#端午#
Dragon Boat Festival: Tradition, Memory, and Cultural Identity
端午节——传统、记忆与文化认同

Good morning everyone,
It’s my great pleasure to stand here and share with you something meaningful about Chinese culture — the Dragon Boat Festival.

Also known as the Duanwu Festival, this holiday is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and has a history of over 2,000 years. Though ancient, it still plays a vital role in shaping our cultural identity today.

The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet from the Warring States period. When he saw his country fall into ruin, he chose to drown himself in the Miluo River. To honor his spirit, people threw rice into the river and paddled out in boats — actions that have become today’s traditions of eating zongzi and holding dragon boat races.

But the Dragon Boat Festival is more than just history. It reflects values we still cherish: loyalty, sacrifice, and love for one’s country. It also connects to traditional medicine and protection, through customs like wearing scented sachets and hanging herbs.

In 2009, this festival was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It reminds us that preserving tradition is not about the past — it’s about knowing who we are in the present.

Thank you for listening.
Do you celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in your own way? I’d love to hear your stories.

大家早上好！
今天很荣幸能站在这里，和大家分享中国文化中一个意义深远的节日——端午节。

端午节，又称“龙舟节”，在农历五月初五庆祝，已有两千多年的历史。虽然古老，但它至今仍在塑造我们的文化认同中扮演着重要角色。

这个节日纪念的是战国时期的爱国诗人屈原。当他目睹国家灭亡时，选择投江自尽以示忠诚。为了纪念他，人们向江中投米、划船寻找他。这些行为演变成了今天吃粽子、赛龙舟的传统。

然而，端午节不只是历史，它体现了我们至今仍珍视的价值观：忠诚、牺牲和爱国。同时，它也与中医养生和辟邪传统相连，比如佩戴香囊、悬挂艾草。

2009年，端午节被联合国教科文组织列为世界非物质文化遗产。它提醒我们，传承传统不是为了停留在过去，而是为了认清我们现在是谁。

谢谢大家的聆听。
你们有没有自己特别的过端午方式？我很期待听听你们的故事！