英语话中国之节日(1)
1. Spring Festival
春节
本文介绍了中国的传统节日——春节。文章详尽说明了中国人是如何欢度春节的。阅读此文，你可以学会如何用英语表达庆祝春节的习俗，如贴对联、包饺子、放鞭炮、吃团圆饭、拜年等等。
Spring Festival, the traditional Chinese New Year’s Day, is China’s most important national holiday. The date of the new year is still determined by the lunar calendar even though the government of the Republic of China adopted the international Gregorian calendar in 1912. New Year’s Day typically occurs sometime in early spring (February).
Almost everyone in China’s cities enjoys at least three days off work to celebrate spring Festival, and the celebration lasts even longer in rural areas: from the eighth day of the last month of the lunar year to the fifteenth day of the first month of the following lunar years. Rural residents use this time, f ollowing a year’s hard work and prior to the spring planting, to rest and relax as the climate in northern China is still quite cold.
The Han people (the majority ethnic group in China, accounting for more than 90 percent of the population) have a tradition of eating laba-rice porridge with beans, nuts and dried fruit—on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. This pastime symbolizes the peasants’ wishes for an abundant harvest and healthy animals.
Starting on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month people clean their houses, decorate them with paper-cuts and streamers, shop for special Spring Festival foods and gifts, and begin preparing the New year’s banquet.
On the day before New Year’s day, many families decorate their front doors with a pair of couplets designating good fortune. These couplets are written in fine calligraphy on long strips of red paper. The text of the sentiments expressed are for happiness, good health, bumper harvest, family harmony and prosperity. Special pictures are placed in different rooms to dispel evil spirits and bring the family tranquility and happiness throughout the coming year.
Children set off firecrackers, play games and carry colorful lanterns in hand as they visit friends. Parents keep busy preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner and making jiaozi—dumplings with meat and vegetable fillings. Dumplings are an indispensable food for northerners during their New Year’s celebration.
In olden times, jiaozi were thought to scare away evil spirits, misfortune and disease. Today this well-loved dish is as closely associated with Spring Festival as turkey is with Thanksgiving in the United States.
Chinese have been making jiaozi for more than 1,600 years, but the preparation of this delicious food varies by region. One variety is made with fillings of meat, Chinese cabbage or other vegetables, peanut and sesames oils, with ginger, green onion and salt for flavoring. Another variety is filled with eggs and dried shrimp along with Chinese cabbage, Chinese chives and other flavorings.
On New Year’s Day people traditionally eat dumplings made with egg and shrimp fillings to encourage a year of peace. Families in some rural areas have a custom of wrapping a small piece of candy or a coin in one of the dumplings. The person who eats this dumpling is considered lucky and will have a happy and prosperous new year.
Following dinner, most families watch special holiday variety shows on television, which last well
into new Year’s Day. Many families stay up very late, some even stay up al l night, playing cards, laughing, chatting, or telling stories to the children.
At midnight a barrage of firecrackers breaks the silence and after the cocks crow, every family conducts a New Year’s ceremony. Everyone, old and young, dresses in their best before offering sacrifices to their gods and ancestors.
The reunion meal in northern China consists of jiaozi. Old and young sit around the dinner table waiting to be served while the women boil the dumplings. If family members cannot join the reunion meal, a pair of chopsticks, a cup of wine and a bowl are laid out for them to symbolize the family’s best wishes.
On New Year’s Day the children receive gifts of money in red envelopes from their parents and grandparents. But, the most popular celebrating activity is young people expressing wishes of good fortune and health to the family elders. Other children enjoy visiting with friends, neighbors and relatives because they are treated to fruit, pastry and candy while their parents drink tea, wine or beer.
The celebrating climax occurs on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month during the Lantern Festival. At night lantern shows or lion dances are performed, luring visitors to the fun, whether it’s in the city or the countryside.
(Excerpts from China Today January 1998)
New Words and Expressions
barrage n. 火网；倾泻
chive n. 细香葱
couplet n. 对联；对句
dispel vt. 驱赶；赶跑
ginger n. 生姜
Gregorian calendar 格里历（即阳历）onion n. 洋葱paper-cut n. 剪纸pastry n. 糕点reunion meal 团圆饭streamer n. 横幅tranquility n. 安宁
2. Lantern Festival
元宵节
本文介绍了中国传统节日元宵节的起源及庆祝方式。阅读此文可使你熟
悉如何用英文表达挂灯笼、舞龙、踩高跷、跳秧歌、包元宵等庆祝活动。
The Lantern Festival occurs on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month according to the old Chinese calendar, when a full moon provides enough light for the various ceremonies and activities traditionally held throughout China. Customarily, family members reunite for a meal of Yuanxiao, round, sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour served in soup, which symbolize a wish for the family’s happiness and good luck all year.
