The Dragon Boat Festival is a lunar holiday, occurring on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month

    The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a significant holiday celebrated in China, and the one with the longest history. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish end first.

    The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are traditional customs to attempts to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating tzungtzu and rice dumplings. The celebration's is a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year. It is done so by different practices such as hanging healthy herbs on the front door, drinking nutritious concoctions, and displaying portraits of evil's nemesis, Chung Kuei. If one manages to stand an egg on it's end at exactly 12：00 noon, the following year will be a lucky one.

    Notesignificant：重要的　　drumbeat：鼓聲，打鼓　　patriotic：愛國的concoction：調(diào)和物　　nemesis：報(bào)應(yīng)風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣

    Dragon Boat race Traditions At the center of this festival are the dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. These exciting races were inspired by the villager's valiant attempts to rescue Chu Yuan from the Mi Lo river. This tradition has remained unbroken for centuries.

    Tzung Tzu A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat festival is tzung tzu. This tasty dish consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves. The tradition of tzung tzu is meant to remind us of the village fishermen scattering rice across the water of the Mi Low river in order to appease the river dragons so that they would not devour Chu Yuan.

    Ay Taso The time of year of the Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth lunar moon, has more significance than just the story of Chu Yuan. Many Chinese consider this time of year an especially dangerous time when extra efforts must be made to protect their family from illness. Families will hang various herbs, called Ay Tsao, on their door for protection. The drinking of realgar wine is thought to remove poisons from the body. Hsiang Bao are also worn. These sachets contain various fragrant medicinal herbs thought to protect the wearer from illness.

    風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣端午節(jié)最重要的活動是龍舟競賽，比賽的隊(duì)伍在熱烈的鼓聲中劃著他們多彩的龍舟前進(jìn)。這項(xiàng)活動的靈感是來自於當(dāng)時汨羅江畔的居民，在江中劃船救屈原，而這個傳統(tǒng)也一直保持了數(shù)個世紀(jì)。在端午節(jié)時受歡迎的食物就是粽子，粽子是以米包著肉、花生、蛋黃及其他材料，再以竹葉包裹。而粽子的傳統(tǒng)則來由於汨羅江邊的漁夫，將米丟入江中平息江中的蛟龍，希望他們不要將屈原吃掉。農(nóng)歷的五月，也就是端午節(jié)的這個時節(jié)，對中國人而言，除了屈原的故事還有許多其他重要的意義。許多中國人相信五月是一年中容易引發(fā)疾病的危險(xiǎn)時節(jié)，因此必須有許多防備家人生病的措施。許多家庭會將一種特別的植物-艾草掛在門口，作為保護(hù)之用，而人們也會掛帶香包，它是以含有多種香味的藥用植物所做成，也可以保護(hù)人們遠(yuǎn)離疾病。

    Traditions/Vocabulary race比賽（名詞）

    The races were very exciting because the cars were very fast and loud.那個比賽非常刺激，因?yàn)槟切┸囎臃浅５目焖俣�且大聲�?br />
    competing競爭的（形容詞）

    All of the competing race car drivers are very skilled.所有競爭的賽車選手都有高超的技術(shù)。rhythm節(jié)奏（名詞）

    I like to dance to the rhythm of this music.我喜歡隨著音樂的節(jié)奏跳舞。

    inspire啟發(fā)靈感（動詞）

    The beautiful scenery inspired me to write this song.這美麗的風(fēng)景啟發(fā)我寫這首歌曲的靈感

    villager村民、鄉(xiāng)民（名詞）

    During our travels we found the villagers to be very friendly and helpful.在我們的旅程中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)鄉(xiāng)民們非常友善及熱心。

