英語(yǔ)作文：向外國(guó)友人介紹春節(jié) 向外國(guó)人介紹中國(guó)如何過(guò)春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文
The Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, also know as the lunar New Year, is the greatest traditional festival. It is usually a time between late January or early February, which means rest and relaxation between winter and spring after a year's toil, and means celebration as well. Before the Spring Festival, people clean their house, put red coupletson their gates, and set off firecrackers, according to fairy tale, for driving a demon, named Nian away. On the eve of the Spring Festival, a get-together banquet is a must, and the most popular food is Dumpling, which is supposed to bring good fortune. On the first day of the new year, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and congratulations wishing each other lucky during the new year.
Spring Festival
The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later
Click here for more words about the Spring Festival
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（滿月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵節(jié)）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月運(yùn)周期）is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （閏年）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（萬(wàn)物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（儀式）, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
The Origin of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said, "I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
Traditional New Year Foods
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed（蘆葦）leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth."Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.
Finally，hope you have a good time during the New Year's Eve (*^__^*) 嘻嘻……
According to the briefing, according to legend there is a Chinese ancient times called the "years" of the monster, the first long tentacles, unusually ferocious. "Year" for many years hiding the sea, only to climb up every New Year's Eve shore, devouring livestock harm human life. Therefore, every New Year's Eve that day, the village young people Walled villages fled to the mountains, to escape the "year" animal damage.
據(jù)介紹，相傳中國(guó)古時(shí)候有一種叫“年”的怪獸，頭長(zhǎng)觸角，兇猛異常。“年”長(zhǎng)年深居海底，每到除夕才爬上岸，吞食牲畜傷害人命。因此，每到除夕這天，村村寨寨的人們扶老攜幼逃往深山，以躲避“年”獸的傷害。
This Year's Eve, Peach Blossom Village, young people are the mountain refuge, from a village outside begging the elderly, saw hiscrutches, arm ride capsule bag, silver to be graceful, head if Lang stars. Some villagers sealed windows locked, and some to pack up and get some Thunbergia sheep, everywhere people shouting, scene of a panic rush. At this time, who determined to take care of the elderly people begging. Village head only an old lady to the elderly more food, and urged him to speed up the mountain to escape the "Year" beast, the old man smiled stroking beard: mother-in-law if I stay at home one night, I have the "year" removed the animal. Head scared the old lady look at, to see him mental healthy, bearing out of the ordinary. She is still continuing to persuade, begging people laugh instead of the phrase. Mother-in-law no option but to leave home and go up the mountain refuge.
這年除夕，桃花村的人們正扶老攜幼上山避難，從村外來(lái)了個(gè)乞討的老人，只見(jiàn)他手拄拐杖，臂搭袋囊，銀須飄逸，目若朗星。鄉(xiāng)親們有的封窗鎖門，有的收拾行裝，有的牽牛趕羊，到處人喊馬嘶，一片匆忙恐慌景象。這時(shí)，誰(shuí)還有心關(guān)照這位乞討的老人。只有村東頭一位老婆婆給了老人些食物，并勸他快上山躲避“年” 獸，那老人捋髯笑道：婆婆若讓我在家呆一夜，我一定把“年”獸攆走。老婆婆驚目細(xì)看，見(jiàn)他鶴發(fā)童顏、精神矍鑠，氣宇不凡。可她仍然繼續(xù)勸說(shuō)，乞討老人笑而不語(yǔ)。婆婆無(wú)奈，只好撇下家，上山避難去了。
The middle of the night, "years" to break into the village of animals. It found that the village atmosphere, unlike in previous years: the first lady Village home, the door paste big red, brightly lit candles inside the house. "Year" all animalsa bang. "Year" towards mother-in-law home glower moment, then head over the pastforward. Almost at the entrance to the hospital from a sudden "bang flap" sound of bombing, "year" every tremble, and then move forward together a dare. In fact, "year" fear red flames and炸響. At this time, opening the door to let mother-in-law's house, wearing only a hospital Dahongpao elderly laughter. "Year" scaring the daylights out, embarrassed fled the spurt.
