Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, has more than 4,000 years of history. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for the whole families to get together, which is similar with Christmas Day to the westerners. Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th - 11th century BC), Spring Festival, which celebrates family reunion, is full of rich and colorful activities, and hopes with theadventof spring and flowers blossoming. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.
It comes on the first day of Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for almost half of a month. But in folk custom, this traditional holiday lasts from the 23rd day of the twelfth month to the 15th day of the first month (Lantern Festival) in the lunar calendar. Among these days, the New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year is the peak time. The exact days are different in every year according to the lunar calendar.
It is said that the custom of Spring Festival started in when people offered sacrifice to ancestors in the last month of Chinese lunar calendar. At that time, people prepared the sacrifice by doing thorough cleaning, having bathes and so on. Later, people began to worship differentdeitiesas well on that day. It is the time that almost all the farm works were done and people have free time. The sacrificing time changed according to the farming schedule and was not fixed until the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). The customs of worshipping deities and ancestors remains even though the ceremonies are not as grand as before. It is also the time that spring is coming, so people held all kinds of ceremonies to welcome it.
Preparing the New Year starts 7 days before the New Year’s Eve. According to Chinese lunar calendar, people start to clean the house on Dec. 24, butcher on Dec. 26th and so on. People have certain things to do on each day. These activities will end Jan. 15th of the lunar calendar.
Every family does a thorough house cleaning and purchases enough food, including fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, all kinds of candies and fruits, etc, for the festival period. Also, new clothes must be bought, especially for children. Red scrolls with complementary poetic couplets, one line on each side of the gate, are pasted at every gate. The Chinese character 'Fu' is pasted on the center of the door and paper-cut pictures adorn windows.
The Spring Festival is a start for a new year, so it is regarded as theomenof a year. People have many taboos during this period. Many bad words related to “death”, “broken”, “killing”, “ghost” and “illness” or “sickness” are forbidden during conversations. In some places, there are more specific details. They consider it unlucky if thebarrelof rice is empty,because they think they will have nothing to eat in the next year. Taking medicine is forbidden on this day, otherwise, people will have sick for the whole year and take medicine constantly.
Food during this happy event has its characteristics, which is the representative of Chinese festival food culture. Dumplings and the reunion dinner are indispensable at this time. Cold and hot dishes are all served. Fish is always an important dish then, which expresses people’s hope of having a wealthy year.
In China, different places have their own traditions and activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian and Pingyao are some good places to go if one intends to come during the time period. If one does not want to travel so long, but still want to enjoy the atmosphere of Chinese New Year, the local Chinatown is the best place.
中國的春節,也被稱為農歷新年,迄今已有四千多年的歷史。對于中國人來說,這是規模最大,最重要的傳統節日。就如同西方的圣誕節一樣,春節是一家團聚的日子。春節起源于商朝(公元前11-17世紀),為了慶祝全家團圓和表達對春暖花開的期盼,節日期間會準備豐富多彩的活動。不同地區和不同少數民族人們會用自己獨特的方式慶祝這一傳統節日。
春節從農歷新年第一天開始,幾乎要持續一整個月。但在民間傳統中,這一節日從臘月23日就開始了,直到正月十五(元宵節)。在這些天里,除夕和春節第一天是最熱鬧的時候。根據農歷,每年除夕和春節所在的公歷日期都有所不同。
據說,春節起初源于人們在農歷臘月祭祀先祖,在那期間,人們為了祭祀會做大掃除,沐浴換衣等等。后來人們開始在那一天敬奉神明。春節期間正好各種農耕活動結束,人們有空余時間。最開始的祭祀日期由于農耕活動并不固定,直到漢朝(公元前202年-公元220年)才固定下來。祭祀神明和先祖的傳統延續下來,但并不像以前那樣浩大。春節也是春天的開始,所以人們會舉辦各種儀式迎接春天的到來。
新年的準備工作在除夕前的七天就開始了。根據中國農歷,人們從臘月二十四開始打掃屋子,二十六日殺豬宰羊等等。每一天都有不同的活動,所有這些活動將在正月十五結束。
過年期間,每家每戶都會做大掃除,購買豐富的食物,包括魚肉堅果,水果糖果等。另外,春節必須買新衣服,尤其是給小孩子購買。門上貼上新對聯和福字,窗戶上還要貼上窗花。
春節是新的一年的開始,預示著一年的運氣,所以過年期間有很多禁忌,比如“死”“破”“殺”“鬼”“病”這類字眼是談話中要避免的。在某些地方還有一些特殊的禁忌,比如新年米缸空了不是好兆頭,因為這預示著新的一年將沒東西吃,春節那天也不能吃藥,這會預示著新的一年疾病產生,醫藥不斷。
春節期間的食物也很有特色,代表著中國傳統飲食文化,餃子和團圓飯是不可或缺的,冷盤熱菜都得上,魚也是春節一道重要的菜肴,它代表了人們年年有余的期望。
在中國,不同的地方慶祝春節的方式和傳統各不相同。北京、廣州、西安和平遙是不錯的春節去處。如果國外的朋友不想去這么遠的地方,當地的中國城是感受春節氛圍的好地方。
「標簽: 中學生英語演講稿」
