端午節The Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most popular traditional festivals celebrated in China, which is on the fifth of the fifth lunar month, also known as Duanwu Festival. It’s said that it is to commemorate the death of a Chinese patriotic poet, Qu Yuan, who was snared by corrupt officials in ancient China and finally committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River to protest against them.

端午節是中國傳統節日中最流行的節日之一，它是在陰曆五月的第五天。據説這是為了紀念一箇中國的愛國詩人屈原的死，他被中國古代腐敗官員陷害最後在汨羅河投江自殺來表示抗議。

The traditions and customs held on this festival differ from place to place, but there are some common in them. First, the most famous and great tradition is holding Dragon Boat races, which are held by fishermen’s attempt to protect Qu Yuan’s body against attacking by fishes and other animals in the river by beating drums and row the dragon shaped boat. Nowadays dragon boat races have been an annual popular sport activity among people. In addition, making and eating Zongzi—a dumpling made of glutinous rice and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves—is also a popular custom during this day. It can be made by many kinds of stuffing. What’s more, hanging herbs on the front door, drinking realgar wine and pasting up picture of Zhongkui—a mythic guardian figure in ancient china—are also popular during the festival, which are mean to protect people from evil and disease.

這個傳統習俗不同的.地方有不同的慶祝方式，但也有相同的方面。首先，最出名的傳統就是舉行龍舟比賽，這是由漁民們舉行的，通過打鼓和劃龍形的船來保護屈原的身體免受魚類和其他動物的攻擊。現在龍舟賽是人們一年一度的流行的體育活動。此外，做和吃粽子——糯米麪團，包着竹葉或蘆葦葉，在那一天也是 一個流行的風俗。它可以由不同種類的餡料製成。還有就是，門上掛着草藥，人們喝雄黃酒，在門前張貼中國古代神話人物鍾馗的圖片在節日期間也是很受歡迎的，做這些的意義是保護人們免受邪惡和疾病。

These customs and traditions have been changed a little in recent years, but they still make contribution to the spread and inheritance of Chinese culture.

這些習俗和傳統，在最近幾年已經發生了一些變化，但他們仍然為中國文化傳承與傳播做貢獻。