端午节英语口语介绍一分钟（如何用地道英文向外国友人）

导读：端午节快到了，AAE（美国英文学院，American Academy of English，简称AAE）特地总结了此这篇文章，如果你也想向外国友人介绍端午节的文化内涵，希望能帮到你。

端午节的官方英文翻译是Dragon Boat Festival（直译为：龙舟节），另外流行的称呼还有：Duanwu Festival（端午节的拼音），和Double Fifth Festival（双五节）。

端午节为每年农历五月初五，是汉民族四大传统节日之一。（春节、清明节、端午节、中秋节并称中国四大传统节日）

起源与历史（Origin & History）

为什么要庆祝端午节？它有2000多年的历史，过去是一个卫生日，人们会用草药来驱散疾病和病毒。

Why is the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated? With a history over 2,000 years, it used to be a hygiene day when people would use herbs to dispel diseases and viruses.

关于端午节的起源，其实有很多不同的说法，而其中流传最广、影响最大的是纪念战国时期的爱国主义诗人屈原（公元前475–221年）。

There are a number of legends explaining its origins, and the best-known story is centered on a patriotic court official and a great poet named Qu Yuan in the Warring States Period (475 – 221BC).

屈原的传说（Legend of Qu Yuan）

屈原是战国时期的楚国大臣，也是一位爱国诗人，他创作了像《离骚》这样的杰作，被认为是中国历史上最伟大的诗人之一。

As a minister in the State of Chu, Qu Yuan was a patriotic poet who composed masterpieces like Li Sao (The Lament). He was regarded as one of the greatest poets in Chinese history.

在被国君流放后，他不愿看到自己的国家被秦国侵略和征服，于五月初五自沉汨罗江。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。

After he was exiled by the king, he drowned himself into the river rather than seeing his country invaded and conquered by the State of Qin. 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 hope that the fish in the river would eat the rice dumplings instead of the body of the deceased poet.

对外国人介绍端午节的时候，如果以上英文过于复杂，可以用以下几句话概括：

1. Dragon Boat Festival has a history of over 2,000 years in China.

端午节在中国已经有2000多年历史了。

2. 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灭亡而投江自尽。

3. 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。

4. 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。

传统与习俗（Traditions & Customs）

（1）吃粽子（Eating Zongzi ）

端午节不可不吃的美味食物就是粽子。它有各种馅料，在中国北方，人们喜欢用枣作为馅料，而南方人则喜欢甜豆沙、鲜肉或蛋黄。将馅料用竹叶或香蕉叶包裹起来煮熟，就是我们常见的粽子。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. In northern China, people favor the jujubes as the filling, while sweetened bean paste, fresh meat, and egg yolk are preferable fillings in the south. Once these fillings and sticky rice are wrapped with bamboo leaves or banana leaves, we will have the most common zongzi. The tradition of eating zongzi is now popular in North Korea and South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

备注：粽子的英文是rice-dumpling或rice pudding，属于比较书面的表达；也可以直接用粽子的拼音直译zongzi。

（2）赛龙舟（Dragon Boat Racing）

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 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。这项运动现已成为一项体育赛事，不仅在中国举行，而且在日本、越南和英国也有。

As the gun is fired, the dragon boat race begins. We will see racers accompanied by drums speeding toward the finish line. Now it has turned to be a sporting event not only held in China, but also in Japan, Vietnam, and Britain.

（3）佩香包（Spice bag / sachet）

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。相传它们有辟邪驱瘟的功效。

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.

（4）挂艾叶（Hanging mugwort）

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: "inserts the willow at Qingming; the inserts the mugwort at Dragon Boat Festival " At Dragon Boat Festival, every family cleans up their courtyard and sticks calamus and mugwort above the door frame in the hope of dispelling disease, mosquito, and evil spirits.

当外国友人问起端午习俗，可以用下面4句英文简略的介绍：

1. We eat zongzi on the day of Dragon Boat Festival.

我们在端午节吃粽子。

2. We watch the dragon boat race at Dragon Boat Festival.

我们在端午节看龙舟赛。

3. Parents will accessorize their children with perfume pouches at 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。

祝愿大家端午安康、阖家幸福！

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