半夜時(shí)分，“年”獸闖進(jìn)村。它發(fā)現(xiàn)村里氣氛與往年不同：村東頭老婆婆家，門貼大紅紙，屋內(nèi)燭火通明。“年”獸渾身一抖，怪叫了一聲。“年”朝婆婆家怒視片刻，隨即狂叫著撲過(guò)去。將近門口時(shí)，院內(nèi)突然傳來(lái)“砰砰啪啪”的炸響聲，“年”渾身戰(zhàn)栗，再不敢往前湊了。原來(lái)，“年”最怕紅色、火光和炸響。這時(shí)，婆婆的家門大開(kāi)，只見(jiàn)院內(nèi)一位身披紅袍的老人在哈哈大笑。“年”大驚失色，狼狽逃躥了。
The next day is the first day, people who sought refuge back safe and sound very surprised to see the village. At this time, the old lady came before, and hastened to the villagers described the promise of the elderly begging. Together villagers over to the old lady, and mother-in-law saw the door close to the red paper, yard pile of bamboo is still unburned "flap"炸響inside several red candles also issued a Yu ... ... joyvillagers to celebrate the auspicious arrival of their new clothes to wear for a new hat, say hello to friends and relatives at home Daoxi. This matter quickly spread around the village, people are aware of the expulsion of "years" beast approach.
第二天是正月初一，避難回來(lái)的人們見(jiàn)村里安然無(wú)恙十分驚奇。這時(shí)，老婆婆才恍然大悟，趕忙向鄉(xiāng)親們述說(shuō)了乞討老人的許諾。鄉(xiāng)親們一齊擁向老婆婆家，只見(jiàn)婆婆家門上貼著紅紙，院里一堆未燃盡的竹子仍在“啪啪”炸響，屋內(nèi)幾根紅臘燭還發(fā)著余光……欣喜若狂的鄉(xiāng)親們?yōu)閼c賀吉祥的來(lái)臨，紛紛換新衣戴新帽，到親友家道喜問(wèn)好。這件事很快在周圍村里傳開(kāi)了，人們都知道了驅(qū)趕“年”獸的辦法。
Since then the annual New Year's Eve, families paste red couplets, set off firecrackers; household candles Tongming, Shou-more-year-old question. Early in the morning early to go pro-string Daoxi Friends say hello. This custom of the more mass the more widely and became the most solemn of Chinese folk traditional festivals.
從此每年除夕，家家貼紅對(duì)聯(lián)、燃放爆竹；戶戶燭火通明、守更待歲。初一一大早，還要走親串友道喜問(wèn)好。這風(fēng)俗越傳越廣，成了中國(guó)民間最隆重的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日
簡(jiǎn)潔篇：
第一篇： Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a Chinese traditional festival. We also call it the Spring Festival. It is on lunar January 1st.
On New Year’s Eve, all the people sit around the desk and have a big family dinner. There are some vegetables, some fish, some meat, some fruits and some drink like juice, Coke, Pepsi and some nice wine. Overall, this is a good and delicious dinner. After dinner, we always watch TV New Year progammes. We have a wonderful evening on New Year’s Eve.
On the first day of the Spring Festival, most of people get up early and say “happy new year” to each other. For breakfast, people often eat dumplings and baozi. After breakfast, people often make many delicious foods, and children often play cards, computer games and fireworks. On the second and third day, we visit friends and relatives.
Everyone is busy on Chinese New Year, and everyone is happy, too.
第二篇：
The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals, the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western (Gregorian) calendar, so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February.
The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life, and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past, feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed.
第三篇：
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.
During Spring Festival, the most improtant days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.Many customs accompany the Spring Festival.
During Spring Festival time, you can see kinds of decorations.you can go to temple fairs and enjoy superb performances of the dances, stilt-walking and amazing acrobatic shows. so i like it.
詳盡篇：
第一篇：Traditions of Chinese New Year
Before New Year's Eve：
The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the
family reunion dinner. By New Year's Eve, you should have
done the following: Clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year.
Put away all brooms and brushes.
Pay all your debts.
Resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates.
Buy the following:
Red money envelopes,
Oranges and/or tangerines,
Fill a "Cheun hup(a circular red tray separated in eight compartments) with melon seedslotuschocolate coinsnuts etc.
Flowers (especially plum blossoms, peach blossoms, water lilies),
A new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.
Get new dollar bills from the bank. Insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. Now the red envelope is called a lai see or lucky money envelope.
On New Year's Eve：
Get together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.
Pay respect to ancestors and household gods. Acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.
Open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.
On New Year's Day：
Decorate your home with symbols of good fortune. Here are some suggestions:
Colors: Bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).
Fruits: Oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; being fruitful and multiply); persimmons (happiness and wealth).
"Chuen Hup" circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness and continuity).
Flowers: If flowers bloom on New Year's Day, it will be a prosperous year. Red banners or couplets with New Year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.
第二篇
Spring FestivalThe 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.
New Year season lasts for fifteen days. The first week is the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends and family as well as greetings of good luck. The celebrations end on the important and colourful Lantern Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the month. However, Chinese believe that on the third day (年初三) of the Chinese New Year it is not appropriate to visit family and friends, and call the day "chec hao" (赤口), meaning "easy to get into arguments".
