Ancient Chinese Translation of Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the traditional Dragon Boat Festival. On this day, people weave a dummy with wormwood, sharpen it into a sword shape with a cattail stick and hang it on the door to drive out ghosts in the town house. Burning herbs and drinking realgar wine are thought to drive away evil spirits and fear diseases. Everyone eats zongzi again and gets together to race the dragon boat. It is said that these customs are in memory of Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan, a native of Chu in the Warring States Period, was brilliant in literary talent, which caused jealousy and rejection of his colleagues, so he threw himself into the river. Later, people race dragon boats to attract Qu Yuan's soul. Eating zongzi and throwing it into the river is also in memory of Qu Yuan. Zongzi is a kind of food which is made by wrapping glutinous rice with Ruo leaves and then tying it with colored threads. Bamboo leaves and colorful threads are things that dragons are afraid of. When thrown into the water, dragons dare not eat zongzi.

Although these customs are not necessary knowledge, they are also knowledge that scholars who care about local conditions and customs should know.