用英語介紹元宵節的來歷和習俗,傳播中國傳統文化

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元宵節的來歷和習俗

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.

元宵節在農曆正月十五，通常是公曆二月或三月，早在我國西漢時期（公元前206年——公元25年）就成為一個重要節日了。

This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grandfestival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.

這一天重要的活動就是看燈啦。早在公元前206年至公元220年的漢代，佛教就在中國盛行。有一位帝王聽說僧侶可以看到舍利，也就是佛被火化後留存在體內的東西，在陰曆的正月十五這一天點燈敬拜佛祖，於是這位帝王就命令這一天在他的宮殿和廟宇裡點燈以表現他對佛祖的尊敬。此後，這項佛教儀式發展成為普通民眾的盛大節日，它的影響力從中原地區一直蔓延到整個中國。

Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.

直到今天，全國上下每年都會過元宵節。不同形狀和大小的燈籠會懸掛在街上，吸引無數的遊人。孩子們會拿著自製的或買來的燈籠在街上閒逛，十分開心。

"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.

「猜燈謎」是節日的核心部分。燈籠的主人會將謎語寫在一張紙條上並貼在燈籠上。如果遊客能解開燈謎，他們就能將紙條拿下來去燈籠的主人那看答案是否正確。如果答案是對的，他們將會得到一份小禮物。這項活動最早在宋朝（公元960-1279）出現，當人們在賞燈的時候開始。由於猜燈謎極具趣味性，又需要動腦筋，所以後來在全社會各階層中收到普遍歡迎。

People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinousrice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan」, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

人們在元宵節的時候會吃元宵，因此這個節日也就叫做元宵節。「元宵」還有另外一個名字—湯圓，用糯米粉做皮，玫瑰花瓣、芝麻、豆醬、棗泥、胡桃肉、乾果、糖和食用油做餡，做成的小面球團。湯圓可以煮、炸或者蒸來吃。吃起來甜甜的，很美味。而且，湯圓在中國和「團圓」這個詞的發音相似，代表著團團圓圓。因此人們吃湯圓會象徵著家庭的團圓、和諧和快樂。

In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

在元宵節的白天裡，會有很多表演節目，例如，舞龍燈、舞獅、採蓮船、扭秧歌、踩高蹺和打鼓。到了晚上，除了華麗的燈籠，煙火也是另一道美麗的風景。很多家庭從春節開始就在放煙火，並且延續到了元宵節。一些本地政府還會組織煙火晚會。在晚上，當新年的第一輪滿月出來後，人們就會被天空中華麗的煙火和明月所陶醉。

每年農曆的一月十五日是中國人的元宵節，它正好在春節之後。
The Lantern Festival is celebrated everywhere on January 15th of the lunar calendar, right after the Spring Festival.Traditionally, the Lantern Festival is a part of the Spring Festival.This day is always the first full moon in the lunar New Year.

中國各地張燈結彩，家家戶戶歌舞遊樂，人們做元宵、放煙火。Across China, people celebrate by hanging up lanterns and festoons, attending dancing and singing performances, making 「Yuan Xiao」 or sweet rice dumplings and lighting fireworks.This is also a continuation of the Spring Festival celebration.On the Lantern Festival night, the moon illuminates the dark sky while many lanterns shine bright colors on the earth.The traditions of viewing decorative lanterns on this night began more than two thousand years ago in the Western Han Dynasty.In the earlier times, those beautiful lanterns were only seen in the imperial palaces.Slowly it evolved into a celebration on the grand scale for the ordinary folks everywhere.在元宵節前許多天，人們就開始忙著用油紙、綢布、竹子和花朵等材料製作各式各樣的燈籠。A few days before the lantern festival, people begin gathering oiled paper, silk cloths, bamboo sticks and flower to make all types of lanterns.Some people go to the lively streets to pick a personal favorite.花燈的主題既有民間傳說，又有節日習俗和各種吉祥物等。The lanterns sometimes come in a series about certain folklore, holiday customs, or lucky mascots.The Lantern Festival is also a romantic holiday.In feudal society, young girls were not allowed to go out freely.But on the night of the Lantern Festival, they were allowed to view the lantern lights in groups.Sometimes couples would go on dates strolling down the streets lit with lantern lights.Today people still invite others to view lanterns together.Across China, the Lantern Festival is celebrated in many different styles.在臨水的地方，人們把做好的蓮花燈放進河裡，讓燈順流而下，帶去自己對已逝親人的思念。In places near water, people put Lotus Lanterns in the river to let them flow down stream, carrying the loss they feel for the relatives that have passed away.In the North, as traditional customs combined with modern science and technology, there evolved the Ice Lantern Festival.天然冰雪與燈光色彩巧妙結合，透過雕塑、造型、建築和造景，成為一個絢麗的冰雪天堂。The combination of the ice and snow with colored lights, carvings, designs, and special scenery yield a spectacular winter paradise.The Lantern Riddle is a special word-game played by the Chinese people.人們不僅製作出各種漂亮的燈籠供大家觀賞，還設計出許多有趣的謎語。The Chinese people not only craft many types of beautiful lanterns for the others to appreciate, but also create many interesting riddles.The traditional riddles are written on the lanterns.現在，人們在燈籠的下面貼上寫了謎語的紙條，供觀燈的人猜。Today, many people glue a slip of paper with the riddle at the bottom of the lanterns for the viewers to solve.Those who solve the riddles correctly will receive a prize from the riddle’s creator.和其他的中國傳統節日一樣，元宵節也有自己的節日食品——「元宵」。Just like China’s other traditional holidays, the Lantern Festival also has its own special dish —「Yuan Xiao」, or sweet dumpling soup.

雖然「元宵」在南北兩地叫法不同，做法也不同，但它們都是用糯米粉做皮兒。Although the sweet dumplings differ in name and recipe from the North and South, they are always made with glutinous rice flour as the outside.The filling is usually composed of different kinds of fruit kernels and sugar.包出來的形狀是一樣的——圓圓的、白白的，因為它和元宵夜的圓月一樣，代表著團圓。The sweet dumplings are always round and white, as it represents the moon on the night of the Lantern Festival.

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