The date of the Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Japanese, the Tibetan, the Vietnamese and the pagan Bulgars. Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon (some sources even include New Year's Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days in duration. In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, on a date between January 21 and February 20. In traditional Chinese Culture, Lichun is a solar term marking the start of spring, which usually falls on either February 4 or 5.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes their homes ready for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on New Year's Eve so that good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint. Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets (short phrases) that speak of "happiness," "wealth," "longevity."
Reunion dinner
A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. Fish (魚(yú), yú) is included, but not eaten up completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase 年年有余 (nián nián yǒu yú), which means "may there be surpluses every year", sounds the same as "may there be fish every year", since "yú" is also the pronunciation for 余 ("leftover" or "surplus"). A type of black hair-like algae, pronounced "fat choy" in Cantonese, is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity". Hakka will serve kiu nyuk (扣肉) and ngiong tiu fu. Because certain things and/or food sound alike to certain Chinese well-wishes, the belief is that having one will lead to the other.
An illustration of what a Chinese Ancient Gold Nugget might look like.Most Northerners serve dumplings as the main dish in this festive season, although most Chinese around the world would do the same because it is believed that dumplings (餃子, jiǎo zi) are wrapped in the semblance of Chinese gold nuggets (illustrated) used in ancient China. This gold nugget is called 金元寶 (jin yuán bǎo). However, mandarin oranges are the most popular and most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year amongst Chinese simply because of, inter alia, how the name of the fruit is phonetically similar to gold -- jin ju (金橘子) or kam (金) in Cantonese.
Clothing
Red clothing is worn throughout the Chinese New Year, as red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Also, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize starting anew in the new year.
Money Given to Children
On the night of Chuxi, or the night before the first day of new years, parents or grandparents usually put "yā suì qián" (壓歲錢) or "end of year money" under children's pillows. The most common story of the origin of this tradition is below:
There once was a monster called Sui(祟) that would come on the night of Chuxi and touch the forehead of sleeping children. Once touched, normal children turned insane and smart children were then mentally retarded. To avoid this, parents usually stayed up the whole to watch out for Sui (守祟, or 守歲). One couple loved their bright son very much, and decided one year to keep the son awake by having him playing with coins wrapped in red paper. However, both the parents and the boy eventually fell asleep, with the paper wrapped coins fallen beside the boy's pillow. At night, Sui came in looking for the boy. The parents woke up, but it was too late for them to stop Sui. As Sui got close to the boy, a light flashed from the paper wrapped coins, scarying Sui away.
The next day, the story was known through out the village, and people believed that having coins wrapped in red paper would keep Sui away on Chuxi. Therefore it became a tradition to put money by the pillows of children on the night of Chuxi, and the money is then called Ya Sui Qian 壓祟錢, or Sui Suppressing Money. And since Sui(祟) sounds similar to the word 歲 which means year, it is then called 壓歲錢, for people believed this money would keep their children safe for the rest of the year.
關(guān)于春節(jié)的單詞：
春節(jié) The Spring Festival
農(nóng)歷 lunar calendar
正月 lunar January; the first month by lunar calendar
除夕 New Year's Eve; eve of lunar New Year
初一 the beginning of New Year
元宵節(jié) The Lantern Festival
過(guò)年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival
對(duì)聯(lián) poetic couplet: two successive rhyming lines in poetry
春聯(lián) Spring Festival couplets
剪紙 paper-cuts
年畫 New Year paintings
買年貨 special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping
敬酒 propose a toast
燈籠 lantern: a portable light
煙花 fireworks
爆竹 firecrackers (People scare off evil spirits and ghosts with the loud pop.)
紅包 red packets (cash wrapped up in red paper, symbolize fortune and wealth in the coming year.)
舞獅 lion dance (The lion is believed to be able to dispel evil and bring good luck.)
舞龍 dragon dance (to expect good weather and good harvests)
戲曲 traditional opera
雜耍 variety show; vaudeville
燈謎 riddles written on lanterns
燈會(huì) exhibit of lanterns
守歲 staying-up
拜年 pay New Year's call; give New Year's greetings; New Year's visit
禁忌 taboo
去晦氣 get rid of the ill- fortune
祭祖宗 offer sacrifices to one's ancestors
壓歲錢 gift money; money given to children as a lunar New Year gift
辭舊歲 bid farewell to the old year
掃房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaning
The Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, also know as the lunar New Year, is the greatest traditional festival. It is usually a time between late January or early February, which means rest and relaxation between winter and spring after a year's toil, and means celebration as well. Before the Spring Festival, people clean their house, put red coupletson their gates, and set off firecrackers, according to fairy tale, for driving a demon, named Nian away. On the eve of the Spring Festival, a get-together banquet is a must, and the most popular food is Dumpling, which is supposed to bring good fortune. On the first day of the new year, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and congratulations wishing each other lucky during the new year.
