Dragon Boat Festival 端午節 2

The following is an excerpt from 台灣節日故事 ("Taiwanese Holiday Stories").  The Chinese was written by 張青史, and this book was published by 風車圖書 (Windmill Illustrated) in 2012.  This year Dragon Boat Festival falls on Wednesday, June 12, and everyone in Taiwan gets the day off!

端午節

Dragon Boat Festival

(農曆五月初五)

(Fifth Day of the Fifth Lunar Month)

農曆五月初五, 就是民間所稱的端午節, 又叫 "五月節", "五日節", 是我國民間極為重視的節慶.  我們常認為端午節的由來是為了紀念愛國詩人屈原, 實際上, 端午節的起源和屈原並沒有什麼關係; 只是後來曾加的 "包粽子" 與 "龍舟競渡", 才和屈原產生關聯.  The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is popularly known as Dragon Boat Festival.  It is also called "May Festival" and "Fifth Day Festival."  It is one of the more important holidays celebrated in our country.  We usually think of this festival as commemorating the patriotic poet Chu Yuan, but in truth Dragon Boat Festival's origins have nothing to do with Chu Yuan.  The inclusion of Chu Yuan was later used to explain activities that were added more recently, such as the wrapping of rice tamales, and the dragon boat races.

吉代人很早就有這種反應季節變化與天氣特徵的節日, 並且有許多與 "衛生" 和 "保健" 相關的習俗.  端就是 "開始" 的意思,午與 "陽" 相通, 兩個字加起來就是陽光開始強烈, 天氣變炎熱的意思.  People in ancient times observed this kind of holiday in accordance with changes of season, or changes of weather, and they also had many customs related to hygiene and preserving one's health.  The "Duan" [which comprises the first character of Dragon Boat Festival's Chinese name] means "a beginning," and the "Wu" [which comprises the second character of this Chinese name] means "the sun."  Taken together, these two characters signify the time when the sun grows stronger, and the weather grows hot.

農曆的五月, 正是酷暑盛夏, 天氣炎熱, 各種蚊蟲孳生, 人們容易生病, 自古以來就被稱為 "惡月".  由與當時醫藥不發達, 人們便想出一些可以僻邪, 驅蟲, 解讀的方法, 列如: 在門口掛菖蒲, 喝雄黃酒, 懸掛香包等.  另外還有划龍丹, 吃粽子, 豎雞蛋等游樂活動.  久而久之, 這些方法就成為端午節特有的民俗活動了.  The fifth day of the fifth lunar month marks the onset of summer heat, and of hot weather.  Every kind of insect breeds, and it is easy for people to become sick.  During ancient times, this time of year was referred to as the "evil month."  At that time medicine was undeveloped, and people began to think of ways to prevent infestation and other evils.  For example, they would hang calamus in their doorways, drink yellow "hsiung" wine, and wear sachets.  They also raced dragon boats, ate rice tamales, hung up eggs and engaged in other pleasurable activities.  After a time, these activities all became parts of what we know as Dragon Boat Festival.