搜狗做题网用英语写一篇有关某个节日由来的小故事
来源：学生作业帮 编辑：搜狗做题网作业帮 分类：英语作业 时间：2024/04/30 15:09:51
用英语写一篇有关某个节日由来的小故事
越快越好
越快越好
http://www.wbw.com.cn/ShowText.asp?Number=997
中国传统节日中英对照：春节
春节,是农历正月初一,又叫阴历年,俗称“过年”.这是我国民间最隆重、最热闹的一个传统节日.春节的历史很悠久,它起源于殷商时期年头岁尾的祭神祭祖活动.按照我国农历,正月初一古称元日、元辰、元正、元朔、元旦等,俗称年初一,到了民国时期,改用公历,公历的一月一日称为元旦,把农历的一月一日叫春节.
春节到了,意味着春天将要来临,万象复苏草木更新,新一轮播种和收获季节又要开始.人们刚刚度过冰天雪地草木凋零的漫漫寒冬,早就盼望着春暖花开的日子,当新春到来之际,自然要充满喜悦载歌载舞地迎接这个节日. 千百年来,人们使年俗庆祝活动变得异常丰富多彩,每年从农历腊月二十三日起到年三十,民间把这段时间叫做“迎春日”,也叫“扫尘日”,在春节前扫尘搞卫生,是我国人民素有的传统习惯.
然后就是家家户户准备年货,节前十天左右,人们就开始忙于采购物品,年货包括鸡鸭鱼肉、茶酒油酱、南北炒货、糖饵果品,都要采买充足,还要准备一些过年时走亲访友时赠送的礼品,小孩子要添置新衣新帽,准备过年时穿.
在节前要在住宅的大门上粘贴红纸黄字的新年寄语,也就是用红纸写成的春联.屋里张贴色彩鲜艳寓意吉祥的年画,心灵手巧的姑娘们剪出美丽的窗花贴在窗户上,门前挂大红灯笼或贴福字及财神、门神像等,福字还可以倒贴,路人一念福倒了,也就是福气到了,所有这些活动都是要为节日增添足够的喜庆气氛.
春节的另一名称叫过年.在过去的传说中,年是一种为人们带来坏运气的想象中的动物.年一来.树木凋蔽,百草不生；年一过,万物生长,鲜花遍地.年如何才能过去呢?需用鞭炮轰 ,于是有了燃鞭炮的习俗,这其实也是烘托热闹场面的又一种方式.
春节是个欢乐祥和的节日,也是亲人团聚的日子,离家在外的孩子在过春节时都要回家欢聚.过年的前一夜,就是旧年的腊月三十夜,也叫除夕,又叫团圆夜,在这新旧交替的时候,守岁是最重要的年俗活动之一,除夕晚上,全家老小都一起熬年守岁,欢聚酣饮,共享天伦之乐,北方地区在除夕有吃饺子的习俗,饺子的作法是先和面,和字就是合；饺子的饺和交谐音,合和交有相聚之意,又取更岁交子之意.在南方有过年吃年糕的习惯,甜甜的粘粘的年糕,象征新一年生活甜蜜蜜,步步高. 待第一声鸡啼响起,或是新年的钟声敲过,街上鞭炮齐鸣,响声此起彼伏,家家喜气洋洋,新的一年开始了,男女老少都穿着节日盛装,先给家族中的长者拜年祝寿,节中还有给儿童压岁钱,吃团年饭,初二、三就开始走亲戚看朋友,相互拜年,道贺祝福,说些恭贺新喜、恭喜发财、恭喜、过年好等话,祭祖等活动.
节日的热烈气氛不仅洋溢在各家各户,也充满各地的大街小巷,一些地方的街市上还有舞狮子,耍龙灯,演社火,游花市,逛庙会等习俗.这期间花灯满城,游人满街,热闹非凡,盛况空前,直要闹到正月十五元宵节过后,春节才算真正结束了.
春节是汉族最重要的节日,但是满、蒙古,瑶、壮、白、高山、赫哲、哈尼、达斡尔、侗、黎等十几个少数民族也有过春节的习俗,只是过节的形式更有自己的民族特色,更蕴味无穷.
Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.
The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.
On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.
The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.
After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called "Seeing the New Year in".
Store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year. Materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.
Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.
Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.
The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.
People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. According to custom, each family will stay up to see the New Year in.
Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.
Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.
Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.
The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.
China has 56 ethnic groups. Minorities celebrate their Spring Festival almost the same day as the Han people, and they have different customs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wbw.com.cn/ShowText.asp?Number=1003
中国传统节日中英对照：重阳节
农历九月九日,为传统的重阳节.因为古老的《易经》中把“六”定为阴数,把“九”定为阳数,九月九日,日月并阳,两九相重,故而叫重阳,也叫重九,古人认为是个值得庆贺的吉利日子,并且从很早就开始过此节日.