Spring Festival
The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later
Click here for more words about the Spring Festival
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（滿月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵節(jié)）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月運(yùn)周期）is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （閏年）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（萬(wàn)物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（儀式）, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
The Origin of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said, "I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
Traditional New Year Foods
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed（蘆葦）leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth."Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.
Finally，hope you have a good time during the New Year's Eve
終武13382693900： 給外國(guó)朋友的一篇關(guān)于介紹春節(jié)的信50詞左右 -
朔州市有效： ______ Dear ??? The Spring Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China. People celebrate it in many different ways such as wearing new clothes during the festival and having delicious food. Kids get red envelops, they set fireckrackers out in the ...
終武13382693900： 假如我是李華,寫信給美國(guó)的筆友Jack,他對(duì)中國(guó)春節(jié)很感興趣,我要介紹給他!英語(yǔ)作文! -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Dear Jack,I'm very glad that you are interested in the Spring Festival In China,and I'd like to introduce something about it to you.Falling on the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar cal...
終武13382693900： 近年來(lái)我國(guó)的發(fā)展世人矚目,中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化正越來(lái)春節(jié),向外國(guó)朋友介紹我國(guó)的春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文 -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] 隨著中國(guó)綜合國(guó)力的不斷提升,中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日——春節(jié),也逐漸得到了世界各國(guó)的認(rèn)同和重視,比如韓國(guó)、越南也同中國(guó)一樣在同一天過(guò)春節(jié),但三個(gè)國(guó)家的春節(jié)習(xí)俗卻各不相同.中國(guó)是對(duì)聯(lián)、爆竹、餃子;韓國(guó)是祭拜祖先、米糕湯;越南是祭祖祭...
終武13382693900： 英語(yǔ)作文假設(shè)一批外國(guó)友人要在中國(guó)過(guò)春節(jié),他們想了解我國(guó)過(guò)春節(jié)的情況.請(qǐng)你根據(jù)下面的要點(diǎn)寫一篇英語(yǔ)短文.1春節(jié)是中國(guó)的重要節(jié)日.2節(jié)前人們要大掃除.... -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Spring Festival is the most Chinese Festival..Before the festival ,people always do cleaning All of the famliy will have dinner together.Children will get the money from the older people剩下的打不下
終武13382693900： 請(qǐng)根據(jù)下面的漢語(yǔ)提示以The Spring Festival為題 用英語(yǔ)向英國(guó)朋友Peter介紹中國(guó)春節(jié)的習(xí)俗.????? 1.春節(jié),又叫做陰歷年,是中國(guó)最重要的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日... -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Dear PeterI am glad to introduce The Spring Festival for you.The Spring Festival also known as the lunar New Year is the most important traditional festival in China. According to Chinese legends Nian was originally the name of a monster.On the eve...
終武13382693900： 求英文寫作,寫給美國(guó)朋友SAM的E - MAIL 介紹中國(guó)春節(jié)的習(xí)俗 -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Dear SAM:Very glad to receive your letter.You are asking me about the Spring Festival.I will introduce itsSpring Festival is a traditional day for the Chinese people to get together besides The Mid-A...
終武13382693900： 向外國(guó)人介紹中國(guó)如何過(guò)春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文 -
朔州市有效： ______ 1)春節(jié)時(shí)中國(guó)最重大的節(jié)日,是全家團(tuán)聚的時(shí)刻; 1) the biggest festival in China, Spring Festival is family reunion of the moment; 2)春節(jié)前大家忙著買春節(jié)禮物,打掃衛(wèi)生; 2) before the Spring Festival everybody busy buy Spring Festival ...
終武13382693900： 英語(yǔ)作文寫給我國(guó)外朋友,關(guān)于節(jié)日方面的內(nèi)容,并加翻譯 -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Spring Festival My best festival is Spring Festival.It is in Janurary or February.It is the most important festival for the Chinese ... spring festival very much.It's my favourite holiday. 春節(jié) 我的最好的節(jié)日是春節(jié).它是在一月或二月.這是最重要的節(jié)日是中國(guó)人....
終武13382693900： 假如你是李明,以電子郵件的形式寫給美國(guó)朋友Turner介紹中國(guó)人如何慶祝春節(jié)的英語(yǔ)小短文.40詞左右 -
朔州市有效： ______[答案] Dear Turner, You asked me how to kill my time these days in your last mail,Do you remember the Lunar New Year's Eve in China.Yes,it is the Lunar New Year's Eve after 6 days, After the Lunar New Year's Eve,it is Chinese Spring Festrival,the most ...
