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The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated around the world, but did you know of it's dark and tragic origins?
全世界规模内都有人庆祝端午节，但你是不是晓得端午节源于一个抑郁哀痛的故事？
It connects the downfall of a kingdom and a poet's tragic suicide to sticky rice dumplings and, of course, dragon-boats.
端午节和一个国家的式微，诗人郁郁而终的殉国，粽子，以及龙舟有关。
The Dragon Boat Festival Explained
端午节来历
Greetings Mythstorians.
和神话故事家们打个招待。
The Dragon Boat Festival.
端午节。
A traditional Chinese holiday with a marvelous name.
一项传统我国佳节，一个不凶咴思议的名字。
It's celebrated across Asia: from China, to Indonesia.
整个亚洲都会庆祝，从我国到印度尼西亚。
In Mandarin Chinese it is most commonly called "端午节".
一般话常称之为“端午节”。
That's Duān wǔ jié.
发音为Duān wǔ jié。
This literally means "opening the fifth" in reference to the festival's position on the Chinese lunisolar calendar: the fifth day of the fifth month.
字面意思翻开第五个，标明在阴历中，端午节是五月的第五天。
And while its English name rightly conjures awesome imagery of oars and dragons, the heartbreaking legend behind it dates back more than 2000 years.
英文称号让人想到炫酷的龙和划桨，这不和让人黯然神伤的传奇故事要追溯到2000多年前。
The Tragedy of Qu Yuan
屈原的凄惨剧
Qu Yuan was a senior minister in service to Chu Huai Wang, King Huai of Chu.
楚怀王时期，屈原曾任职高官。
Legend has it, the King allied with the state of Qin against Qu's advice.
据传说，楚怀王不管屈原的主张和秦国结盟。
He labeled Qu as a traitor 
for his opposition and banished him from the kingdom.
楚怀王断定屈原是对立党的叛徒，并将他驱赶出楚国。
Qu was an exile.
屈原成了流亡者。
He travelled across ancient China, compiling myths and legends, and wrote some wonderful poetry.
屈原放逐时一边游历了古代我国，一边撰写神话和传说，还有许多悦耳的诗歌。
However, he still missed his homeland and suffered from severe bouts of depression and anxiety.
可是，他照常怀念故乡，也饱尝着一轮又一轮抑郁和焦虑的浪费。
Whenever this happened, it is said that Qu would walk near a well and peer inside at his reflection on the water's surface.
传闻，每次饱尝心思浪费的时分，屈原就会走到一口水井周围，井水里会映射着他的影子。
That same well is still said to be around in what is now Hubei,
China.
这口井据传如今位于我国湖北省境内。
Although we can't confirm that.
不过没有证明。
Years later, news would reach Qu that his King had been overthrown by the state of Qin.
数年后，屈原听到了消息，他的国家现已被秦国攻陷。
Not long after, Qu made his way into the Miluo river and gave himself to the water, never to return.
不久之后，屈原投水汨罗江，溺亡水中，永不复还。
Some, however, reckon he became a water god.
但有人说屈原成了河神。
It is said that people rushed after him in dragon boats, banging drums and throwing rice dumplings into the river so fish would
eat them and not Qu's body.
我们在屈原死后，争相划着龙舟，敲着鼓，把粽子扔进河里喂鱼，这样鱼吃饱了就不会啃食屈原的身体。
Sticky Rice Dumplings
糯米粽子
The making of Zongzi is a family past time that requires all hands on deck.
粽子的制造进程，是一家人一同打发时刻的机缘，需要一起参加。
This food and the boat are staples of Dragon Boat Festival.
端午节的首要特征就是吃食和龙舟。
In Mandarin, these rice
dumplings are called Zongzi.
在一般话里，这叫粽子。
They're wrapped with bamboo leaves and contain sticky rice and a filling.
食材用竹叶包裹，里边是糯米，还有其他填充食材。
They're typically filled with pork but other fillings include various beans, mushrooms, eggs, nuts, chicken, scallops, red meat and vegetables.
粽子里边一般有猪肉，或许其他食材，包括各种豆类，菌菇，蛋类，坚果，鸡肉，扇贝，红肉还有蔬菜。
Wrapping the rice and filling in bamboo leaves is a skill unto itself that is passed from one generation to the next.
包好米，并给粽叶里边放上其他食材是个技能活，这项技能代代相传。
The time needed to boil or steam them depends on how much rice and filling is involved.
需要蒸仍是煮，要根据糯米及其他食材的多少来断定。
Racing Dragon Boats
赛龙舟
To honor the memory of Qu Yuan, people also race dragon boats every year worldwide on the date of his demise.
为了留念屈原，世界许多当地的我们都在他去世的这一天举办赛龙舟活动。
The practise itself is thousands of years old and is thought to have spread from ancient China all the way to Greece.
这项活动有了数千年前史，传闻从古代我国传至了希腊。
The first boats were made of wood, but their modern counterparts usually comprise lightweight materials such as carbon fiber.
第一只船是木制船，但现代的船一般是由比照轻的材料构成，比方碳纤维。
Today, teams usually consist of around 20 paddlers, a drummer and steersperson.
当今，龙舟队一般由20名划手，一名鼓手，一名梢公构成。
Following the drummers' beat -- the heart of the dragon -- paddlers race against other teams down a waterway.
跟从鼓点——龙的心跳——各部队划手在水上彼此比拼。
The beat determines the speed, rate and cadence of the paddlers' stroke.
鼓点抉择行船速度，划?俣群徒谧唷?/span>
The steerer stands at the back of the boat and uses a 9 ft long oar to direct the dragon boat.
梢公站在船尾，撑一个约9英尺长的划桨来调整龙舟方向。
Most races involve a sprint over 500 meters, but there are longer ones of 1000 and 2000 meters.
大都竞赛都是500米冲刺，但也有更长的1000米和2000米竞赛。