在古代,民间在重阳有登高的风俗,故重阳节又叫“登高节”.相传此风俗始于东汉.唐代文人所写的登高诗很多,大多是写重阳节的习俗；杜甫的七律《登高》,就是写重阳登高的名篇.登高所到之处,没有划一的规定,一般是登高山、登高塔.
在这一天,人们还有吃“重阳糕”的习俗.在汉语里,“糕”与“高”同音,”,人们会用“吃糕”代替“登高”,祝愿百事俱高.重阳糕又称花糕、菊糕、五色糕,制无定法,较为随意.最高的有九层,像一个塔.
重阳节正是一年的金秋时节,菊花盛开,民间还把农历九月称为“菊月”,在菊花傲霜怒放的重阳节里,观赏菊花成了节日的一项重要内容,当然,人们也会喝一些菊花酒.女人会把茱萸插在头上或挂在门口,可以避难消灾.
今天的重阳节,被赋予了新的含义,在1989年,我国把每年的九月九日定为老人节,传统与现代巧妙地结合,成为尊老、敬老、爱老、助老的老年人的节日.全国各机关、团体、街道,往往都在此时组织从工作岗位上退下来的老人们秋游赏景,或临水玩乐,或登山健体,让身心都沐浴在大自然的怀抱里；不少家庭的晚辈也会搀扶着年老的长辈到郊外活动或为老人准备一些可口的饮食.
Double Ninth Festival
The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double Ninth Festival. It usually falls in October in the Gregorian calendar. In an ancient and mysterious book Yi Jing, or The Book of Changes, number "6" was thought to be of Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while number "9" was thought to be Yang, meaning masculine or positive. So the number nine in both month and day create the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival. Chong in Chinese means "double." Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu," the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebration. That's why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival long time ago.
The custom of ascending a height to avoid epidemics was passed down from long time ago. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called "Height Ascending Festival". The height people will reach is usually a mountain or a tower. Ancient literary figures have left many poems depicting the activity. Even today, people still swarm to famous or little known mountains on this day.
On this day, people will eat Double Ninth Gao (or Cake). In Chinese, gao (cake) has the same pronunciation with gao (height). People do so just to hope progress in everything they are engaged in. There is no fixed ways for the Double Ninth Cake, but super cakes will have as many as nine layers, looking like a tower.
The Double Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved them since ancient times. So enjoying the flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people will drink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to stick such a flower into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness.
In 1989, the Chinese government decided the Double Ninth Festival as Seniors' Day. Since then, all government units, organizations and streets communities will organize an autumn trip each year for those who have retired from their posts. At the waterside or on the mountains, the seniors will find themselves merged into nature. Younger generations will bring elder ones to suburban areas or send gifts to them on this day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wbw.com.cn/ShowText.asp?Number=1004
中国传统节日中英对照：冬 至
冬至,是我国农历中一个非常重要的节气,也是一个传统节日,至今仍有不少地方有过冬至节的习俗.冬至俗称“冬节”、“长至节”、“亚岁”等.早在二千五百多年前的春秋时代,我国已经用土圭观测太阳测定出冬至来了,它是二十四节气中最早制订出的一个.时间在每年的阳历12月22日或者23日之间.
冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最长的一天,过了冬至,白天就会一天天变长.古人对冬至的说法是：阴极之至,阳气始生,日南至,日短之至,日影长之至,故曰“冬至”.冬至过后,各地气候都进入一个最寒冷的阶段,也就是人们常说的“进九”,我国民间有“冷在三九,热在三伏”的说法.现代天文科学测定,冬至日太阳直射南回归线,阳光对北半球最倾斜,北半球白天最短,黑夜最长,这天之后,太阳又逐渐北移.
在我国古代对冬至很重视,冬至被当作一个较大节日,曾有“冬至大如年”的说法,而且有庆贺冬至的习俗.《汉书》中说：“冬至阳气起,君道长,故贺.”人们认为：过了冬至,白昼一天比一天长,阳气回升,是一个节气循环的开始,也是一个吉日,应该庆贺.《晋书》上记载有“魏晋冬至日受万国及百僚称贺……其仪亚于正旦.”说明古代对冬至日的重视.
现在,一些地方还把冬至作为一个节日来过.北方地区有冬至宰羊,吃饺子、吃馄饨的习俗,南方地区在这一天则有吃冬至米团、冬至长线面的习惯.各个地区在冬至这一天还有祭天祭祖的习俗.
Winter Solstice
As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar.
The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.
The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Solstice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize celebrating activities. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest. The army was stationed in, frontier fortresses closed and business and traveling stopped. Relatives and friends presented to each other delicious food. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven; while common people offered sacrifices to their deceased parents or other relatives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even had the record that "Winter Solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival," showing the great importance attached to this day.
