚国家流行开来。

The customary food for the Dragon Boat Festival is zongzi. It is filled with glutinous rice, meat, nuts or bean paste and wrapped in bamboo leaves or banana leaves. The tradition of eating zongzi is now popular in North Korea and South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

粽子的英文是rice-dumpling，属于比较书面的表达，更常用的是zongzi，就是粽子的拼音直译。

端午节玩什么？

What activities do we do?

端午节最应景的节目就是赛龙舟。龙舟大小不一，船头饰龙头，船尾饰龙尾。龙头的颜色有红、黑、灰等色，均与龙灯之头相似，姿态不一。

The most popular activity of the Dragon Boat Festival is the dragon boat race. Dragon boats vary in size. The bow of the ship is the dragon’s head, and the stern of the ship is the dragon's tail. The colors of the bows are red, black, grey and so on. They are similar to those of the dragon lantern.

龙船竞渡比赛，枪声一响，我们就会看到龙舟上的运动员，伴随着快速的鼓点，迅速又整齐划一地划动船桨，冲向终点。这项运动在中国全国上下推行，并随着华人华侨的足迹遍布世界各地，西方国家也渐渐兴起了端午热。

As the gun is fired, the dragon boat race begins. We will see racers accompanied by drums speeding toward the finish line. Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival that is held all over the country. Following in the footsteps of Chinese all over the world, western countries are gradually catching the Dragon Boat Festival fever.

端午节戴什么？

What do we wearing?

端午节最有特色的饰物就是香包。在端午节，父母也会为孩子们佩戴香囊。他们首先用色彩鲜艳的丝布缝一个小袋子，然后在里面装上香料或者草药，最后用丝线串起来。香囊通常挂在脖子上，或是作为一种饰品系在衣服前面。相传它们有避邪驱瘟的功效。

The most distinctive ornament of the Dragon Boat Festival is the sachet. On Dragon Boat Festival, parents would accessorize their children with a perfume pouch. They sew colorful silk into little bags, fill the bags with perfume or herbal medicines, and string them with silk thread. These perfume pouches will be hung around the neck or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. They are said to be able to ward off evil.

端午节挂什么？

What do we hang?

挂艾叶菖蒲 Hanging mugwort or calamus

民谚说：''清明插柳，端午插艾''。在端午节，家家都洒扫庭除，以菖蒲、艾条插于门眉，悬于堂中，用于驱病、防蚊、辟邪。

The folk proverb says: ''the Qingming inserts the willow; the Dragon Boat Festival inserts the mugwort.'' On Dragon Boat Festival, every family cleans up their courtyard, and sticks calamus and mugwort above the door frame in hope of dispelling disease, mosquito and evil spirits.

拴五色丝线 Tying five-color silk thread

端午节，大人在孩子手腕、脚腕、脖子上拴五色线以保安康。系线时，禁忌儿童开口说话。五色线不可任意折断或丢弃，只能在夏季第一场大雨或第一次洗澡时，抛到河里。

On Dragon Boat Festival, adults tie a five-color silk threads on their children's wrist, ankle and neck to protect their health. During the tying for children, children are not allowed to speak. The five-color silk thread may not be broken or discarded arbitrarily. It can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy rain or the first bath of the summer.

当外国友人问：What is the custom of Dragon Boat Festival?

你可以给外国友人介绍一下端午节的习俗，如果上面过于复杂，可用下面5句英文简略的介绍：

1

We eat zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival.

我们在端午节吃粽子。

2

We watch dragon boat race on the Dragon Boat Festival.

我们在端午节看龙舟赛。

3

Parents will accessorize their children with perfume pouches on Dragon Boat Festival.

父母在端午节会给孩子们戴香包。

4

We hang mugwort or calamus on that day to dispel disease, mosquito and evil spirits.

我们在端午节挂艾叶和菖蒲以驱病、防蚊、辟邪。

5

Adults tie a five-color silk thread on their children's wrist, ankle and neck to protect their health.

大人在孩子手腕、脚腕、脖子上拴五色线以保安康。返回搜狐，查看更多