中国传统节日中英文对照.docx

1、中国传统节日中英文对照together to have dinner while watching TV programs.For Chinese at home and abroad, the Spring Festival is always the most important festival.农历的正(zheng)月初一，是中国的农历新年。在中国的传统节日中，这是一个最重要、最热闹的节日。因为过农历新年的时候，正是冬末春初，所以人们也把这个节日叫“春节”。中国人过春节有很多传统习俗。从腊月二十三起，人们就开始准备过年了。在这段时间里，家家户户要大扫除，买年货，贴窗花，挂年画，写春联，

2、蒸年糕，做好各种食品，准备辞旧迎新。春节的前夜叫“除夕”。除夕之夜，是家人团聚的时候。一家人围坐在一起，吃一顿丰盛的年夜饭，说说笑笑，直到天亮，这叫守岁。除夕零点的钟声一响，人们还要吃饺子。古时候叫零点为“子时”，除夕的子时正是新旧年交替的时候，人们在这时吃饺子，是取“更岁交子”的意思。这也是“饺子”名称的由来。过了除夕就是大年初一。从初一开始，人们要走亲戚、看朋友，互相拜年。拜年，是春节的重要习俗。拜年时，大家都要说一些祝愿幸福、健康的吉祥话。放爆竹是春节期间孩子们最喜欢的活动。传说燃放爆竹可以驱妖除魔，所以每年从除夕之夜起，到处就响起了接连不断的爆竹声。阵阵烟花，声声爆竹，给节日增添了喜庆

3、的气氛。春节期间，很多地方还要举办庙会。庙会上精彩的舞龙舞狮表演，各式各样的工艺品和地方小吃，吸引 千千万万欢度佳节的人们。随时代的发展，过春节的习俗也有了一些变化。比如，为防止环境污染，很多城市已禁止燃放烟花爆竹。但这并不影响节日的热闹气氛。除夕之夜，家家户户仍然要团聚在一起，一边吃年夜饭，一边看精彩的电视节目，直到大年初一的清晨。在中国和世界各地华夏子孙的心中，春节永远是最重要的节日。 Lantern Festival（元宵节）The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in Febr

4、uary or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.This days important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist m

5、onks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddhas body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a gra

6、nd festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-m

7、ade or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.Guessing lantern riddlesis an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the l

8、antern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during peoples enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.People will eat yuanxiao,

9、 or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the Yuanxiao Festival.Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be

10、 boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. Whats more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance,

11、 a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. S

12、ome local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.每年农历的正月十五日，春节刚过，迎来的就是中国的传统节日-元宵节。元宵主要的活动就是看灯。东汉明帝时期，明帝提倡佛教，听说佛教有正月十五日僧人观佛舍利，点灯敬佛的做法，就命令这一天夜晚在皇宫

13、和寺庙里点灯敬佛，令士族庶民都挂灯。以后这种佛教礼仪节日逐渐形成民间盛大的节日。该节经历了由宫廷到民间，由中原到全国的发展过程。直到今天，元宵点灯的习俗仍然在中国的各地流传的，各式各样美丽的花灯在这一天都会点亮，孩子们提着自制的灯笼走街串巷，非常高兴。猜灯谜也是元宵节的一项重要活动，花灯的主人会将谜面写在灯笼上，挂在门口，如果有人可以猜中，就能得到小小的礼物。这项活动最早起源于宋朝，因为谜语能启迪智慧又饶有兴趣，所以流传过程中深受社会各阶层的欢迎。民间过元宵节吃元宵的习俗。元宵由糯米制成，或实心，或带馅。馅有豆沙、白糖、山楂、各类果料等，食用时煮、煎、蒸、炸皆可。起初，人们把这种食物叫“浮圆子

14、”，后来又叫“汤团”或“汤圆”，这些名称“团圆”字音相近，取团圆之意，象征全家人团团圆圆，和睦幸福，人们也以此怀念离别的亲人,寄托了对未来生活的美好愿望。随着时间的推移，元宵节的活动越来越多，白天有耍龙灯、耍狮子、踩高跷、划旱船扭秧歌、打太平鼓等传统民俗表演。到了夜晚，除了五颜六色的美花灯之外，还有艳丽多姿的烟火。大多数家庭会在春节时留下一些烟花等到元宵节这天燃放，而一些地方政府也会举办烟花大会，当新年的第一个月圆之夜在盛大的烟火表演中来临时，人们都陶醉在这令人难忘了烟花与皎洁的明月中。Qingming Festival （清明节）The Qingming (Pure Brightness)