終武13382693900： 高中生怎么用英語(yǔ)寫一篇向外國(guó)人介紹中國(guó)的春節(jié)作文 -
朔州市有效： ______ Chinese New Year is the most important festival for Chinese people all over the world. It is also called the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year. The exact date of the Spring Festival on the Western calendar changes from year to year. However, ...
The Spring Festival, also know as the lunar New Year, is the greatest traditional festival. It is usually a time between late January or early February, which means rest and relaxation between winter and spring after a year's toil, and means celebration as well. Before the Spring Festival, people clean their house, put red coupletson their gates, and set off firecrackers, according to fairy tale, for driving a demon, named Nian away. On the eve of the Spring Festival, a get-together banquet is a must, and the most popular food is Dumpling, which is supposed to bring good fortune. On the first day of the new year, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and congratulations wishing each other lucky during the new year.
Spring Festival
The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later
Click here for more words about the Spring Festival
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（滿月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵節(jié)）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月運(yùn)周期）is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （閏年）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（萬(wàn)物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（儀式）, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
The Origin of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said, "I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
Traditional New Year Foods
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed（蘆葦）leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth."Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.
Finally，hope you have a good time during the New Year's Eve (*^__^*) 嘻嘻……
According to the briefing, according to legend there is a Chinese ancient times called the "years" of the monster, the first long tentacles, unusually ferocious. "Year" for many years hiding the sea, only to climb up every New Year's Eve shore, devouring livestock harm human life. Therefore, every New Year's Eve that day, the village young people Walled villages fled to the mountains, to escape the "year" animal damage.
據(jù)介紹，相傳中國(guó)古時(shí)候有一種叫“年”的怪獸，頭長(zhǎng)觸角，兇猛異常。“年”長(zhǎng)年深居海底，每到除夕才爬上岸，吞食牲畜傷害人命。因此，每到除夕這天，村村寨寨的人們扶老攜幼逃往深山，以躲避“年”獸的傷害。
This Year's Eve, Peach Blossom Village, young people are the mountain refuge, from a village outside begging the elderly, saw hiscrutches, arm ride capsule bag, silver to be graceful, head if Lang stars. Some villagers sealed windows locked, and some to pack up and get some Thunbergia sheep, everywhere people shouting, scene of a panic rush. At this time, who determined to take care of the elderly people begging. Village head only an old lady to the elderly more food, and urged him to speed up the mountain to escape the "Year" beast, the old man smiled stroking beard: mother-in-law if I stay at home one night, I have the "year" removed the animal. Head scared the old lady look at, to see him mental healthy, bearing out of the ordinary. She is still continuing to persuade, begging people laugh instead of the phrase. Mother-in-law no option but to leave home and go up the mountain refuge.
這年除夕，桃花村的人們正扶老攜幼上山避難，從村外來(lái)了個(gè)乞討的老人，只見(jiàn)他手拄拐杖，臂搭袋囊，銀須飄逸，目若朗星。鄉(xiāng)親們有的封窗鎖門，有的收拾行裝，有的牽牛趕羊，到處人喊馬嘶，一片匆忙恐慌景象。這時(shí)，誰(shuí)還有心關(guān)照這位乞討的老人。只有村東頭一位老婆婆給了老人些食物，并勸他快上山躲避“年” 獸，那老人捋髯笑道：婆婆若讓我在家呆一夜，我一定把“年”獸攆走。老婆婆驚目細(xì)看，見(jiàn)他鶴發(fā)童顏、精神矍鑠，氣宇不凡。可她仍然繼續(xù)勸說(shuō)，乞討老人笑而不語(yǔ)。婆婆無(wú)奈，只好撇下家，上山避難去了。
The middle of the night, "years" to break into the village of animals. It found that the village atmosphere, unlike in previous years: the first lady Village home, the door paste big red, brightly lit candles inside the house. "Year" all animalsa bang. "Year" towards mother-in-law home glower moment, then head over the pastforward. Almost at the entrance to the hospital from a sudden "bang flap" sound of bombing, "year" every tremble, and then move forward together a dare. In fact, "year" fear red flames and炸響. At this time, opening the door to let mother-in-law's house, wearing only a hospital Dahongpao elderly laughter. "Year" scaring the daylights out, embarrassed fled the spurt.
