关于元宵的英文介绍

关于元宵的英文介绍

元宵节，又称上元节、小正月、元夕或灯节，是春节 之后的第一
个重要节日，是中国亦是汉字文化圈的地区和海外华人的传统节日之
一。你知道怎么 用英文介绍元宵节吗?现在就带你来看看。
关于元宵节及相关习俗的英语介绍
Popular Chinese name: 元宵节 'first night
festival'
Alternative Chinese name: 上元节 'first first
festival'
Date: Lunar calendar month 1 day 15 (February 22, 2016)
Importance: ends China's most important festival,
Spring Festival
Celebrations: enjoying lanterns, lantern riddles, eating
tangyuan a.k.a. yuanxiao (ball dumplings in soup), lion dances,
dragon dances, et.
History: about 2,000 years
Greeting: Happy Lantern Festival! 元宵节快乐!
The Lantern Festival is Very Important
The Lantern Festival is the last day (traditionally) of
China's most important festival, Spring Festival (春节 Ch
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ūnjié chwn-jyeah a.k.a. the Chinese New Year
festival). After the Lantern Festival, Chinese New Year taboos
are no longer in effect, and all New Year decorations are taken
down.
The Lantern Festival is also the first full moon night in the
Chinese calendar, marking the return of spring and
symbolizing the reunion of family. However, most people
cannot celebrate it with their families, because there is no
public holiday for this festival.
When Did the Lantern Festival Begin?
The Lantern Festival can be traced back to 2,000 years ago.
In the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty
(25–220), Emperor Hanmingdi was an advocate of
Buddhism. He heard that some monks lit lanterns in the
temples to show respect to Buddha on the fifteenth day of the
first lunar month. Therefore, he ordered that all the temples,
households, and royal palaces should light lanterns on that
evening.
This Buddhist custom gradually became a grand festival
among the people.
How Do Chinese Celebrate the Lantern Festival?
According to China's various folk customs, people
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get together on the night of the Lantern Festival to celebrate
with different activities.
As China is a vast country with a long history and diverse
cultures, Lantern Festival customs and activities vary regionally,
including lighting and enjoying (floating, fixed, held, and
flying) lanterns, appreciating the bright full moon, setting off
fireworks, guessing riddles written on lanterns, eating
tangyuan, lion dances, dragon dances, and walking on stilts.
The most important and prevalent customs are enjoying
lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, eating tangyuan, and lion
dances.
Lighting and Watching Lanterns放花灯、看花灯
Lighting and appreciating lanterns is the main activity of
the festival. When the festival comes, lanterns of various
shapes and sizes (traditional globes, fish, dragons, goats! in
2015, up to stories high!) are seen everywhere including
households, shopping malls, parks, and streets, attracting
numerous viewers. Children may hold small lanterns while
walking the streets.
The lanterns' artwork vividly demonstrates
traditional Chinese images, such as fruits, flowers, birds,
animals, people, and buildings.
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In the Taiwanese dialect, the Chinese word for lantern (灯
dēng) is pronounced similarly to (丁 dīng), which means
'a new-born baby boy'. Therefore lighting lanterns
means illuminating the future and giving birth.
Lighting lanterns is a way for people to pray that they will
have smooth futures and express their best wishes for their
families. Women who want to be pregnant would walk under a
hanging lantern praying for a child.
Guessing Lantern Riddles 猜灯谜

Guessing (solving) lantern riddles, starting in the Song
Dynasty (960–1279), is one of the most important and
popular activities of the Lantern Festival. Lantern owners write
riddles on paper notes and pasted them upon the colorful
lanterns. People crowd round to guess the riddles.
If someone thinks they have the right answer, they can
pull the riddle off and go to the lantern owner to check their
answer. If the answer is right, there is usually a small gift as a
prize.
As riddle guessing is interesting and informative, it has
become popular among all social strata.
Lion Dances舞狮子
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The lion dance is one of the most outstanding traditional
folk dances in China. It can be dated back to the Three
Kingdoms Period (220–280).
Ancient people regarded the lion as a symbol of bravery
and strength, and thought that it could drive away evil and
protect people and their livestock. Therefore, lion dances are
performed at important events, especially the Lantern Festival,
to ward off evil and pray for good fortune and safety.
The lion dance requires two highly-trained performers in a
lion suit. One acts as the head and forelegs, and the other the
back and rear legs. Under the guidance of a choreographer,
the "lion" dances to the beat of a drum, gong, and
cymbals. Sometimes they jump, roll, and do difficult acts such
as walking on stilts.
In one lion dance, the "lion" moves from place
to place looking for some green vegetables, in which red
envelopes with money inside are hidden. The acting is very
amusing and spectators enjoy it very much.
Nowadays, the lion dance has spread to many other
countries with overseas Chinese, and it is quite popular in
countries like Malaysia and Singapore. In many Chinese
communities of Europe and America, Chinese people use lion
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dances or dragon dances to celebrate every Spring Festival
and other important events.
Eating Tangyuan (Yuanxiao) 吃汤圆(元宵)
Eating Tangyuan is a very important custom of the Lantern
Festival.
Eating tangyuan is an important custom of the Lantern
Festival. Tangyuan (汤圆 tāngyuán tung-ywen
'soup round') are also called yuanxiao when eaten
for the Lantern Festival, after the festival.
These ball-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice flour,
with different fillings are stuffed inside, usually sweet, such as
white sugar, brown sugar, sesame seeds, peanuts, walnuts,
rose petals, bean paste, and jujube paste, or any combination
of two or three ingredients. Yuanxiao can be boiled, fried, or
steamed, and are customarily served in fermented rice soup,
called tianjiu (甜酒 tián jiǔ tyen-jyoh 'sweet
liquor').
As tangyuan is pronounced similarly to tuanyuan (团圆
twan-ywen 'group round'), which means the
whole family gathering together happily, Chinese people
believe that the round shape of the balls and their bowls
symbolize wholeness and togetherness. Therefore, eating
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tangyuan on the Lantern Festival is a way for Chinese people
to express their best wishes for their family and their future
lives.
It is believed that the custom of eating tangyuan
originated during the Song Dynasty, and became popular
during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing
(1644–1911) periods.
关于元宵节，英语怎么说?
正月是农历的元月，古人称夜为“宵”，所以称正月十五为元宵
节。
正月十五日是一 年中第一个月圆之夜，也是一元复始，在这个大
地回春的夜晚，人们对此加以庆祝，也是庆贺新春的延续 。
元宵节又称为“上元节”。按中国民间的传统，在这天上皓月高
悬的夜晚，人们要点起彩灯 万盏，以示庆贺。出门赏月、燃灯放焰、
喜猜灯谜、共吃元宵，合家团聚、同庆佳节，其乐融融。
下面就向大家介绍一些元宵节常用词语的英文说法：
the Lantern Festival 元宵节
rice glue ball 元宵
glutinous rice 糯米
lionsdragons dancing 舞龙舞狮
guess lantern riddles 猜灯谜
play couplets game 对对联
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enjoy beautiful lanterns 赏花灯
snuff 灯花
exhibit of lanterns 灯会
dragon lantern dancing 耍龙灯
walking on stilts 踩高跷
land boat dancing 划旱船
yangkoyangge dance 扭秧歌
beating drums while dancing 打太平鼓
drum dance 腰鼓舞
fireworks party 焰火大会
traditional opera 戏曲
variety showvaudeville 杂耍
Lantern Festival's temple fair 元宵庙会
colored lanterns' temple fair 彩灯庙会
元宵节

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