Custom dictates that the holiday be enlivened with lanterns hung throughout the house, lantern shows, Yuanko (a popular rural folk dance), stilt walkers and dragon dances. The history of this merriment dates back 1,900 years to the Han Dynasty when Emperor Mingdi sat on the throne (58~75). Mingdi ordered lanterns lit in every palace and monastery on the fifteenth day of the first
lunar month in homage to Buddha. Since then various activities, such as lantern shows, fairs, and evening parties to guess riddles related to lanterns, have been organized in different parts of China. The lanterns usually are made of thin bamboo strips, straw, rattan, metal or animal horns and covered with red paper or gauze. They come in various shapes and sizes. Some are classified as palace lanterns while others are revolving lanterns that feature fables or pictures of animals. Now technology and electronics are being used in festival lanterns, and neon lights side by side with traditional Chinese paper lanterns add more festivity to the holiday for both urban and rural dwellers.
Dragon dances originated with ancient ceremonies for the Dragon King. At first these dances were a prayer for favorable weather. Today performers are more concerned with demonstrating their skills or unique techniques for simulating a dragon. Making a dragon for this dance using colorful paper or silk fabric requires special skills and craftsmanship.
Stilt walking, a recreational activity in rural areas, combines dance, drama and physical agility. Chinese stilts are usually 20 to 90 centimeters high. Using various props, performers play folk heroes or roles from popular dramas.
Yuanko is a very common folk dance among Chinese in northern China. A yuanko can be performed by two or three people who recreate a simple story line, or by several dozen dancers who act out complicated dramas. A performer’s sense of humor, plus colorful props such as colored ribbons, paper fans, or handkerchiefs make a yuanko a unique cultural celebration, especially when combined with stilt walkers and dragon dances.
Round sweet dumplings traditionally are eaten for happiness on the Lantern festival. Today these dumplings also are a popular dessert in China, and come in two varieties: one is made of white and brown sugar, sweet-scented osmanthus, nuts and sesame seeds; the other has meat and vegetable fillings. Recently Chinese have begun adding chocolate for a truly unique flavor, even though traditional boiled dumplings, fried sweet dumplings are becoming popular.
(Excerpts from China Today February 1998)
New Words and Expressions
agility n. 敏捷
enliven vt. 使有生气；使活跃gauze n. 薄纱
glutinous rice 糯米
homage n. 尊敬；敬意ingredient n. 配料；成分monastery n. 庙宇；寺庙neon n. [化]氖；氖气灯；霓虹灯rattan n. 藤；藤条
ribbon n. 缎带；丝带
stilt walking 踩高跷
sweet-scented osmanthus 桂花yangko n. 秧歌
3. Qingming Festival
清明节
本文介绍了清明节的来历和与之相关的扫墓、祭祖、郊游及放风筝
等等习俗。文章还介绍了风筝的制作方法、风筝的类型和中国的风筝之都。
Qingming (Pure Brightness) is a traditional festival highlighted by worship at ancestral
graves. Usually it falls between April 4~6. The festival marks the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, which divides the year into 24 such terms according to the position of the earth as it orbits the sun. The names of the terms are used as guideposts for agriculture and certain Chinese festivals in China. Qingming marks the start of spring plowing in China’s north and of spring sowing in the south. At this time people also customarily make offerings to family ancestors, go on outings and flying kites.
Following tradition, people used to pay their respects to their ancestors by sweeping family graves clean of the winter’s debris. But today this festival is also a memorial day for revolutionary martyrs. People from government offices, schools and other social organizations visit public cemeteries and express their esteem by placing a bouquet of freshly cut flowers, a bunch of budding willow branches or a wreath of cypress and pine on the tomb of a martyr.
At this time of year the days grow longer and the sun warmer, bringing enchanting springtime scenery. Many people take advantage of the opportunity to escape the city and enjoy the beauty of nature, breathe in fresh air and renew their optimism.
