Approximately 2,300 years ago, China was divided into seven small countries. These seven countries constantly attacked each other. No one country would ever give way to another. Among these seven small countries was one located in the south called Chu. In this country of Chu lived a very patriotic man whose name was Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan helped the king of his country in all sorts of ways. He often discovered problems and told the king how to resolve them and how to handle the many affairs of state. He was a very gifted man and was liked by everyone. The king also liked Qu Yuan because Qu Yuan helped him so much.
There were, however, a few people who didn’t like Qu Yuan. They were very unhappy to see how much the king liked Qu Yuan. They began to say bad things about Qu Yuan in front of the king. When the king heard these things, he thought they were true and he became very angry. The king changed his mind about Qu Yuan and started to dislike him.
This king had a bad habit, he really enjoyed being flattered. When someone flattered the king, he immediately felt very happy. There were some evil people who knew about the king’s bad habit and they constantly flattered him. The king was very pleased with the flattery and began to append more and more time with the evil men. The king no longer wanted to listen to Qu Yuan’s advice. One day the king got very unhappy about something Qu Yuan said. In fact, he became so angry that he banished Qu Yuan to a place far away. After that, Qu Yuan’s life changed entirely.
Qu Yuan stayed at home everyday, and he felt very sad. At times, when he was especially sad, he wrote poems, and when he had written the poems, he felt even sadder. He wrote many poems. In them, he described his feelings, his love for his country, and what he intended to say to the king. Bur the king knew nothing about Qu Yuan’s activities after he had left the court. As Qu Yuan became more and more miserable, he began to think that life was no longer worth living. He went to a riverbank, looked into the water, and plunged. He hoped that this way the king would understand how that he should govern his country well and not listen to the flattery of evil people. Qu Yuan died on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.
All those who had known Qu Yuan knew that he loved his country. When they heard that he had plunged onto the river, they all rushed to look for him. Several people traveled up and down the river in small wooden boats trying to find him, others called his name from the riverbank. Although many people came, nobody could find him. There were those who worried that his body would be eaten by a fish, so they came up with an idea. They took rice, wrapped it in leaves, and dropped them into the water. They hoped the fish would eat the rice instead of the body. That kind of rice wrapped in leaves later became the “Zongzi” which the Chinese like to eat.
Every year on the fifth day of the fifth month, people remembered Qu Yuan, the patriotic poet. On that day, people went out onto the river in river boats and put Zongzi into the water. Many people still hoped that Qu Yuan hadn’t died and that they would find him some day. As time went by, more and more people discovered this tradition. On that date, in many areas of China, people commemorated Qu Yuan. Later, it became one of China’s very important holidays, the Dragon Boat Festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. Because it was the fifth day of the fifth month, it was called “端五（five）節” Dragon Boat Festival. Because the pronunciation of the two words “wu” are the same, one word replaced the other, and the holiday is now called “端午(noon)節”.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the three most important festivals in China. Successive generations knew that Qu Yuan was not alive, so they no longer went out onto the river to drop zongzi into the water. Still, every year on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, many families make lots of zongzi to eat. They stuff the zongzi, eat them, talk about Qu Yuan, and tell their children the story of the poet who loved his country.
The Dragon Boat Festival takes place during a time that peasants are not very busy and can take some time to rest. People no longer go out looking for Qu Yuan in their boats; instead, they enjoy remembering the poet by rowing in their boats. All over the country there are people having row boat races on the fifth day of the fifth month.
The Chinese really like dragons. They believe that they are a dragon’s descendants, so they began to make their boats look like dragons, with the bow of the boat as a dragon’s head and the outside of the boat painted in many colors. That is what is called a dragon boat. More than ten people can sit in one of these boats. During the Dragon Boat Festival, all the big rivers are filled with dragon boats ready for the race. When the race starts, everyone rows very hard, everyone wants to be the first.
Today the Dragon Boat Festival is still an important Chinese holiday. Everybody thinks of eating zongzi. Although ready-made zongzi are available everywhere, many families, especially the farm families, still make their own. If a person works outside of the city and can’t come back, his parents will ask someone to bring him some zingzi to eat. Some people are single or have no family or their home is far away, in that case, his friends will invite him to eat zongzi. Otherwise, he would have to go out by himself to buy some. It is considered very strange not to eat zongzi during the festival, almost as if one has forgotten to do something important.
In ancient China, everyone came running to see the excitement whenever the boat races took place. There were people selling and others buying things on the riverbank. As soon as the race began, the riverbank became even more lively. The voices of people shouting, the splashing of the water and laughter could all be heard at the same time. If was a truly beautiful sight! Today, the dragon boat races are still an important part of the festival in many regions.
The Dragon Boat Festival takes place halfway through the summer when the weather is extremely hot. The farmers are at home taking some time off to rest before the busy planting season starts again. With the hot weather, the people feel tired and have no energy to work in the fields. The farmers take this opportunity to drink a little wine. It is said that drinking alcohol can prevent sickness and help people bear the heat. This should not, however, be an excuse for drinking alcohol.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the big festivals of the year. This holiday makes people remember the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. His story explains why the Chinese go out on dragon boats and eat zongzi. It is also the time of year when the peasants have a break before preparing for the busy farm work of the summer.
*The word “zongzi” means a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed. In order to avoid confusion with the other dumpling, “jiaozi”, the word “zongzi” has been used in this chapter.