半夜時(shí)分，“年”獸闖進(jìn)村。它發(fā)現(xiàn)村里氣氛與往年不同：村東頭老婆婆家，門貼大紅紙，屋內(nèi)燭火通明。“年”獸渾身一抖，怪叫了一聲。“年”朝婆婆家怒視片刻，隨即狂叫著撲過(guò)去。將近門口時(shí)，院內(nèi)突然傳來(lái)“砰砰啪啪”的炸響聲，“年”渾身戰(zhàn)栗，再不敢往前湊了。原來(lái)，“年”最怕紅色、火光和炸響。這時(shí)，婆婆的家門大開(kāi)，只見(jiàn)院內(nèi)一位身披紅袍的老人在哈哈大笑。“年”大驚失色，狼狽逃躥了。
The next day is the first day, people who sought refuge back safe and sound very surprised to see the village. At this time, the old lady came before, and hastened to the villagers described the promise of the elderly begging. Together villagers over to the old lady, and mother-in-law saw the door close to the red paper, yard pile of bamboo is still unburned "flap"炸響inside several red candles also issued a Yu ... ... joyvillagers to celebrate the auspicious arrival of their new clothes to wear for a new hat, say hello to friends and relatives at home Daoxi. This matter quickly spread around the village, people are aware of the expulsion of "years" beast approach.
第二天是正月初一，避難回來(lái)的人們見(jiàn)村里安然無(wú)恙十分驚奇。這時(shí)，老婆婆才恍然大悟，趕忙向鄉(xiāng)親們述說(shuō)了乞討老人的許諾。鄉(xiāng)親們一齊擁向老婆婆家，只見(jiàn)婆婆家門上貼著紅紙，院里一堆未燃盡的竹子仍在“啪啪”炸響，屋內(nèi)幾根紅臘燭還發(fā)著余光……欣喜若狂的鄉(xiāng)親們?yōu)閼c賀吉祥的來(lái)臨，紛紛換新衣戴新帽，到親友家道喜問(wèn)好。這件事很快在周圍村里傳開(kāi)了，人們都知道了驅(qū)趕“年”獸的辦法。
Since then the annual New Year's Eve, families paste red couplets, set off firecrackers; household candles Tongming, Shou-more-year-old question. Early in the morning early to go pro-string Daoxi Friends say hello. This custom of the more mass the more widely and became the most solemn of Chinese folk traditional festivals.
從此每年除夕，家家貼紅對(duì)聯(lián)、燃放爆竹；戶戶燭火通明、守更待歲。初一一大早，還要走親串友道喜問(wèn)好。這風(fēng)俗越傳越廣，成了中國(guó)民間最隆重的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日
簡(jiǎn)潔篇：
第一篇： Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a Chinese traditional festival. We also call it the Spring Festival. It is on lunar January 1st.
On New Year’s Eve, all the people sit around the desk and have a big family dinner. There are some vegetables, some fish, some meat, some fruits and some drink like juice, Coke, Pepsi and some nice wine. Overall, this is a good and delicious dinner. After dinner, we always watch TV New Year progammes. We have a wonderful evening on New Year’s Eve.
On the first day of the Spring Festival, most of people get up early and say “happy new year” to each other. For breakfast, people often eat dumplings and baozi. After breakfast, people often make many delicious foods, and children often play cards, computer games and fireworks. On the second and third day, we visit friends and relatives.
Everyone is busy on Chinese New Year, and everyone is happy, too.
第二篇：
The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals, the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western (Gregorian) calendar, so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February.
The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life, and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past, feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed.
第三篇：
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.
During Spring Festival, the most improtant days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.Many customs accompany the Spring Festival.
During Spring Festival time, you can see kinds of decorations.you can go to temple fairs and enjoy superb performances of the dances, stilt-walking and amazing acrobatic shows. so i like it.
詳盡篇：
第一篇：Traditions of Chinese New Year
Before New Year's Eve：
The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the
family reunion dinner. By New Year's Eve, you should have
done the following: Clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year.
Put away all brooms and brushes.
Pay all your debts.
Resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates.
Buy the following:
Red money envelopes,
Oranges and/or tangerines,
Fill a "Cheun hup(a circular red tray separated in eight compartments) with melon seedslotuschocolate coinsnuts etc.
Flowers (especially plum blossoms, peach blossoms, water lilies),
A new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.
Get new dollar bills from the bank. Insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. Now the red envelope is called a lai see or lucky money envelope.
On New Year's Eve：
Get together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.
Pay respect to ancestors and household gods. Acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.
Open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.
On New Year's Day：
Decorate your home with symbols of good fortune. Here are some suggestions:
Colors: Bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).
Fruits: Oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; being fruitful and multiply); persimmons (happiness and wealth).
"Chuen Hup" circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness and continuity).
