Prose 生活隨筆: Dragon Boat Festival 端午節

端午節是華人重要的傳統節日之一，有許多不同的名稱，例如龍舟節、重午節、端陽節、端五節、重五節、當五汛、天中節、夏節、艾節、上日、五月節、菖蒲節、天醫節、草藥節、午日節、地臘節、正陽節、龍日節、粽子節、五黃節、詩人節、躲午節、解粽節、端禮節等等。端午節在每年農曆五月初五。

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays, known by many names — including the Dragon Boat Festival, Double Fifth, and Poet's Festival, among others. It falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunisolar calendar.

端午節起源的說法眾多，最普遍的說法是紀念屈原。屈原（約公元前 340–278 年）是戰國時期楚國的詩人兼大臣。楚王決定與日益強大的秦國結盟，屈原因反對此聯盟而被流放，甚至被指控叛國。流亡期間，他創作了大量詩歌。最終，秦軍攻佔了楚國都城，屈原在絕望之下投汨羅江自盡。

The most widely accepted origin story centers on Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC), a poet and minister of the state of Chu during the Warring States period. When the king allied with the rising state of Qin, Qu Yuan was exiled for opposing the decision and accused of treason. During his years of exile he produced some of China's greatest poetry. When Qin finally captured the Chu capital, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River in despair.

據說當地百姓十分仰慕屈原，紛紛划船趕去打撈，這便是賽龍舟的起源。由於始終找不到遺體，人們便將糯米團投入江中，希望魚兒吃米而非啃食屈原的身軀，這就是粽子的由來。不過，許多端午習俗早在屈原之前便已存在。

Locals who admired him raced out in boats to find his body — said to be the origin of dragon boat racing. Unable to recover him, they threw balls of sticky rice into the river to keep the fish away from his body, giving rise to the tradition of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings, 粽子). Many of the festival's customs, however, predate Qu Yuan himself.

2009 年 9 月，聯合國教科文組織正式將端午節列入《人類非物質文化遺產代表作名錄》，使其成為首個入選的中國傳統節日。端午節是集祭神祭祖、祈福辟邪、慶祝、娛樂與飲食於一體的民俗節慶。

In September 2009, UNESCO officially inscribed the Dragon Boat Festival on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, making it the first Chinese holiday to receive this recognition. The festival weaves together ancestor worship, prayers for good fortune, the warding off of evil spirits, communal celebration, and, of course, food.

端午節的習俗 Customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

端午節的習俗各地不盡相同，最常見的有：划龍舟、掛菖蒲及佩香囊或五彩縷、喝雄黃酒，以及包粽子。

Customs vary by region, but the most widely shared traditions include dragon boat racing, hanging calamus and wearing sachets or five-color threads, drinking realgar wine, and making zongzi.

划龍舟：划龍舟除了與屈原的故事有關，也有人認為它源於祭神活動。古人以船為工具送走災邪，既然是送邪，自然愈快愈好，於是便衍生出競渡驅瘟避邪的習俗。

Dragon boat racing: Beyond its connection to Qu Yuan, some believe dragon boat racing grew from rituals for sending away misfortune — the faster the boat, the quicker evil departs. Over time this became the exhilarating competitive races we know today.

掛菖蒲及佩香囊或五彩縷：端午節許多習俗都與驅邪、禳毒、驅疫有關。菖蒲、艾草、蘭草等芳香植物常被製成花環或佩飾掛於門上。人們也會把香料製成各種形狀的香囊佩於身上，以驅除瘟疫。五彩縷（又稱續命縷）以代表五行的五色線編結而成，掛於身上或家中，用以避災除病、保佑安康、益壽延年。

Hanging calamus and wearing sachets or five-color threads: Many Dragon Boat Festival customs revolve around warding off illness and evil. Aromatic plants — calamus (sweet flag), mugwort, and orchid grass — are made into garlands and hung on doors. Spice-filled sachets of various shapes are worn on the body. The five-color thread (續命縷), woven from threads representing the five elements, is tied to the wrist or hung in the home to protect health and bring long life.

喝雄黃酒：雄黃酒傳統上用作殺蟲劑，也是對抗疾病與毒素的常見解毒劑。端午節時，人們會將雄黃酒塗抹在孩子臉上的特定部位，以驅除五毒。

Drinking realgar wine: Traditionally used as both a pesticide and a remedy against disease and venom, realgar wine is a fixture of the festival. Parents dab it on their children's faces to repel the "five poisonous creatures" — snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, and toad.

包粽子：與家人朋友一起包粽子是慶祝端午節最溫馨的習俗之一。人們用蘆葦葉或竹葉包裹糯米和餡料，紮成金字塔形狀；葉子本身也為粽子帶來獨特的清香。餡料因地而異：中國北方偏愛甜粽，以豆沙、棗子或堅果為餡；南方則喜鹹粽，常見餡料有鹹蛋黃和豬肉。

Making and eating zongzi: Gathering with family and friends to wrap zongzi is one of the festival's most beloved rituals. Glutinous rice and fillings are bundled in reed or bamboo leaves and shaped into pyramids — the leaves infusing the rice with a subtle, grassy fragrance. Fillings vary by region: northern China favors sweet varieties with red bean paste, jujube, or nuts; southern China leans savory, with salted egg yolks and pork.

