端午节划船比赛

是日，竟渡，采杂药。

按：五月五日竞渡，俗为屈原投汨罗日，伤其死，故并命舟楫以拯之。舸周取其轻利谓之飞凫，一自以为水军，一自以为水马。州将及士人悉临水而视之。

南朝 梁/ 宗 懔 《荆楚岁时记》

The Dragon Boat Festival (1)

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year a boat race is held and people gather all kinds of herbal medicine.

The explanation is this: the boat race on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is undertaken to commemorate the poet Qu Yuan(2) who drowned himself in Miluo River that day. People sympathize with his death. Therefore they row boats to come to rescue symbolically. The competitors use light, swift boats which are called "flying wild ducks". The two teams in the rowing competition call themselves "Chariot on Water" and "Steed on Water". Prefecture officials and people of prestige all go to the riverside to water the performance.

Zong Lin (Southern Dynasties, the State of Liang): Stories of the Jing and Chu Times

1) The Dragon Boat Festival: It falls on May 5th of the lunar year. This is a major festival celebrated all over the country. Activities include dragon-boat races, eating rice dumplings, drinking yellow wine, wearing incense sachets, putting up bunches of sweet flag and gathering herbal medicines.
2) Qu Yuan: a patriotic poet, citizen of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (5th century B.C.). He was exiled to the Xiang River by the Emperor. Greatly concerned over the corruption in the government and feeling powerless to remedy it, he drowned himself in the Miluo River.

（姚红 译）