浓情端午 迎佳节 | Let's welcome Dragon Boat Festival

端午节的由来

端午节小孩佩香囊,传说有避邪驱瘟之意,实际是用于襟头点缀装饰。香囊内有朱砂、雄黄、香药,外包以丝布,清香四溢,再以五色丝线弦扣成索,作各种不同形状,结成一串,形形色色,玲珑可爱。

Children wear sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival, legend has the meaning of warding off evil spirits and exorcising plagues. The sachets contain cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicines, wrapped in silk cloth, fragrant overflowing, and then with five colors of silk strings buckled into a cord, made of a variety of different shapes, formed into a bunch, all kinds of colors; exquisite and lovely.

佩香囊

Wearing Sachets

在端午节，人们会聚集起来赛龙舟、挂艾草、饮雄黄酒，当然，最重要的莫过于吃粽子了。粽子是用粽叶包裹糯米制作而成的一种熟食，传说诗人屈原投江后，缅怀他的老百姓发明了粽子投到江中，希望江底的鱼虾去吃粽子，而不要啃食屈原的躯体。可以说，小小的粽子身上，凝结着我们中华民族浓厚的人文情怀和历史底蕴。

During the Dragon Boat Festival, people gather to watch or participate in  dragon boats race, hang mugwort, drink realgar wine, and of course, the most important thing is to eat rice dumplings. Rice dumpling is a kind of cooked food made of glutinous rice wrapped with zongzi leaves. Legend says that after the poet Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, the people who remembered him invented the zongzi, threw them into the river, hoping that the fish and shrimp at the bottom of the river would eat the zongzi instead of eating Qu Yuan’s body. It can be said that the small zongzi embodies the strong humanistic feelings and historical heritage of our Chinese natio.

吃粽子

俗话说:“清明插柳,端午插艾”。这里的“艾”是指艾蒿,它的茎叶有挥发性精油,独特的香味可以驱蚊避虫。端午节自古以来也是祛病防疫的节气,因为正值夏至,寒暑相交,家家都会在这一天打扫门庭,将艾条插在门上,杀菌消毒。

There is a saying: “Put the willow in the Qingming Festival, and put the moxa in the Dragon Boat Festival”. The “moxa” here refers to mugwort, its stems and leaves have volatile essential oils, and the unique fragrance can repel mosquitoes and insects. The Dragon Boat Festival has also been a solar term for disease prevention and epidemic prevention since ancient times. Because it is the summer solstice, when cold and summer intersect, every family will clean their homes on this day, insert mugwort sticks on the door, and sterilize them.

中国古代一直以红、黄、白、青、黑五色为吉祥色。每年端午节清晨,大人起床后第一件事便是在孩子手腕、脚腕、脖子上拴五色线。传说五色线不能随便丢弃,只能在夏季第一场大雨或第一次洗澡时扔到河里,意味着让河水将疾病冲走。据说,戴五色线的孩子可以避开蛇蝎类毒虫的伤害,常保安康。

In ancient China, red, yellow, white, blue and black were the auspicious colors. Every year on the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, the first thing adults do when they get up is to tie five-color threads on their children’s wrists, ankles, and necks. Legend has it that the five-color thread cannot be discarded casually, but can only be thrown into the river during the first heavy rain in summer which means letting the river water wash away the disease. It is said that children wearing five-color threads can avoid the harm of snakes and scorpions and keep healthy.

雄黄也是一种药材，据说能杀百毒。在传统文化中，毒蛇、蝎子、蜈蚣、壁虎、蟾蜍称为“五毒”，百姓认为端午节这一天五毒都会出来作乱，只有雄黄酒可以镇得住它们，所以，许多人家都会喝雄黄酒。陕西人还会将雄黄泡在酒中，在小孩的耳朵、鼻子、脑门、手腕、脚腕等处抹上雄黄酒，据说，这种做法可以使蚊虫、蛇、蝎、蜈蚣、壁虎、蜘蛛等不上身。

Realgar is also a medicinal material, which is said to kill hundreds of poisons. In traditional culture, poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, and toads are called “five poisons”. People believe that the five poisons will come out to cause chaos on the Dragon Boat Festival, and only realgar wine can restrain them. Therefore, many people drink realgar wine. People from Shanxi province will also soak realgar in wine and smear realgar wine on children’s ears, nose, forehead, wrists, ankles, etc. It is said that this practice can protect our bodies from mosquitoes, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, spiders and so on.

端午节诗词

端 午

唐·文秀

节分端午自谁言，

万古传闻为屈原;

堪笑楚江空渺渺,

不能洗得直臣冤。

五月五日

宋·梅尧臣

屈氏已沉死，楚人衰不容。

何尝奈谗谤，徒欲却蛟龙。

未泯生前恨，而追没後踪。

沅湘碧潭水，应自照千峰。