The traditional festival of the Chinese folks most impressive and the most full of special features is Chinese New Year( the Spring Festival), it symbolizes the lunar calendar for old year to end
2. The spring festival
The traditional festival of the Chinese
folks most impressive and the most full of
special features is Chinese New Year( the
Spring Festival), it symbolizes the lunar
calendar for old year to end.
春节是中国民间最隆重最富有特色的传统节
日,它标志农历旧的一年结束 。
4. People born in the Year of the Snake are deep.
They say little and possess great wisdom.
They never have to worry about money; they
are financially fortunate. Snake people are
often quite vain, selfish, and a bit stingy. Yet
they have tremendous sympathy for others
and try to help those less fortunate. Snake
people tend to overdo, since they have doubts
about other people's judgment and prefer to
rely on themselves. They are determined in
whatever they do and hate to fail. Although
calm on the surface, they are intense and
passionate. Snake people are usually good-
looking and sometimes have marital problems
because they are fickle. They are most
compatible with the Ox and Rooster.
5. The term "pass year" is used for the Spring Festival (Chinese
New Year). The word "Year" in Chinese characters used to
mean a horrible beast. To combat the beast, the Chinese hang
"good luck" wishes on red paper on the door and use fireworks
in the belief that the beast fears red and fire. This tradition in
many ways just seem like the Western belief of using garlic and
crosses to fight vampires.
“过年”这个词组用以表示对春节(中国新年)的庆祝。“年”这个字
在中文里是一种恐怖的怪兽。因为“年”害怕红色和火,所以中国
人会在门上悬挂“春联”写上美好祝福,并放鞭炮来赶跑它。这个
传统有点类似西方人用大蒜和十字架吓跑吸血鬼的传统。
6. 扫尘
Sweeping the Dust
“Dust” is homophonic with “chen”(尘)
in Chinese, which means old and past. In
this way, “sweeping the dust” before the
Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning
of houses to sweep away bad luck in the
past year.
“Dust”与“尘”是谐音(尘在汉语中的意思
是旧的和过去的)。这样,“在春节前扫
尘”是指彻底清洁房屋扫除过去一年的厄
运。
7. 扫尘
Sweeping the Dust
This custom shows a good wish of putting away
old things to welcome a new life. In a word, just
before the Spring Festival comes, every
household will give a thorough cleaning to bid
farewell to the old year and usher in the new.
此习俗表达了收拾旧事物,欢迎新生活的美好愿望。
总之,就在春节到来之前,为了告别旧年迎接新年,
家家户户都会彻底打扫一下房屋。
8. Pasting/putting up Spring Couplets(贴春联)
On the eve of the Spring Festival, every household will
paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to
give a happy and prosperous(繁荣的) atmosphere of the
Festival.
9. “The Spring Couplet”, also called
“couplet” and “a pair of antithetical
phrases”, is a special form of
literature in China. The Spring
Couplet is composed of two
antithetical sentences on both
sides of the door and a horizontal
scroll bearing an inscription,
usually an auspicious phrase,
above the gate.
“春联”也被称为和“对联”对立
的一对短语,在中国是一种特殊的
文学形式。春联是由贴在门口两侧
两组对立的句子组成,在门上面的
横批通常是一个吉祥的短语。
The sentence pasting on the right
side of the door is called the first
line of the couplet and the one on
the left the second line. On the
eve of the Spring Festival, every
household will paste on doors a
spring couplet written on red
paper to give a happy and
prosperous atmosphere of the
Festival. In the past, the Chinese
usually wrote their own spring
couplet with a brush or asked
others to do for them, while
nowadays, it is common for
people to buy the printed spring
couplet in the market.
贴在门右侧的句子被称作对联的上
联,左侧的为下联。除夕那天,每
家都会在门上贴上红纸写的春联,
传递出节日喜庆和热闹的气氛。在
过去,中国人通常用毛笔自己写春
联或者请别人写春联,而现在,人
们普遍在市场上买印刷好的春联。
10. 贴窗花和“福”字
Pasting Paper-cuts and
“Up-sided Fu”
Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious
patterns, give a happy and prosperous
atmosphere of the Festival and express the
good wishes of Chinese people looking
forward to a good life.
通常带有吉祥图案的窗花传递节日喜庆和热
闹的气氛和表达中国人期待幸福生活的美好
愿望。
11. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on
windows, it is common for Chinese to paste
the character “fu(福)”, big and small, on
walls, doors and doorposts around the
houses. “Fu(福)” shows people’s
yearning toward a good life. 除了贴窗花,在
墙上,门上和房子周围的门框上贴大小福字
是中国人表达对美好生活渴望的普遍习俗。
12. Some people even invert the character “fu(福)
” to signify that blessing has arrived because
“inverted” is a homonym for “arrive” in Chinese.
Now many kinds of paper-cuts and “fu(福)”
can be seen in the market before the Festival.
一些人甚至倒贴福字来表示福到了,因为在汉语中
“倒”是“到”的谐音。现在在春节前的市场上随
处可见各种各样的窗花和福字。
13.
14. 贴年画
Pasting New Year Prints
The custom of pasting New Year Prints originated from
the tradition of placing Door Gods on the external doors
of houses. With the creation of board carvings, New
Year paintings cover a wide range of subjects. The most
famous ones are Door Gods, Surplus Year after Year,
Three Gods of Blessing, Salary and Longevity, An
Abundant Harvest of Crops, Thriving Domestic Animals
and Celebrating Spring.
