{"id":7811,"date":"2019-10-04T07:08:23","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T07:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/my-familys-dragon-boat-festival\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T07:08:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T07:08:23","slug":"my-familys-dragon-boat-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/my-familys-dragon-boat-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"My Family\u2019s Dragon Boat festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
While we’re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I’d post something a<\/em>bout a Chinese holiday. This is a culturally-rich and comfortably intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (\u7aef\u5348\u8282 du\u0101n w\u01d4 jié. If you’re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth mo<\/em>nth of the Chinese lunar calendar), you’ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West.
Practice Reading Chinese – Easy Intermediate Chinese ReaderThe dragon boat festival is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan’s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, wher dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan’s body) and \u7cbd\u5b50 zòng zi (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it’s said that \u7cbd\u5b50 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife – other stories have it that people threw \u7cbd\u5b50 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).
A couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely \u827e\u9999. I this case, \u827e\u9999 ài xi\u0101ng means “the smell of wormwood”, and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (\u827e\u8349) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.
Another word here is \u96c4\u9ec4\u9152, something that I’ve seen but never tried, and while there is an English word for this, I’ve never heard this spoken in English. \u96c4\u9ec4\u9152 is “realgar wine”, whatever the heck realgar is. If you’re curious, this article has more information on realgar wine and it’s association with the Dragon Boat Festival.
And finally, there’s \u8d9f\u9732\u6c34, literally “to wade in the dew”, and it refers to (what I think is a) regio<\/em>nal custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one’s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the Chinese title of this essay is \u6211\u5bb6\u7684\u7aef\u5348\u8282.
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\u4e60\u4fd7 – xí sú – Custom, local tradition
\u6367 – p\u011bng – To cup in the hands
\u6676\u83b9 – j\u012bng yíng – Sparkling and translucent
\u9732\u73e0 – lù zh\u016b – Dewdrop
\u6492 – s\u0101 – (definition 1): To let loose, to let fly
\u89e3 – ji\u011b – To break up, divide
\u6492 – s\u01ce – (definition 2): To sprinkle
\u6d25\u6d25\u6709\u5473 – j\u012bn j\u012bn y\u01d2u wèi – With relish, with gusto
\u5f25\u6f2b – mí màn – to pervade, be diffused with
\u9999\u55b7\u55b7 – xi\u0101ng p\u0113n p\u0113n – Savory
\u5507\u818f – chún g\u0101o – Lipstick
\u7ef3 – shéng – Rope
\u4eca\u5929\u662f\u7aef\u5348\u8282\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u4e00\u5bb6\u4eba\u4e94\u70b9\u5c31\u8d77\u5e8a\uff0c\u6309\u7167\u4e60\u4fd7\u4e0a\u5c71\u53bb\u8d9f\u9732\u6c34\u3002\u4e00\u8def\u4e0a\u6211\u7528\u53cc\u624b\u6367\u8d77\u6676\u83b9\u7684\u9732\u73e0\u5f80\u773c\u775b\u4e0a\u62b9\uff0c\u4e00\u65f6\u95f4\u6211\u89c9\u5f97\u773c\u775b\u597d\u50cf\u4eae\u4e86\u597d\u591a\u3002\u76f4\u5230\u5750\u5728\u6559\u5ba4\u8bfb\u4e66\u65f6\u8fd8\u89c9\u5f97\u773c\u775b\u7279\u522b\u4eae\uff0c\u4ec0\u4e48\u5b57\u90fd\u80fd\u770b\u6e05\u695a\u3002
\u653e\u5b66\u540e\uff0c\u6211\u6492\u5f00\u817f\u5c31\u5f80\u5bb6\u91cc\u8dd1\u3002\u521a\u5230\u95e8\u53e3\u5c31\u95fb\u5230\u7cbd\u5b50\u9999\uff0c\u4e00\u8fdb\u95e8\u5c31\u770b\u89c1\u7238\u7238\u505a\u4e86\u4e00\u684c\u5b50\u597d\u83dc\u4e13\u95e8\u7b49\u6211\u56de\u5bb6\u5403\u3002\u6211\u6d17\u8fc7\u624b\u6765\u5230\u996d\u684c\u524d\uff0c\u5148\u7ed9\u7238\u7238\u5988\u5988\u4e00\u4eba\u89e3\u4e86\u4e00\u4e2a\u7cbd\u5b50\uff0c\u6492\u4e0a\u767d\u7cd6\uff0c\u7136\u540e\u7ed9\u6211\u81ea\u5df1\u89e3\u4e86\u4e00\u4e2a\u6f02\u4eae\u7684\u4e09\u89d2\u7cbd\u5b50\uff0c\u6492\u4e0a\u767d\u7cd6\u5c31\u6d25\u6d25\u6709\u5473\u5730\u5403\u8d77\u6765\u3002\u996d\u684c\u4e0a\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u4e00\u5bb6\u8fb9\u5403\u8fb9\u804a\uff0c\u5c4b\u5b50\u91cc\u5145\u6ee1\u4e86\u7aef\u5348\u8282\u7684\u5feb\u4e50\u6c14\u6c1b\uff0c\u5f25\u6f2b\u7740\u9999\u55b7\u55b7\u7684\u7cbd\u5b50\u5473\u548c\u6d53\u6d53\u7684\u827e\u9999\u3002
\u5403\u5b8c\u996d\uff0c\u5988\u5988\u7ed9\u6211\u8033\u6735\u4e0a\u62b9\u4e86\u96c4\u9ec4\u9152\uff0c\u7ed9\u6211\u5634\u4e0a\u6478\u4e86\u5507\u818f\uff0c\u7ed9\u6211\u624b\u8155\u4e0a\u6234\u4e86\u7ea2\u7ebf\u7ef3\uff0c\u628a\u6211\u6253\u626e\u5f97\u548c\u7cbd\u5b50\u4e00\u6837\u9999\uff0c\u5c31\u8ba9\u6211\u5230\u5b66\u6821\u53bb\u5b66\u4e60\u3002
\u6211\u7231\u5403\u7cbd\u5b50\uff0c\u7231\u8fc7\u7aef\u5348\u8282\uff0c\u7231\u4eab\u53d7\u8282\u65e5\u7684\u6b22\u4e50\u6c14\u6c1b\u3002
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Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were co<\/em>nsiderably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly.
When school let out, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open one zo<\/em>ngzi each for father and mother and sprinkled them with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangular zo<\/em>ngzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating. At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, the woom was full of Dragon Boat Festival good cheer, suffused with the savory smell of zo<\/em>ngzi and thick with the smell of wormwood.
After we’d had eaten, mother spread realgar wine on my ears, put lipstick on my lips, placed [bracelets of] red rope around my wrists, and made sure I smelled as sweetly as a zongzi, then sent me off back to school to study.
I love eating zongzi, I loved the Dragon Boat Festival, and I love enjoying the holiday cheer.
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