Flowers: If flowers bloom on New Year's Day, it will be a prosperous year. Red banners or couplets with New Year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.
第二篇
Spring FestivalThe 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.
New Year season lasts for fifteen days. The first week is the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends and family as well as greetings of good luck. The celebrations end on the important and colourful Lantern Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the month. However, Chinese believe that on the third day (年初三) of the Chinese New Year it is not appropriate to visit family and friends, and call the day "chec hao" (赤口), meaning "easy to get into arguments".
The date of the Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Japanese, the Tibetan, the Vietnamese and the pagan Bulgars. Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon (some sources even include New Year's Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days in duration. In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, on a date between January 21 and February 20. In traditional Chinese Culture, Lichun is a solar term marking the start of spring, which usually falls on either February 4 or 5.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes their homes ready for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on New Year's Eve so that good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint. Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets (short phrases) that speak of "happiness," "wealth," "longevity."
Reunion dinner
A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. Fish (魚(yú), yú) is included, but not eaten up completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase 年年有余 (nián nián yǒu yú), which means "may there be surpluses every year", sounds the same as "may there be fish every year", since "yú" is also the pronunciation for 余 ("leftover" or "surplus"). A type of black hair-like algae, pronounced "fat choy" in Cantonese, is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity". Hakka will serve kiu nyuk (扣肉) and ngiong tiu fu. Because certain things and/or food sound alike to certain Chinese well-wishes, the belief is that having one will lead to the other.
An illustration of what a Chinese Ancient Gold Nugget might look like.Most Northerners serve dumplings as the main dish in this festive season, although most Chinese around the world would do the same because it is believed that dumplings (餃子, jiǎo zi) are wrapped in the semblance of Chinese gold nuggets (illustrated) used in ancient China. This gold nugget is called 金元寶 (jin yuán bǎo). However, mandarin oranges are the most popular and most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year amongst Chinese simply because of, inter alia, how the name of the fruit is phonetically similar to gold -- jin ju (金橘子) or kam (金) in Cantonese.
Clothing
Red clothing is worn throughout the Chinese New Year, as red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Also, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize starting anew in the new year.
Money Given to Children
On the night of Chuxi, or the night before the first day of new years, parents or grandparents usually put "yā suì qián" (壓歲錢) or "end of year money" under children's pillows. The most common story of the origin of this tradition is below:
There once was a monster called Sui(祟) that would come on the night of Chuxi and touch the forehead of sleeping children. Once touched, normal children turned insane and smart children were then mentally retarded. To avoid this, parents usually stayed up the whole to watch out for Sui (守祟, or 守歲). One couple loved their bright son very much, and decided one year to keep the son awake by having him playing with coins wrapped in red paper. However, both the parents and the boy eventually fell asleep, with the paper wrapped coins fallen beside the boy's pillow. At night, Sui came in looking for the boy. The parents woke up, but it was too late for them to stop Sui. As Sui got close to the boy, a light flashed from the paper wrapped coins, scarying Sui away.
The next day, the story was known through out the village, and people believed that having coins wrapped in red paper would keep Sui away on Chuxi. Therefore it became a tradition to put money by the pillows of children on the night of Chuxi, and the money is then called Ya Sui Qian 壓祟錢, or Sui Suppressing Money. And since Sui(祟) sounds similar to the word 歲 which means year, it is then called 壓歲錢, for people believed this money would keep their children safe for the rest of the year.
關(guān)于春節(jié)的單詞：
春節(jié) The Spring Festival
農(nóng)歷 lunar calendar
正月 lunar January; the first month by lunar calendar
除夕 New Year's Eve; eve of lunar New Year
初一 the beginning of New Year
元宵節(jié) The Lantern Festival
過(guò)年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival
對(duì)聯(lián) poetic couplet: two successive rhyming lines in poetry
春聯(lián) Spring Festival couplets
剪紙 paper-cuts
年畫 New Year paintings
買年貨 special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping
敬酒 propose a toast
燈籠 lantern: a portable light
煙花 fireworks
爆竹 firecrackers (People scare off evil spirits and ghosts with the loud pop.)
紅包 red packets (cash wrapped up in red paper, symbolize fortune and wealth in the coming year.)
舞獅 lion dance (The lion is believed to be able to dispel evil and bring good luck.)
