Why Do We Celebrate Duanwu? A Poet, a River, and Two Thousand Years of Remembrance — HSK 3 Chinese Listening Practice (4:31) | Fluentide

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Why Do We Celebrate Duanwu? A Poet, a River, and Two Thousand Years of Remembrance — HSK 3 Chinese Listening Practice (4:31) | Fluentide

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原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

今天，我们聊一个，每年都会过，但很多人说不清来历的节日——端午节。

端午节，

在农历的五月初五，

所以也叫"五月节"。

对很多中国人来说，

端午，

意味着一个三天的小长假，

意味着满桌的粽子，

也意味着，

江面上热闹的龙舟。

但你有没有想过：

我们今天做的这些事，

到底是从哪来的？

今天，

我们就把它，

一件一件，

说清楚。

先说，

最重要的那个名字——屈原。

屈原，

是两千多年前的人。

那时候，

中国还没有统一，

分成了好几个国家。

屈原，

是其中"楚国"的一位大臣，

同时，

也是一位了不起的诗人。

他有多爱国呢？

他一心想让楚国，

变得更强大，

不被别的国家欺负。

他给国王，

提了很多好的建议。

可是，

国王身边的坏人，

不喜欢他，

总在国王面前说他的坏话。

结果，

屈原不但没被重用，

反而，

一次又一次地，

被赶出了京城。

他只能眼睁睁地，

看着自己深爱的楚国，

一天天走向衰败。

最后，

最坏的消息还是来了：

楚国的都城，

被强大的秦国，

攻破了。

对屈原来说，

这就像天塌了一样。

他实在不愿意，

看着自己的国家灭亡。

于是，

在极度的悲痛中，

他抱起一块石头，

纵身跳进了汨罗江。

那一天，

正是五月初五。

消息传开，

两岸的老百姓，

都悲痛欲绝。

他们太爱戴这位诗人了。

人们划着船，

冲进江里，

四处打捞他的身体，

却怎么也找不到。

为了不让江里的鱼，

去啃食屈原，

大家纷纷，

把米饭、食物，

扔进江中。

还有人，

把雄黄酒倒进江里，

说是要醉倒水里的"恶龙"。

你看，

今天的很多习俗，

源头就在这里。

人们划船打捞屈原，

慢慢演变成了，

今天的赛龙舟。

往江里投饭团，

慢慢演变成了，

我们今天吃的粽子。

当然，

端午的故事，

还有另一面。

其实，

在屈原之前，

古人就觉得，

农历五月，

是一个"毒月"。

因为天气变热，

蛇虫变多，

人很容易生病。

所以，

端午的很多习俗，

本来就和"健康"有关。

比如，

在门口挂上艾草，

在身上戴一个香囊，

给孩子手上，

系上五彩绳。

这些，

都是古人，

祈求平安、赶走疾病的，

一种方式。

就这样，

对屈原的纪念，

和古老的健康习俗，

慢慢地，

合在了一起，

变成了我们今天的端午节。

说到这里，

我想和你多聊一句。

一个人，

已经离开了两千多年。

但因为他，

一整个民族，

每年都会，

为他停下来一次，

吃一口粽子，

看一场龙舟。

这种记忆，

真的很了不起。

最后，

我想留给你两个问题。

第一，

端午节，

你最喜欢的，

是哪个部分？

是粽子，

是龙舟，

还是那个，

关于屈原的故事？

第二，

两千多年过去了。

你觉得，

人们真正纪念屈原的，

是他这个人，

还是，

他身上那种，

"明知很难，也要坚持"的，

那股劲儿？

这两个问题，

没有标准答案。

但是值得我们，

慢慢去想。

English transcript reference

Today, we'll talk about a festival celebrated every year, yet whose origin many can't quite explain — the Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival

falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month,

so it's also called the 'Fifth-Month Festival'.

For many Chinese people,

Duanwu

means a three-day holiday,

a table full of zongzi,

and also

the lively dragon boats on the river.

But have you ever wondered:

the things we do today,

where do they actually come from?

Today,

we'll lay it all out,

one piece at a time,

and make it clear.

First,

the most important name of all — Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan

lived over two thousand years ago.

At that time,

China was not yet unified,

split into several states.

Qu Yuan

was a minister of one of them, the state of Chu,

and at the same time,

a remarkable poet.

How patriotic was he?

He wished with all his heart to make Chu

stronger,

so it wouldn't be bullied by other states.

He gave the king

much good advice.

But

the wicked men around the king,

who disliked him,

were always speaking ill of him to the king.

As a result,

Qu Yuan was not only passed over,

but instead,

again and again,

was driven out of the capital.

He could only watch, helplessly,

as the Chu he loved so deeply

declined day by day.

In the end,

the worst news came after all:

Chu's capital

was, by the powerful state of Qin,

broken through.

For Qu Yuan,

it was as if the sky had fallen.

He simply could not bear

to watch his country perish.

And so,

in utter grief,

he picked up a stone,

and threw himself into the Miluo River.

That day

was exactly the fifth of the fifth month.

As the news spread,

the common folk on both banks

were stricken with grief.

They loved this poet so dearly.

People rowed their boats,

rushing out onto the river,

searching everywhere for his body,

yet could not find it.

So that the fish in the river

would not gnaw at Qu Yuan,

people, one after another,

took rice and food

and threw it into the river.

Some even

poured realgar wine into the river,

to drug the 'evil dragon' in the water, it was said.

You see,

many of today's customs,

their source is right here.

People rowing boats to find Qu Yuan

slowly evolved into

today's dragon-boat racing.

Throwing rice balls into the river

slowly evolved into

the zongzi we eat today.

Of course,

the story of Duanwu

has another side too.

In fact,

before Qu Yuan,

the ancients already felt

that the fifth lunar month

was a 'poison month'.

Because the weather turns hot,

snakes and insects multiply,

and people fall ill easily.

So,

many Duanwu customs

were, from the start, about 'health'.

For example,

hanging mugwort at the door,

wearing a scented sachet,

and on children's wrists,

tying five-color threads.

These

were all the ancients'

ways of praying for safety and driving off illness,

a kind of method.

And so,

the remembrance of Qu Yuan

and the ancient health customs

slowly,

merged together,

and became the Dragon Boat Festival we know today.

Speaking of this,

I want to say one more thing to you.

A man

has been gone for over two thousand years.

But because of him,

an entire people,

every year,

pause once for him,

eat a bite of zongzi,

watch a dragon-boat race.

This kind of memory

is truly remarkable.

Finally,

I want to leave you two questions.

First,

of the Dragon Boat Festival,

what do you like most —

which part?

The zongzi,

the dragon boats,

or that

story about Qu Yuan?

Second,

over two thousand years have passed.

Do you think

what people truly commemorate in Qu Yuan

is the man himself,

or

is it that quality in him —

that 'knowing it's hard, yet holding on',

that spirit?

These two questions

have no standard answer.

But they're worth our

thinking about slowly.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.