贴年画的风俗源自于把房子外面的门上贴门神的传统。随
着木质雕刻品的出现,年画包含了更广泛的主题,最出名
的就是门神,三大神-福神薪神和寿神,庄稼丰收,家畜
兴旺,和庆祝春节。
15. Tɑohuɑwu of Suzhou Yɑngliuqing of Tianjin
Wuqiɑng of Hebei Weifang of Shangdong
16. 守岁 Staying Up Late on
New Year's Eve
The tradition of staying up late to see
New Year in originated from an
interesting folk tale. In ancient China
there lived a monster named Year, who
was very ferocious. Year always went out
from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to
devour people. Therefore, on every New
Year’s Eve, every household would have
supper together. After dinner, no one
dared go to sleep and all the family
members would sit together, chatting and
emboldening each other. Gradually the
habit of staying up late on New Year’s
Eve is formed. Thus in China,
“celebrating the Spring Festival” is also
called “passing over the year (guo nian)”.
However, now there are less and less
people in cities who will stay up late to
see New Year in.
守岁的传统源自于一个有
趣的民间故事。在中国古
代有一个叫作‘年’的凶
猛怪物,在除夕夜‘年’
会从地洞里出来吃人。因
此在除夕夜,每家每户都
会一起吃晚饭,晚饭以后
没人敢睡觉,所有的家庭
成员会坐在一起聊天互相
壮胆。
17. 吃饺子 Having Jiaozi
On New Year’s Eve, the whole
family will sit together to make
jiaozi and celebrate the Spring
Festival. The shape of jiaozi is
like gold ingot from ancient
China. So people eat them and
wish for money and treasure.
The tradition of having jiaozi is
very important during the Spring
Festival. You cannot have a
complete Spring Festival without
having jiaozi.
• 在除夕那天,全家
人会坐在一起包饺子庆
祝春节。饺子的形状像
中国古代的金元宝,因
此人们吃饺子以此来希
望财富到来。在春节期
间吃饺子是很重要的传
统习俗。如果没有吃饺
子,你将不能拥有一个
完整的春节。
18. 看春节联欢晚会
The CCTV New Year's Gala
The New Year’s Gala is a variety
show held by China Central
Television (CCTV) since 1983. For every year since then at the
turn of the Lunar New Year, the program begins at 8:00PM and
lasts five or six hours. It brings laughter to billions of people,
creates many popular words and produces lots of TV
phenomena meriting attention. For over twenty years, its value
has gone far beyond a variety show. It is essential
entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. Many
Chinese would like to watch the gala while having the dinner on
New Year’s Eve.
新年联欢晚会是自1983年以来中央电视台举办的综艺节目。从
那时候起每年在农历新年交替的时候,晚上八点节目开始并持续
五六个小时左右,春节晚会给数亿人带来了笑声,创造了许多流
行词汇和值得关注的许多电视现象。20多年以来,它的价值已经
远远超过了文艺晚会。对于国内外的中国人都是非常必要的娱乐
活动,许多中国人想一边吃除夕晚宴,一边看春节联欢晚会。
19. 放鞭炮
Setting off Firecrackers
The firecracker is a unique product in China. In ancient
China, the sound of burning bamboo tubes was used to
scare away wild animals and evil spirits. With the invention of
the gunpowder, “firecracker” is also called “鞭炮biānpào” (“炮
” in Chinese means gun) and used to foster a joyful
atmosphere. The first thing every Chinese household does is
to set off firecrackers and fireworks, which are meant to bid
farewell to the old year and usher in the new.
在中国爆竹是一件特殊的产品。在中国古代,燃烧竹管的声音
被用来吓走动物和恶鬼。随着火药的发明,爆竹也被称作鞭炮
,用来营造欢乐的气氛。在中国每家每户第一件事要做的就是
放烟花爆竹,因为这意味着告别旧年迎接新年。
20. 拜年和压岁钱
New Year's Visit and Gift Money
On the first day of the Chinese lunar year,
everybody puts on their best clothes and pays
ceremonial calls on their relatives and friends,
wishing them all the luck in the coming year. Juniors will greet
seniors, wishing them health and longevity, while seniors will
give juniors some gift money as a wish for their safety in the
coming year. When friends meet, they will wish each other
happiness and prosperity with a big smile. With the development
of the new technology, there is a change on the way of giving
New Years greetings. In recent year, it is common to send New
Years greetings by such modern means of communication as
telephones, emails and text messages.
中国农历新年的第一天每个人都会穿上他们最漂亮的衣服,礼
节性地拜访亲戚和朋友,祝愿他们新的一年中好运。小辈会问候
老辈,祝福他们健康长寿,同时老辈会给小辈压岁钱祝福他们来
年平安。随着新技术的发展,通过现代通讯手段如电话,发邮件
和短信息等来送出新年问候已经非常普遍了。
21. To drop a Spring Festival visit is to give
your new year greetings when you are
out, Have a luck talk.
人们都要做的一件事就是拜年。亲戚之
间在春节期间走动,互拜平安。给亲戚
拜年,出门之后就作揖、问安,说点吉
祥话
24. A series of colorful celebration
activities begin on the first day of the
first lunar month. After the Spring
Festival, all kinds of entertainment
programs used to be given in the
rural areas in China.
从农历正月初一开始的节庆活动可谓
丰富多彩,多种多样。春节过了以后,
就是在过去中国的农村里边,文艺的
活动逐渐地展开了