In some parts of Northern China, people eat dumpling soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat dumplings, saying doing so will keep them from frost in the upcoming winter. But in parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings could be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make cakes in the shape of chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand banquet.
中国传统节日中英对照：春节
春节,是农历正月初一,又叫阴历年,俗称“过年”.这是我国民间最隆重、最热闹的一个传统节日.春节的历史很悠久,它起源于殷商时期年头岁尾的祭神祭祖活动.按照我国农历,正月初一古称元日、元辰、元正、元朔、元旦等,俗称年初一,到了民国时期,改用公历,公历的一月一日称为元旦,把农历的一月一日叫春节.
春节到了,意味着春天将要来临,万象复苏草木更新,新一轮播种和收获季节又要开始.人们刚刚度过冰天雪地草木凋零的漫漫寒冬,早就盼望着春暖花开的日子,当新春到来之际,自然要充满喜悦载歌载舞地迎接这个节日. 千百年来,人们使年俗庆祝活动变得异常丰富多彩,每年从农历腊月二十三日起到年三十,民间把这段时间叫做“迎春日”,也叫“扫尘日”,在春节前扫尘搞卫生,是我国人民素有的传统习惯.
然后就是家家户户准备年货,节前十天左右,人们就开始忙于采购物品,年货包括鸡鸭鱼肉、茶酒油酱、南北炒货、糖饵果品,都要采买充足,还要准备一些过年时走亲访友时赠送的礼品,小孩子要添置新衣新帽,准备过年时穿.
在节前要在住宅的大门上粘贴红纸黄字的新年寄语,也就是用红纸写成的春联.屋里张贴色彩鲜艳寓意吉祥的年画,心灵手巧的姑娘们剪出美丽的窗花贴在窗户上,门前挂大红灯笼或贴福字及财神、门神像等,福字还可以倒贴,路人一念福倒了,也就是福气到了,所有这些活动都是要为节日增添足够的喜庆气氛.
春节的另一名称叫过年.在过去的传说中,年是一种为人们带来坏运气的想象中的动物.年一来.树木凋蔽,百草不生；年一过,万物生长,鲜花遍地.年如何才能过去呢?需用鞭炮轰 ,于是有了燃鞭炮的习俗,这其实也是烘托热闹场面的又一种方式.
春节是个欢乐祥和的节日,也是亲人团聚的日子,离家在外的孩子在过春节时都要回家欢聚.过年的前一夜,就是旧年的腊月三十夜,也叫除夕,又叫团圆夜,在这新旧交替的时候,守岁是最重要的年俗活动之一,除夕晚上,全家老小都一起熬年守岁,欢聚酣饮,共享天伦之乐,北方地区在除夕有吃饺子的习俗,饺子的作法是先和面,和字就是合；饺子的饺和交谐音,合和交有相聚之意,又取更岁交子之意.在南方有过年吃年糕的习惯,甜甜的粘粘的年糕,象征新一年生活甜蜜蜜,步步高. 待第一声鸡啼响起,或是新年的钟声敲过,街上鞭炮齐鸣,响声此起彼伏,家家喜气洋洋,新的一年开始了,男女老少都穿着节日盛装,先给家族中的长者拜年祝寿,节中还有给儿童压岁钱,吃团年饭,初二、三就开始走亲戚看朋友,相互拜年,道贺祝福,说些恭贺新喜、恭喜发财、恭喜、过年好等话,祭祖等活动.
节日的热烈气氛不仅洋溢在各家各户,也充满各地的大街小巷,一些地方的街市上还有舞狮子,耍龙灯,演社火,游花市,逛庙会等习俗.这期间花灯满城,游人满街,热闹非凡,盛况空前,直要闹到正月十五元宵节过后,春节才算真正结束了.
春节是汉族最重要的节日,但是满、蒙古,瑶、壮、白、高山、赫哲、哈尼、达斡尔、侗、黎等十几个少数民族也有过春节的习俗,只是过节的形式更有自己的民族特色,更蕴味无穷.
Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.
The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.
On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.
The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.
After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called "Seeing the New Year in".
Store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year. Materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.
Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.
Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.
The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.
People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. According to custom, each family will stay up to see the New Year in.
Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.
Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.
Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.
The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.
China has 56 ethnic groups. Minorities celebrate their Spring Festival almost the same day as the Han people, and they have different customs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wbw.com.cn/ShowText.asp?Number=1003
中国传统节日中英对照：重阳节
农历九月九日,为传统的重阳节.因为古老的《易经》中把“六”定为阴数,把“九”定为阳数,九月九日,日月并阳,两九相重,故而叫重阳,也叫重九,古人认为是个值得庆贺的吉利日子,并且从很早就开始过此节日.
