Meanings
- A Chinese holiday on Duanwu, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar
Behind the Dragon Boat Festival is the tragically heroic story of a famous Chinese poet and statesman of ancient times, Chu Yuan, who ended his life by jumping into a river. His reason: he was not able to save his country, which he saw heading toward destruction.
1977 June 19, T. K. Yang, “Dragon Boat Festival Honors famed statesman-poet”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVIII, number 24, Taipei, page 21 more example
In the folk tradition, rites, festivals, and myths began an early accretion around an apotheosized Ch'ü Yuan. The most famous of these, the Dragon Boat Festival (Tuan-wu chieh), takes place on the summer solstice, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, ostensibly to search for Ch'ü Yuan's body.
1988, Lyman P. Van Slyke, Yangtze: Nature, History and the River, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 137Synonyms: Double Fifth, Double Fifth Festival, Duanwu, Duanwu Festival, Dumpling Festival, Tuen Ng Festival
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA Chinese holiday on Duanwu, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar
Origin
- Chinese龍船節 /龙船节
- EnglishDragon Boat Festival
Calque of Chinese 龍船節 /龙船节 (Lóngchuánjié) or 龍舟節 /龙舟节 (Lóngzhōujié), an alternative name for 端午節 /端午节 (Duānwǔjié) from the races traditionally held on that day in southern China, now popularly connected with the legend of townspeople racing to throw zongzi into the Miluo River to preserve the body of the Chu poet and statesman Qu Yuan.
More words from Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali আজদাহা নাও মেলা
- আজদাহা নাও মেলা (azdaha nao mela)Chinese holiday
Chinese Cantonese 端午節 /端午节, 端午
- 端午節 /端午节 (dyun¹ ng⁵ zit³)Chinese holiday
- 端午 (dyun¹ ng⁵)Chinese holiday
- 五月節 /五月节 (ng⁵ jyut⁶ zit³)Chinese holiday
- 端陽節 /端阳节 (dyun¹ joeng⁴ zit³)Chinese holiday
- 端陽 /端阳 (dyun¹ joeng⁴)Chinese holiday
- 龍舟節 /龙舟节 (lung⁴ zau¹ zit³)Chinese holiday
Chinese Mandarin 端午節 /端午节, 端午
- 端午節 /端午节 (Duānwǔjié)Chinese holiday
- 端午 (Duānwǔ)Chinese holiday
- 端陽節 /端阳节 (Duānyángjié)Chinese holiday
- 端陽 /端阳 (Duānyáng)Chinese holiday
- 龍船節 /龙船节 (Lóngchuánjié)Chinese holiday
- 龍舟節 /龙舟节 (Lóngzhōujié)Chinese holiday
French Festival des bateaux-dragons
- Festival des bateaux-dragonsChinese holiday
Indonesian Pecun, Peh Cun
- PecunChinese holiday
- Peh CunChinese holiday
Polish Święto Smoczych Łodzi
- Święto Smoczych ŁodziChinese holiday
Vietnamese Tết Đoan Ngọ, Lễ hội thuyền rồng
- Tết Đoan NgọChinese holiday
- Lễ hội thuyền rồngChinese holiday
Cite this entry
Dragon Boat Festival. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Boat%20Festival
“Dragon Boat Festival.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Boat%20Festival. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dragon Boat Festival,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dragon%20Boat%20Festival.
Source: Dragon Boat Festival on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.