春节习俗(1)

春节习俗•SpringFestivalTerms春节TheSpringFestival农历lunarcalendar正月lunarJanuary;thefirstmonthbylunarcalendar除夕NewYear'sEve;eveoflunarNewYear初一thebeginningofNewYear元宵节TheLanternFestival备年货specialpurchasesfortheSpringFestival看春节联欢晚会TheCCTVNewYear'sGalaTheNewYear’sGalaisavarietyshowheldbyChinaCentralTelevision(CCTV)since1983.ForeveryyearsincethenattheturnoftheLunarNewYear,theprogrambeginsat8:00PMandlastsfiveorsixhours.Itbringslaughtertobillionsofpeople,createsmanypopularwordsandproduceslotsofTVphenomenameritingattention.Forovertwentyyears,itsvaluehasgonefarbeyondavarietyshow.ItisessentialentertainmentfortheChinesebothathomeandabroad.ManyChinesewouldliketowatchthegalawhilehavingthedinneronNewYear’sEve.扫尘SweepingtheDust“Dust”ishomophonicwith“chen”（尘）inChinese,whichmeansoldandpast.Inthisway,“sweepingthedust”beforetheSpringFestivalmeansathoroughcleaningofhousestosweepawaybadluckinthepastyear.Thiscustomshowsagoodwishofputtingawayoldthingstowelcomeanewlife.Inaword,justbeforetheSpringFestivalcomes,everyhouseholdwillgiveathoroughcleaningtobidfarewelltotheoldyearandusherinthenew.贴春联PastingSpringCouplets“TheSpringCouplet”,alsocalled“couplet”and“apairofantitheticalphrases”,isaspecialformofliteratureinChina.TheSpringCoupletiscomposedoftwoantitheticalsentencesonbothsidesofthedoorandahorizontalscrollbearinganinscription,usuallyanauspiciousphrase,abovethegate.Thesentencepastingontherightsideofthedooriscalledthefirstlineofthecoupletandtheoneontheleftthesecondline.OntheeveoftheSpringFestival,everyhouseholdwillpasteondoorsaspringcoupletwrittenonredpapertogiveahappyandprosperousatmosphereoftheFestival.贴窗花和“福”字PastingPaper-cutsand“Up-sidedFu”Paper-cuts,usuallywithauspiciouspatterns,giveahappyandprosperousatmosphereoftheFestivalandexpressthegoodwishesofChinesepeoplelookingforwardtoagoodlife.Inadditiontopastingpaper-cutsonwindows,itiscommonforChinesetopastethecharacter“fu（福）”,bigandsmall,onwalls,doorsanddoorpostsaroundthehouses.“Fu（福）”showspeople’syearningtowardagoodlife.Somepeopleeveninvertthecharacter“fu（福）”tosignifythatblessinghasarrivedbecause“inverted”isahomonymfor“arrive”inChinese.Nowmanykindsofpaper-cutsand“fu（福）”canbeseeninthemarketbeforetheFestival.守岁StayingUpLateonNewYear'sEveThetraditionofstayinguplatetoseeNewYearinoriginatedfromaninterestingfolktale.InancientChinatherelivedamonsternamedYear,whowasveryferocious.YearalwayswentoutfromitsburrowonNewYear’sEvetodevourpeople.Therefore,oneveryNewYear’sEve,everyhouseholdwouldhavesuppertogether.Afterdinner,noonedaredgotosleepandallthefamilymemberswouldsittogether,chattingandemboldeningeachother.GraduallythehabitofstayinguplateonNewYear’sEveisformed.ThusinChina,“celebratingtheSpringFestival”isalsocalled“passingovertheyear(guonian)”.However,nowtherearelessandlesspeopleincitieswhowillstayuplatetoseeNewYearin.贴年画PastingNewYearPrintsThecustomofpastingNewYearPrintsoriginatedfromthetraditionofplacingDoorGodsontheexternaldoorsofhouses.Withthecreationofboardcarvings,NewYearpaintingscoverawiderangeofsubjects.ThemostfamousonesareDoorGods,SurplusYearafterYear,ThreeGodsofBlessing,SalaryandLongevity,AnAbundantHarvestofCrops,ThrivingDomesticAnimalsandCelebratingSpring.FourproducingareasofNewYearPrintareTɑohuɑwuofSuzhou,YɑngliuqingofTianjin,WuqiɑngofHebeiandWeifangofShangdong.NowthetraditionofpastingNewYearpaintingsisstillkeptinruralChina,whileitisseldomfollowedincities.吃饺子HavingJiaoziOnNewYear’sEve,thewholefamilywillsittogethertomakejiaoziandcelebratetheSpringFestival.TheshapeofjiaoziislikegoldingotfromancientChina.Sopeopleeatthemandwishformoneyandtreasure.ThetraditionofhavingjiaoziisveryimportantduringtheSpringFestival.YoucannothaveacompleteSpringFestivalwithouthavingjiaozi.放鞭炮SettingoffFirecrackersThefirecrackerisauniqueproductinChina.InancientChina,thesoundofburningbambootubeswasusedtoscareawaywildanimalsandevilspirits.Withtheinventionofthegunpowder,“firecracker”isalsocalled“鞭炮biānpào”(“炮”inChinesemeansgun)andusedtofosterajoyfulatmosphere.ThefirstthingeveryChinesehouseholddoesistosetofffirecrackersandfireworks,whicharemeanttobidfarewelltotheoldyearandusherinthenew.Inthepastfewyears,suchanactivitywascompletelyorpartiallyforbiddeninbigcitiesincludingBeijingduetofireandpersonalcasualtycausedbyburningfirecrackers.However,someChinesethoughtthataSpringFestivalwithoutfirecrackerswasnotlivelyenoughandtheyburnedfirecrackersbystealth.Soinrecentyears,thebanwascanceledagain.ThisshowsthatburningfirecrackersisaveryimportantactivityduringtheSpringFestival.拜年和压岁钱NewYear'sVisitandGiftMoneyOnthefirstdayoftheChineselunaryear,everybodyputsontheirbestclothesandpaysceremonialcallsontheirrelativesandfriends,wishingthemalltheluckinthecomingyear.Juniorswillgreetseniors,wishingthemhealthandlongevity,whileseniorswillgivejuniorssomegiftmoneyasawishfortheirsafetyinthecomingyear.逛庙会TempleFairTemplefair,usuallyheldoutsidetemples,isakindoffolkcustominChina.DuringtheSpringFestival,templefairisoneofthemostimportantactivities,inwhichtherearesuchperformancesasacrobaticsandWushu,numerouskindsoflocalsnacksandmanykindsofthin