15、Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is mo

16、re a festival of commemoration.The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased. Also, they will not cook on this

17、 day and only cold food is served.The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined.On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sa

18、crifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.In contrast to the sa

19、dness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are every

20、where.People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and the

21、refore, are called gods lanterns.The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called Arbor Day. But since 1979, Arbor Day was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.清明

22、是我国的二十四节气之一。由于二十四节气比较客观地反映了一年四季气温、降雨、物候等方面的变化，所以古代劳动人民用它安排农事活动。但是，清明作为节日，与纯粹的节气又有所不同。节气是我国物候变化、时令顺序的标志，而节日则包含着一定的风俗活动和某种纪念意义。因此，这个节日中既有祭扫新坟生别死离的悲酸泪，又有踏青游玩的欢笑声，是一个富有特色的节日。清明节是我国传统节日，也是最重要的祭祀节日，是祭祖和扫墓的日子。扫墓俗称上坟，祭祀死者的一种活动。汉族和一些少数民族大多都是在清明节扫墓。由于清明与寒食的日子接近，而寒食是民间禁火扫墓的日子，渐渐的，寒食与清明就合二为一了，而寒食既成为清明的别称，也变成为清明

23、时节的一个习俗，清明之日不动烟火，只吃凉的食品。按照旧的习俗，扫墓时，人们要携带酒食果品、纸钱等物品到墓地，将食物供祭在亲人墓前，再将纸钱焚化，为坟墓培上新土，折几枝嫩绿的新枝插在坟上，然后叩头行礼祭拜，最后吃掉酒食回家。与清明节扫墓的悲哀相反，人们在这个春光明媚的日子里，也一样是可以享受生活的。放风筝也是清明时节人们所喜爱的活动。每逢清明时节，人们不仅白天放，夜间也放。夜里在风筝下或风稳拉线上挂上一串串彩色的小灯笼，象闪烁的明星，被称为“神灯”。清明前后，春阳照临，春阳照临，春雨飞洒，种植树苗成活率高，成长快。因此，自古以来，我国就有清明植树的习惯。有人还把清明节叫作“植树节”。植树风俗一直

24、流传至今。1979年，人大常委会规定，每年三月十二日为我国植树节。这对动员全国各族人民积极开展绿化祖国活动，有着十分重要的意义。Dragon Boat Festival（端午节）The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years. It is usually in June in the Gregorian calendar.There are many legends about the evolution of the festiva

25、l, the most popular of which is in commemoration of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Qu Yuan was minister of the State of Chu and one of Chinas earliest poets. In face of great pressure from the powerful Qin State, he advocated enriching the country and strengthening its military forces so as to fight against

26、the Qin. However, he was opposed by aristocrats headed by Zi Lan, and later deposed and exiled by King Huai. In his exiled days, he still cared much for his country and people and composed immortal poems including Li Sao (The Lament), Tian Wen (Heavenly Questions) and Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), which had

27、far-reaching influences. In 278 BC, he heard the news that Qin troops had finally conquered Chus capital, so he finished his last piece Huai Sha (Embracing Sand) and plunged himself into the Miluo River, clasping his arms to a large stone. The day happened to be the 5th of the 5th month in the Chine

28、se lunar calendar. After his death, the people of Chu crowded to the bank of the river to pay their respects to him. The fishermen sailed their boats up and down the river to look for his body. People threw into the water zongzi (pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or bamboo leav

29、es) and eggs to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body. An old doctor poured a jug of reaglar wine (Chinese liquor seasoned with realgar) into the water, hoping to turn all aquatic beasts drunk. Thats why people later followed the customs such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and

30、 drinking realgar wine on that day.Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all over the country. As the gun is fired, people will see racers in dragon-shaped canoes pulling the oars harmoniously and hurriedly, accompanied by rapid drums, speeding toward their destination. F

31、olk tales say the game originates from the activities of seeking Qu Yuans body, but experts, after painstaking and meticulous research, conclude that dragon boat racing is a semi-religious, semi-entertaining program from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). In the following thousands of years, th

32、e game spread to Japan, Vietnam and Britain as well as Chinas Taiwan and Hong Kong. Now dragon boat racing has developed into an aquatic sports item which features both Chinese tradition and modern sporting spirit. In 1980, it was listed into the state sports competition programs and has since been held every year. The award is called Qu Yuan Cup.Zongzi is an essential food of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that people ate them in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). In early times, it was only glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or ot