亞洲各地的端午節 The Festival Across Asia

在亞洲，除了華人慶祝端午節外，其他地區也在同一天慶祝各自的節日，多少都受到端午節的影響。

Beyond Chinese communities, several other Asian cultures celebrate their own festivals on the same day, each shaped to varying degrees by the Dragon Boat Festival's influence.

朝鮮半島：韓國的端午節（단오），又稱水瀨日（수릿날），是農曆五月初五的傳統節日。這一天融合了祭祀儀式與歌舞享樂。人們吃艾草糕、喝櫻桃茶與醍醐湯，並舉行「端午茶禮」。女子跳板舞、盪鞦韆，並用菖蒲水洗頭；男子則參加韓式摔跤（씨름）及跆拳道比賽，人們還會欣賞傳統假面劇。

Korean Peninsula: Korea's Dano (단오), also called Surit-nal (수릿날), falls on the same lunar date and blends spiritual rites with communal celebration. People eat rice cakes like surichitteok and ssuktteok, drink cherry tea, and hold the "Dragon Boat Festival Tea Ceremony." Women dance on seesaws, swing on swings, and wash their hair with sweet flag water; men compete in ssireum (Korean wrestling) and taekkyon; and everyone enjoys traditional mask dances.

日本列島：日本的端午節（端午の節句）歷史悠久，原是女性在屋頂鋪菖蒲以淨化居所、休養身體的日子。鎌倉時代（1185–1333）武士階級掌政後，改為男孩的節日——菖蒲葉形似刀刃，而「尚武」的發音又與「菖蒲」相同，因此被視為武士的吉祥植物，5 月 5 日開始舉行流鏑馬（やぶさめ）騎馬射箭以辟邪。1948 年，政府將這天定為全國性節日「兒童節」（Kodomo no Hi），男孩女孩共同慶祝，並向母親表達感謝。

Japanese Archipelago: Japan's Tango no Sekku (端午の節句) has a long history. Originally a purification day for women — who thatched rooftops with iris to repel evil — it shifted to a celebration for boys during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when the samurai class rose to power. The iris, whose blade-shaped leaves mirrored a katana and whose name shōbu (菖蒲) shared its sound with "valor in arms" (尚武), became a samurai emblem. Since 1948, the day has been the national Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi), honoring all children and expressing gratitude to mothers.

這天有各種習俗：人們洗菖蒲浴、喝菖蒲清酒或睡菖蒲枕，相信菖蒲具有藥用與辟邪之效。家家戶戶升起鯉魚形五色鯉幟（源自中國鯉躍龍門的傳說），不同顏色代表家中不同成員，也寓意子孫昌盛。現代日本家庭則在節日陳列微型武士鎧甲與頭盔（五月人偶），傳統食物為柏餅（紅豆餡和菓子，以橡樹葉包裹）和粽子（以菖蒲葉或竹葉包裹的糯米），其中柏餅象徵子孫繁榮。

Customs are rich and varied: people bathe in water infused with iris, drink sake steeped with iris petals, and sleep on iris-filled pillows, believing the plant wards off illness. Colorful carp-shaped koinobori (windsocks) are raised outside homes — each color representing a family member — inspired by the Chinese legend that a carp swimming upstream becomes a dragon. Families also display miniature samurai armor (Gogatsu Ningyo). Traditional foods are kashiwa mochi (red-bean-filled rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves, symbolizing prosperous descendants) and chimaki (glutinous rice wrapped in iris or bamboo leaves).

越南：越南將端午節（Tết Đoan Ngọ）稱為殺蟲節（Tết giết sâu bọ）。天氣溽熱之際，各種蚊蟲滋生，為維護家人健康，必須消滅可能帶來疾病的害蟲。越南人在這天也會準備糯米酒和水果，祭拜祖先與神明。

Vietnam: Vietnam's version of the festival, Tết Đoan Ngọ, is known as the "Insect Killing Festival" (Tết giết sâu bọ). As summer heat brings swarms of mosquitoes and pests, families take steps to protect their health by driving away disease-carrying insects. Glutinous rice wine and fresh fruit are prepared as offerings to ancestors and deities.

我的端午小故事 A Personal Zongzi Moment

2024 年 2 月 27 日，我路經一家越南人開的豆腐店，順手買了愛吃的豆花，也帶了幾顆鹼粽。越南的鹼粽比台灣常見的粽子小得多，不到巴掌大。一般粽子有包餡，鹼粽有時也有，但大多沒有餡料，本身也沒什麼味道，通常沾白糖食用，冰透後淋上蜂蜜或糖漿尤為可口。古早的鹼粽以硼砂增加黏稠度，但因硼砂有害健康，現今多改用鹼粽油（鹼粽水）、鹼粽粉或三偏磷酸鈉來取代。

On February 27, 2024, I happened to pass a tofu shop run by a Vietnamese family. I picked up my favorite tofu pudding and, on a whim, a few alkaline zongzi. They were noticeably smaller than the Taiwanese zongzi I grew up with — barely palm-sized. Unlike the usual stuffed variety, most alkaline zongzi contain no filling and are quite plain on their own; the classic way to eat them is dipped in white sugar, though they're especially wonderful after being chilled and drizzled with honey or syrup. In older times, borax was added to achieve that signature sticky texture, but since borax is harmful to health, it has largely been replaced today by alkaline zongzi oil, alkaline powder, or sodium trimetaphosphate.