舞龍 dragon dance (to expect good weather and good harvests)
戲曲 traditional opera
雜耍 variety show; vaudeville
燈謎 riddles written on lanterns
燈會(huì) exhibit of lanterns
守歲 staying-up
拜年 pay New Year's call; give New Year's greetings; New Year's visit
禁忌 taboo
去晦氣 get rid of the ill- fortune
祭祖宗 offer sacrifices to one's ancestors
壓歲錢 gift money; money given to children as a lunar New Year gift
辭舊歲 bid farewell to the old year
掃房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaning
The Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, also know as the lunar New Year, is the greatest traditional festival. It is usually a time between late January or early February, which means rest and relaxation between winter and spring after a year's toil, and means celebration as well. Before the Spring Festival, people clean their house, put red coupletson their gates, and set off firecrackers, according to fairy tale, for driving a demon, named Nian away. On the eve of the Spring Festival, a get-together banquet is a must, and the most popular food is Dumpling, which is supposed to bring good fortune. On the first day of the new year, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and congratulations wishing each other lucky during the new year.
Spring Festival
The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later
Click here for more words about the Spring Festival
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（滿月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵節(jié)）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月運(yùn)周期）is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （閏年）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（萬(wàn)物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（儀式）, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
The Origin of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said, "I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
Traditional New Year Foods
Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.
On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them.
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed（蘆葦）leaves), another popular delicacy.
In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time was meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.
The 15-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth."Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.
Finally，hope you have a good time during the New Year's Eve
英語(yǔ)作文:向外國(guó)來(lái)賓介紹我國(guó)春節(jié)的情況
1. The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is celebrated on the first day of the first lunar month.2. Chinese people look forward to this joyous occasion more than any other festival.3. During the Spring Festival, families gather to share meals and enjoy each other...
用英語(yǔ)怎么介紹春節(jié)作文
1. 春節(jié)的簡(jiǎn)介春節(jié)：the Spring Festival陰歷月：lunar month返鄉(xiāng)的人：home returnee The Spring Festival, falling on the first day of the first lunar month, is the most important festival for the Chinese people. It's the time when all family members get together to celebrate it. Peo...
英語(yǔ)作文介紹春節(jié)
春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文篇1：New Year's Eve is my favorite day. On this day, I can stay up late, enjoy delicious food, receive red envelopes, and watch TV for a long time. It's truly a happy day.除夕夜是我最喜歡的一天。這一天我可以熬夜，享受美食，收到紅包，還可以長(zhǎng)時(shí)間看電視，真...
英語(yǔ)作文:向外國(guó)來(lái)賓介紹我國(guó)春節(jié)的情況
The Happy Spring Festival Spring festival is on the first day of the first lunar month. Chinese people most like the Spring Festival. During Spring Festival, Chinese people like having meals with their families, playing fireworks in the open air. My sisters and I played fireworks on...
我要寫一篇英文作文向外教介紹春節(jié),150到200字…高中水平
Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.Many customs accompany the Spring Festival.During Spring Festival time， you can see kinds of decorations.you can go to temple fairs and enjoy superb performances of the dances， stilt-walking and amazing acrobatic shows.so i like it ....
英語(yǔ)作文.寫一封信給你的筆友TOM介紹中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日春節(jié)以及你的打算...
Spring Festival Gala on TV. At midnight，they set off fireworks to welcome the new year. During the festival，kids get lucky money from old people. People visit their relatives and friends. They wish each a happy year and good luck. How happy we are.Best wishes！Yours，Anna ...
給美國(guó)的筆友介紹春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文?
給美國(guó)的筆友介紹春節(jié)的英語(yǔ)作文1 Dear Tom I am very happy to receive your letter. I am fine these days but a bit busy. I am always busy with my study and there are lots of homework to do every day. I work hard and I am interested in all the subjects so I can alwasy ...
英語(yǔ)作文介紹春節(jié)的 40詞
overseas, CNY is becoming more and more popular around the world. 春節(jié)是中國(guó)最重要的節(jié)日之一,就像西方的圣誕節(jié). 每到春節(jié)來(lái)臨,人們都要設(shè)法回家與家人團(tuán)聚. 在北方,吃餃子是必不可少的,而在南方省份,人們喜歡舞獅舞龍. 都很好看. 因?yàn)楹芏嗟闹袊?guó)人生活在海外,春節(jié)在世界上也越來(lái)越流行 ...
給一位朋友介紹關(guān)于春節(jié)的信 英語(yǔ)作文
Dear Lily:I am your friend Lucy,I am in china .The Spring Festival， Chinese New Year，is the most important festival for all of us. All family members get together on New Year'Eve to have a big meal.At the same time， everyone celebrates to each other.At about 12 o'...
向你的朋友介紹一下春節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文40詞
The spring festival,chinese New year, is the most important festival for alla of us. All family numbers get together on New year 'eve to have a big meat.At the same time everyonecelebrates to each other. At about 12o' clock.The some parents and children light crackers.The ...
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