    valiant英勇的（形容詞）

    The valiant hero saved the little girl's life.那個英勇的英雄拯救了小女孩的生命。

    remain 留下、保持原狀（動詞）

    he had completed the report.他留在辦公室直到完成報(bào)告。

    Tzung Tzu粽子（名詞）

    He ate so much Tzung Tzu that he became sick.他因?yàn)槌蕴�多粽子而感到身體不適。

    wrap包裹（動詞）

    She wrapped the Christmas presents with colorful paper.他用彩色的紙包裹圣誕禮物。

    The man is scattering seeds on the grass for the birds to eat.那個男人將種子灑在地上給鳥吃。

    devour狼吞虎咽的吃，吃光（動詞）

    The lion devoured the food.那只獅子狼吞虎咽的吃那些食物。

    significance重要性（名詞）

    Do you understand the significance of this story？你知道這個故事的重要性嗎？

    Ay Tsao艾草（名詞）

    Every year my family hangs Ay Tsao on their front door.每年我的家人都會掛艾草在前門。

    Hsiang Bao香包（名詞）

    The children love to collect the colorful Hsiang Bao.小孩喜歡蒐集鮮艷的香包。

    People drink realgar wine to protect themselves from illness.人們喝雄黃酒保護(hù)自己免於生病。

    sachet香包、香袋

    The sachets are very fragrant.那些香包很香。

    Those flowers are very fragrant. 那些花很香。

    白蛇傳的故事

    There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou.

    When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist monk, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wife's deceptive appearance and suggested to him a plan.

    On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of people's houses. Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very ill and was barely able to get to her bed.

    When her husband came to her side, he found not his wife but a huge white snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell to the floor dead.

    After recovering from the realgar wine and regaining her human form, White Snake was grief-stricken to find her husband dead. She set off on a journey to obtain a potent medicinal herb, which could revive her husband. After returning and reviving her husband with the medicine, she explained to Xu Xian that the white snake he saw was actually a dragon and that this vision was indeed a very good omen. Xu Xain's fears were put to rest for the moment by his wife's fanciful story…

    白蛇傳另一個與端午節(jié)息息相關(guān)的中國傳統(tǒng)故事是「白蛇傳」。從前，在伊眉山上有兩只蛇精，白蛇與青蛇。這兩只蛇精運(yùn)用法力將自己變成美麗的女子，并到杭州西湖游玩。

    當(dāng)他們在西湖游玩時，遇到一位名叫許仙的男子，白蛇與許仙很快的相戀并且隨即結(jié)婚。當(dāng)時一位名叫法海的和尚，曾經(jīng)警告許仙注意他妻子惑人的外表，并建議他一個知道真相的計(jì)畫。端午節(jié)當(dāng)天，白蛇待加家里以避開人們掛在門上驅(qū)邪的艾草，而許仙則依照法海的建議準(zhǔn)備了大家在端午節(jié)時都會喝的雄黃酒。白蛇自認(rèn)魔力可以抵擋雄黃酒對他的影響，因此喝了一杯。但是在他喝下那杯酒之後，他卻變得精疲力竭，幾乎走不到床上。當(dāng)許仙回到白蛇身邊，看到的不是自己美麗的妻子，而是一只巨大的白蛇，許仙震驚不已且跳樓自殺。

    當(dāng)白蛇恢復(fù)精力及人形時，他才發(fā)現(xiàn)自己丈夫已經(jīng)身亡，因此白蛇外出尋找能使許仙起死回生的強(qiáng)效藥草。許仙在服用藥草，并起死回生之後，白蛇告訴許仙他看到的那條白蛇，其實(shí)是一只代表吉相的龍。而在那時，許仙也在白蛇引人入勝的故事中將恐懼拋諸腦後…。

    Story of White Snake/Vocabulary magical魔術(shù)般的（形容詞）

    The eight immortals in the Taoist legends have magical powers.道教中的的八仙有魔力

    maiden少女（名詞）

    The prince rescued the beautiful maiden from the monster.王子由怪獸手中救出美麗的少女。

    journey旅行（名詞）

    Would you like to join us on our journey？你想?yún)⑴c我們的旅行嗎？

    buddhist佛教的（形容詞）

    Many people go to that Buddhist temple on the weekends.許多人在周末到佛教的寺院去。

    monk僧侶（名詞）

    That monk lives a very quiet and peaceful life.那位僧侶過著平靜的生活。

    deceptive迷惑的、騙人的（形容詞）

    I believe that the advertising is a little deceptive.我相信廣告總是有一些騙人。

    grief-stricken極度悲傷的（形容詞）

    He was grief-stricken when he heard about his friend's accident.當(dāng)他聽到朋友的意外時，他極度的悲傷。

    potent強(qiáng)力的（形容詞）

    The poison of the snake is a very potent.那只蛇的毒很強(qiáng)。

    omen兆頭（名詞）

    Ancient people thought a lunar eclipse was a bad omen.古代的人們相信月蝕是一種壞的預(yù)兆。