Learn Chinese Through News: Dragon boat festival, Intermediate. Pinyin and English Translation

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar.

The English language name for the holiday is Dragon Boat Festival, used as the official English translation of the holiday by the People's Republic of China. It is also referred to in some English sources as Double Fifth Festival which alludes to the date as in the original Chinese name.

Duanwu (Chinese: 端午; pinyin: duānwǔ), as the festival is called in Mandarin Chinese, literally means "starting/opening horse", i.e., the first "horse day" (according to the Chinese zodiac/Chinese calendar system) to occur on the month; however, despite the literal meaning being wǔ, "the [day of the] horse in the animal cycle", this character has also been interchangeably construed as wǔ (Chinese: 五; pinyin: wǔ) meaning "five". Hence Duanwu, the "festival on the fifth day of the fifth month".

The Mandarin Chinese name of the festival is "端午節" (simplified Chinese: 端午节; traditional Chinese: 端午節; pinyin: Duānwǔjié; Wade-Giles: Tuan Wu chieh) in Mainland China and Taiwan, and "Tuen Ng Festival" for Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia and Singapore.

It is pronounced variously in different Chinese dialects. In Cantonese, it is romanized as Tuen1 Ng5 Jit3 in Hong Kong and Tung1 Ng5 Jit3 in Macau. Hence the "Tuen Ng Festival" in Hong Kong Tun Ng (Festividade do Barco-Dragão in Portuguese) in Macao.

The Dragon Boat Festival (simplified Chinese: 端午节; traditional Chinese: 端午節)

Chinese name

Simplified Chinese 端午节

Traditional Chinese 端午節

Literal meaning: "The very mid point of the year Festival"

 

Dragon Boat Festival

Simplified Chinese 龙船节 / 龙舟节

Traditional Chinese 龍船節 / 龍舟節

 

Double Fifth Festival

Fifth Month Festival

Fifth Day Festival

Simplified Chinese 重五节 / 双五节

五月节

五日节

Traditional Chinese 重五節 / 雙五節

五月節

五日節

Dumpling Festival

Simplified Chinese 肉粽节

Traditional Chinese 肉糭節

Literal meaning: Meat Zongzi Festival

Portuguese name: Festividade do Barco-Dragão