端午节
Duān wǔ jié · HSK 6
Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month)
🐉🛶 端午节 = start + noon + festival; 5th day of 5th lunar month
端 means start/extreme, 午 is noon (also the 7th earthly branch, linked to the 5th month), 节 is festival. Commemorates poet Qu Yuan with dragon boat races and zongzi.
端 — 立 stand + 耑 (phonetic, sprout)
端 combines 立 'to stand' with phonetic 耑, which originally depicted a plant sprouting with roots and shoots — its tips at both ends. The semantic 立 reinforces 'upright,' giving 端 meanings like 'end, tip, extremity' and by extension 'upright, proper.'
节 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 即
Originally written 節, depicting a bamboo joint — the segmented node where a stalk divides. The bamboo radical ⺮ gives the meaning, while 即 supplies the sound. From 'bamboo joint' the meaning expanded to any segment, hence 'section,' 'festival' (a marked point in the year), and 'restraint' (knowing where to stop).