Swinging used to be a favorite pastime for women and children. It evolved with Chinese ancestors, who used to search for food on trees and used rattan vines to swing out and reach the food they wanted. In ancient times, people believed that swinging from vines was good for building an agile and strong physique resistant to illness, and a good way to relax as well. Today swinging is still thought to contribute to one’s good health, to balance brain functions, and to cultivate courage. What a pity that this pastime, easily enjoyed by all, is no longer popular in China, except among children playing in the park or on the school playground.
Kite manufacturing and flying, Kites are made in various styles by professional or amateur artists of different schools. Eulogized as China’s kite capital, the city of Weifang in the northern province of Shandong hosts an International Kite Fair and kite-flying tournament every spring just before Qingming. The event attracts numerous contestants from all over the world and a growing number of tourists from home and abroad.
In kite making extremely thin strips of bamboo or wood are used to construct a frame, which is then covered with paper or gauze. Painting and mounting are vitally important. The kites are made to resemble animals, figures and musical instrument. Some have rigid wings while others have movable ones. Some can even make sounds like an organ, a gong or a drum while flying. With the application of new technology to kite making, China has an ever-growing variety of these exquisitely shaped and patterned creations.
This Chinese folk art was introduced to Southeast Asia and Trope between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. Now kite flying has become fashionable throughout the world, and the art of kite making has been cited in “Science and Civilization in China” by Joseph Needham as an important technical invention from China that has contributed to the dissemination of Chinese culture.
(Excerpts from China Today April 1998)
New Words and Expressions
bouquet n. 花束
cypress n. 柏树
contestant n. 竞争者；参加比赛者dissemination n. 播种;传播epicenter n. 中心；集中点eulogize vt. 颂扬；赞扬exquisitely ad. 精巧地；精致的gong n. 锣; 铜锣
solar term 气节wreath n.花圈；花环
4. Dragon Boat Festival
端午节
本文介绍了端午节的来历和伟大的爱国诗人屈原的一生。人们在端午节以包粽子、举办龙舟赛等形式来纪念爱国诗人屈原。
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a traditional Chinese festival dedicated to the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan for his devotion to his native state.
Qu Y uan lived in the state of Chu during the Warring States period (475~221 B.C.). Chu was in condtant danger of being invaded by the state of Qin, the strongest among the seven states then existing in central china. As one of the dukes, Qu Yuan advocated that Chu should join forces with the neighboring state of Qi to fight against Qin’s troops. However, his patriotism and dedication were betrayed by capitulators who slandered him. The king of Chu believed them and sent Qu Yuan into exile. He wrote many immortal masterpieces exposing the corrupt and incompetent feudal regime. In his autobiographic works he expresses his political position and his ambition of rejuvenating his state. When Qu Y uan heard that Qin troops had occupied the Chu capital, he threw himself into the Miluo River in despair on the fifth day the fifth lunar month.
Local people honor the memory of Qu Yuan on this day by holding dragon-boat races. It is said that the bo at races were regarded as a symbol of the people’s attempt to rescue Qu Yuan. For a long time now they have been a popular sport. China has a long history of making big wooden boats sport. The prow is a carved dragon’s head, and the body is made in a drago n-like shape or following the design of fish, birds or shrimp. It is painted red, yellow, black or white according to the taste of the oarsmen. Different sizes of boats hold different numbers of oarsmen, seated in pairs. Boat races are held in rivers going either up or downstream or from bank to bank, following the strict rules and regulations set by the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission. Winners are awarded trophies. Every year the “Qu Yuan Cup” is held in China. The boat race is also very popular in Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.
It is a tradition to eat zongzi, pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, with different fillings added for interest. According to one popular story, such dumplings were thrown into the river as food for the fish and shrimp to keep them from eating QuYuan’s body. These dumplings now are boiled and eaten on the holiday. Suzhou in Jiangsu province and Ningbo and Jiaxin in Zhejiang province are known for their zongzi with date and sweet bean paste, ham, or bacon filling. Beijing is famous for date and preserved fruit fillings. They are made in various shape, three-or four-cornered, or in the shape of a pillow, ax, ox horn and pagoda. The largest ones may weigh half a kilogram. For more than 2,000 years, people not only in China but also in Southeast Asia, Japan and Vietnam have maintained the tradition of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival.
Coming in the lull between spring plowing and summer weeding, the festival is celebrated in a variety of ways. It has overtones of spring purification, and in the south it is the occasion for a good house cleaning to protect against various diseases that may come with the hot weather.
On this day it is also customary to take a drink of wine containing realgar, rub the wine on children’s forehead, and sprinkle it on beds and mosquito nets to keep away insects.
(Excerpts from China Today May 1998)