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Why's It Called Duanwu Festival?

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2900 Upper Intermediate
It's Dragon Boat Festival 2016, and if you're curious as to how it got it's Chinese name, or want to know some of the history behind it, check this lesson. For more about Dragon Boat Festival, watch our walking tour lesson with Fiona and Iona here. For a fun advanced video lesson all about Qu Yuan, check out our rendition of this legend here. Photo by Sam Sith
Thu Jun 02 2016 | Fiona Tian, Constance Fang
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SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
一转眼 yīzhuǎnyǎn in the blink of an eye
纳闷 nàmèn puzzled
纪念 jìniàn to commemorate
爱国诗人 àiguó shīrén patriotic poet
时间过得真快，冬天刚过去，夏天就要来了，一转眼就快要到五月了。
shíjiān guò de zhēn kuài ，dōngtiān gāng guòqù ，xiàtiān jiùyào lái le ，yīzhuǎnyǎn jiù kuài yào dào wǔyuè le 。
Time really flies, winter has just ended and summer is on its way already, in what seems like the blink of an eye it's already May.
嗯，说到五月，那就不得不说一个中华民族的传统节日——端午节。
ng4 ，shuōdào wǔyuè ，nā jiù bùdébù shuō yī gè zhōnghuámínzú de chuántǒng jiérì ——duānwǔjié 。
Yeah, since we're talking of May, we must mention a traditional Chinese ethnic festival - Dragon Boat Festival.
我一直很纳闷，为什么这个节日被叫作端午节，像春节、清明节很多节日我们一看就明白是怎么回事，但这个端午是怎么来的呢？
wǒ yīzhí hěn nàmèn ，wèishénme zhè ge jiérì bèi jiàozuò duānwǔjié ，xiàng chūnjié 、qīngmíngjié hěn duō jiérì wǒmen yī kàn jiù míngbai shì zěnmehuíshì ，dàn zhè ge duānwǔ shì zěnme lái de ne ？
I've always been puzzled, why is Dragon Boat Festival called "Duanwu" Festival in Chinese. With Spring Festival or Tomb Sweeping Festival it is clear from the Chinese name what they're about, but where does the word "Duanwu" come from?
端午节的起源现在最流行的说法就是为了纪念爱国诗人屈原，但根据史书的记载。端午节在屈原之前早就有了。
duānwǔjié de qǐyuán xiànzài zuì liúxíng de shuōfa jiùshì wèile jìniàn àiguó shīrén Qū Yuán ，dàn gēnjù shǐshū de jìzǎi 。duānwǔjié zài Qū Yuán zhīqián zǎo jiù yǒu le 。
The most popular explanation for the origin of the Dragon Boat or Duanwu Festival is that it commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, but according to records in the classic histories Dragon Boat Festival existed long before Qu Yuan's time.
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