在古代,民间在重阳有登高的风俗,故重阳节又叫“登高节”.相传此风俗始于东汉.唐代文人所写的登高诗很多,大多是写重阳节的习俗；杜甫的七律《登高》,就是写重阳登高的名篇.登高所到之处,没有划一的规定,一般是登高山、登高塔.
在这一天,人们还有吃“重阳糕”的习俗.在汉语里,“糕”与“高”同音,”,人们会用“吃糕”代替“登高”,祝愿百事俱高.重阳糕又称花糕、菊糕、五色糕,制无定法,较为随意.最高的有九层,像一个塔.
重阳节正是一年的金秋时节,菊花盛开,民间还把农历九月称为“菊月”,在菊花傲霜怒放的重阳节里,观赏菊花成了节日的一项重要内容,当然,人们也会喝一些菊花酒.女人会把茱萸插在头上或挂在门口,可以避难消灾.
今天的重阳节,被赋予了新的含义,在1989年,我国把每年的九月九日定为老人节,传统与现代巧妙地结合,成为尊老、敬老、爱老、助老的老年人的节日.全国各机关、团体、街道,往往都在此时组织从工作岗位上退下来的老人们秋游赏景,或临水玩乐,或登山健体,让身心都沐浴在大自然的怀抱里；不少家庭的晚辈也会搀扶着年老的长辈到郊外活动或为老人准备一些可口的饮食.
Double Ninth Festival
The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double Ninth Festival. It usually falls in October in the Gregorian calendar. In an ancient and mysterious book Yi Jing, or The Book of Changes, number "6" was thought to be of Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while number "9" was thought to be Yang, meaning masculine or positive. So the number nine in both month and day create the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival. Chong in Chinese means "double." Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu," the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebration. That's why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival long time ago.
The custom of ascending a height to avoid epidemics was passed down from long time ago. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called "Height Ascending Festival". The height people will reach is usually a mountain or a tower. Ancient literary figures have left many poems depicting the activity. Even today, people still swarm to famous or little known mountains on this day.
On this day, people will eat Double Ninth Gao (or Cake). In Chinese, gao (cake) has the same pronunciation with gao (height). People do so just to hope progress in everything they are engaged in. There is no fixed ways for the Double Ninth Cake, but super cakes will have as many as nine layers, looking like a tower.
The Double Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved them since ancient times. So enjoying the flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people will drink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to stick such a flower into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness.
In 1989, the Chinese government decided the Double Ninth Festival as Seniors' Day. Since then, all government units, organizations and streets communities will organize an autumn trip each year for those who have retired from their posts. At the waterside or on the mountains, the seniors will find themselves merged into nature. Younger generations will bring elder ones to suburban areas or send gifts to them on this day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wbw.com.cn/ShowText.asp?Number=1004
中国传统节日中英对照：冬 至
冬至,是我国农历中一个非常重要的节气,也是一个传统节日,至今仍有不少地方有过冬至节的习俗.冬至俗称“冬节”、“长至节”、“亚岁”等.早在二千五百多年前的春秋时代,我国已经用土圭观测太阳测定出冬至来了,它是二十四节气中最早制订出的一个.时间在每年的阳历12月22日或者23日之间.
冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最长的一天,过了冬至,白天就会一天天变长.古人对冬至的说法是：阴极之至,阳气始生,日南至,日短之至,日影长之至,故曰“冬至”.冬至过后,各地气候都进入一个最寒冷的阶段,也就是人们常说的“进九”,我国民间有“冷在三九,热在三伏”的说法.现代天文科学测定,冬至日太阳直射南回归线,阳光对北半球最倾斜,北半球白天最短,黑夜最长,这天之后,太阳又逐渐北移.
在我国古代对冬至很重视,冬至被当作一个较大节日,曾有“冬至大如年”的说法,而且有庆贺冬至的习俗.《汉书》中说：“冬至阳气起,君道长,故贺.”人们认为：过了冬至,白昼一天比一天长,阳气回升,是一个节气循环的开始,也是一个吉日,应该庆贺.《晋书》上记载有“魏晋冬至日受万国及百僚称贺……其仪亚于正旦.”说明古代对冬至日的重视.
现在,一些地方还把冬至作为一个节日来过.北方地区有冬至宰羊,吃饺子、吃馄饨的习俗,南方地区在这一天则有吃冬至米团、冬至长线面的习惯.各个地区在冬至这一天还有祭天祭祖的习俗.
Winter Solstice
As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar.
The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.
The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Solstice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize celebrating activities. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest. The army was stationed in, frontier fortresses closed and business and traveling stopped. Relatives and friends presented to each other delicious food. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven; while common people offered sacrifices to their deceased parents or other relatives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even had the record that "Winter Solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival," showing the great importance attached to this day.
In some parts of Northern China, people eat dumpling soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat dumplings, saying doing so will keep them from frost in the upcoming winter. But in parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings could be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make cakes in the shape of chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand banquet.