～端午節－龍船和粽子～
大概在二千三百多年前，中國分成了七個小國家。這七個小國家，常常打來打去，誰也不讓誰。這七個小國家裡，有一個小國家是在中國的南方，叫楚國。楚國裡有一個很愛國的人，他的名字叫屈原。屈原幫助國王，和國家做了很多的事情。他常常發現國家的問題，也告訴國王應該怎麼做，怎樣處理國家的許多問題。他是一個很有天才的人，大家都很喜歡他。國王一直也很喜歡屈原，因為他給了國王很多的幫助。
可是，有些人不喜歡屈原。他們看到國王特別喜歡屈原，心裡很不高興。他們就在國王的面前說了很多屈原不好的話。國王聽了就以為是真的。他就很生氣，慢慢的變得不喜歡屈原了。
國王有一個不好的習慣，就是他最喜歡聽別人說好聽的話了。如果有人向國王說好聽的話，國王就會很喜歡他。有一些壞人知道國王的這個習慣，就天天向國王說好聽的話。國王越聽越高興，常常和這些壞人在一起。所以，屈原說的話，國王越來越不喜歡聽了。有一天，國王因為屈原說的話很不高興。他一生氣，就把屈原趕到了很遠很遠的地方。屈原的生活突然就完全改變了。
屈原每天在家裡，心裡非常難過。他難過的時候就寫詩，寫完了詩就更難過。他寫了很多很多的詩。他在這些詩裡寫出他的心情，他對國家的愛，和對國王想說的話。可是，國王一點也不知道屈原離開後的事情。屈原的心情後來越來越難過，他覺得活在世上已經沒有什麼意思了。他來到一個河邊，看著河水，就跳到河裡去了。他希望這樣國王能知道他的心情。他也希望用死來告訴國王，要好好的把國家的事情做好，不要再聽壞人的話了。他死的那天是中國年的五月五日。
認識屈原的人都知道他是一個很愛國的人。他們聽到屈原跳河的事，都跑到河邊來找他。有的人坐著小木船在河裡到處找，有的人在河邊叫他的名字。可是，大家再也找不到他了。人們怕他的身體被魚吃了，所以想出了一個辦法。這個辦法就是用一種葉子把米包起來，放到河裡去。人們希望魚都來吃米，不吃他的身體。這種葉子包米的東西就是後來中國人吃的粽子。
以後，每年的五月五日，人們都會想到屈原這個愛國詩人。到了這一天，很多人會坐著船、把粽子放到河裡去。大家都希望屈原並沒有死，有一天還能找到他。日子久了，知道的人越來越多。每一年的這個時候，在中國很多的地方都有許許多多的人來紀念屈原。這一天後來就成了中國很大的一個節日，叫端午節。
端午節是每年中國年的五月五日。因為是五月五日，所以很久以前人們把這一天叫做端五節。因為“五”字和“午”字唸起來聲音是一樣的，後來端五節就變成端午節了。
端午節是中國三大節日中的一個。後來的人們知道屈原已經不在世上了。所以每年這個時候就不再把粽子放到河裡去了。端午節的時候，每一家的人都會包很多的粽子吃。大家包粽子，一邊想到屈原，一邊告訴孩子們愛國詩人的故事。
端午節的時候，正好是農民不忙，可以休息的時候。這時候，人們已經不再划船找屈原了。但是，大家還是喜歡用划船來紀念這位愛國詩人。所以，每年五月五日，在中國的每一條大河都有了划船比賽。
中國人最喜歡龍。他們認為自己是龍的後代。後來的人就把船做成了龍船。船頭就像是一個龍的頭，船的外面畫了很多漂亮的顏色。這就是龍船了。龍船上可以坐十幾個人。每年端午節，大河上都有許多的龍船來一起比賽。比賽一開始，大家都努力的向前划。每個船上的人都想得第一名。
今天，端午節還是中國人的一個重要節日。這一天中國人都會想到吃粽子。雖然現在到處都可以買到粽子，許多的家庭，特別是農民的家庭還是喜歡自己包粽子吃。如果有人在外面工作，不能回家，爸爸媽媽就會請人帶粽子給他吃。有的人是一個人沒有家，或者家在很遠的地方，他的朋友就會請他吃粽子。要不然，他就自己到外面去買粽子吃。端午節的時候如果沒有吃粽子，大家都會覺得很奇怪，好像忘了做一件重要的事情。
古時候，如果有划龍船比賽，大家都會跑來看熱鬧。河邊有人賣東西，也有人買東西。划龍船比賽開始的時候，河邊更是熱鬧。人聲、水聲、笑聲、和叫聲一起響起來。真是好而！現在，划龍船比賽還是很多地方過端午節的一個重要活動。
端午節的時候，夏天剛好過了一半，天氣是最熱的。這時候，農民可以在家裡有一些休息，準備下面要忙的種田的事情。因為天熱，人容易累，沒有力氣種田。農民在這個時候要喝一些酒。聽說喝了酒，人不容易生病，也不怕熱。這應該不是想要喝酒的藉口。
端午節的是中國人一年中的一個大節日。它使人想起愛國詩人屈原。屈原的故事讓人明白為什麼中國人每年要划龍船和吃粽子。這個時候，也是中國的農民休息和準備夏忙的時候。
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這是十年前我買來要給“貓”解釋中國的節慶的由來的，
十年了，我幾乎沒看過，也沒給她解釋過。
今年，她又來信，說我都不遵守承諾。
我認真的做了，給她我的及家庭的照片，
並且，打了第一篇，這即將到來的端午節的由來。
每個跟我交心的女孩，
總是還會想跟我談談天，
即使，她已經不再屬於我。
不知道她們在想什麼，
唉！好人當久了就是這樣吧！
不過，我說過，我一定做到。
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