The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Qu Yuan of the Warring States Period. He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the Chu government. The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fishes to prevent them from eating Qu's body. They also sat on dragon boats, and tried to scare the fishes away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking dragon-head in the front of the boat.
In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "Poets' Day", due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personal renown.
Today, people eat zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fishes) and race dragon boats in memory of Qu's dramatic death.
端午節(jié),通常被稱為端午節(jié)或是端午祭,是中國日歷上五月五號的一個傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日,它也被稱為五五。人們以多種方式慶祝端午節(jié),甚至在東亞地區(qū),最明顯的是韓國。
端午的確切起源尚不明確,但有傳統(tǒng)的觀點認為,端午是為了紀念中國戰(zhàn)國時期詩人屈原。他由于反對楚國國政腐敗而投河自盡。當地的人,知道他是一個好人,于是將食物投放進河里喂魚,以防止它們吃了屈原的尸體。他們坐在龍舟上,并試圖用敲鼓的方式和船頭具有龍頭的船來嚇跑魚
在早期的中國,端午還被稱作為“詩人節(jié)”,因為屈原是作為中國第一個個人聲譽的詩人。
今天,人們用吃粽子(食物原本打算喂養(yǎng)魚)和賽龍舟來紀念屈原的死。