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贺新春：春节习俗与活动
Customs and Activities of Chinese New Year
其实过年过的不仅是团圆，还有传统， 年前扫房祭灶、年夜饭吃饺子、年后走亲戚逛庙会~ 如果没了这些传统，恐怕只会让人觉得是“新年已到，旧岁未除”哟~ Cleaning before the New Year is a tradition in Chinese culture. The grounds, the walls, and every corner of the house need to be cleaned. In Chinese, “Dust” is a homophone for the word “old” (Chen), thus cleaning means to drive the bad luck or the old things away from the house to get ready for a new start.春节前大扫除是中国文化的一项传统。地面、墙壁以及房子的每个角落都要打扫干净。在汉语中，灰尘的“尘”与陈旧的“陈”发音相同，因此，打扫卫生意味着赶走家中的霉运和旧物，为迎接新年新气象做好准备。After cleaning people will go shopping and buy new clothes for the festival. People in China believe that since this is a year anew they should buy a lot of new things. Purchasing new items symbolizes welcoming new things and getting ready for a new start.打扫完之后，人们会去办年货、买过年穿的新衣服。中国人相信新年就应该买很多新东西。置办新物品代表迎接新气象，为新的开始做好准备。 Couplets are typically pasted on doorways as a part of the festival's celebration. The custom of pasting couplets can be traced back over one thousand years to the Later Shu State (934 - 965). The original form of modern couplets was called “Taofu”, a piece of peach wood protecting against evil without any writing on. In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), the antithetical couplets began to be written on the wood to express people’s good wishes as well as being a decoration. Later, the modern form of couplets appeared replacing peach wood with the red paper. The couplets include antithetical on two sides and a horizontal scroll hanging on the top.贴对联是春节庆祝活动的一部分，这一习俗可以追溯到一千多年前的后蜀时期（公元934年-965年）。现代对联的原型叫做“桃符”，是由一块可以辟邪的桃木制成，而且上面没写任何东西。到了宋代（公元960年-1279年），人们才开始在桃木上写对联来表达自己的美好愿望，同时也把它作为一种装饰品。后来，红纸取代了桃木，现代对联就此出现。对联包括贴在门两边的上联和下联，以及贴在门上部的横批。 The character “Fu”, meaning good fortune or happiness, is used to express people’s good wishes and yearning for the future, so people usually paste it gates or some furniture in the house during the Chinese New Year. Pasting the “Fu” upside down, meaning the arrival of happiness or good fortune, is a widely accepted and popular custom among Chinese people. Other auspicious characters and patterns are added to express good wishes.“福”字寓意好运或者幸福，通常用来表达人们对未来的美好愿望和憧憬。因此，过年时，人们通常把“福”字贴在房门上或者房间内的家具上。将“福”字倒贴，寓意“福”到了（“到”谐音“倒”），是中国人普遍接受并且广为流传的习俗。其他吉利的汉字和图案也会写上借以表达美好祝愿。In the ancient time, this character and the couplets were written by hand, but now, people can buy printed ones in shopping malls or supermarkets. Some shops even present these printed works to customers who buy something in their shops.在古代，“福”字和对联是手写的，然而现在，人们可以在商场或者超市买到印刷版的“福”字和对联。一些商店甚至将印刷版的“福”字和对联赠送给进店购物的顾客。 The most important food during Chinese New Year is the dumpling (jiaozi). Made with flour and stuffed with different fillings, dumplings are usually eaten on the Eve. Because their shape resembles the Yuanbao (a kind of money used in ancient times), dumplings are eaten to bring wealth in the coming year. People wrap coins, candy, peanuts, or chestnuts in some of the dumplings to express different blessing. For example, a coin for wealth, candy for sweet life, peanuts for health and longevity, and chestnuts for vigor. It is also a custom in many parts of China to eat dumplings on Jan. 1st and Jan. 15th of lunar calendar.春节期间最重要的食物就是饺子了。通常，人们会在除夕夜吃饺子，用面粉做饺子皮，再包上不同的馅儿。饺子的形状与元宝（古代的一种货币）十分相似，因此吃饺子寓意新的一年招财进宝。人们会将硬币、糖果、花生或者栗子包在饺子里，表达不同的祝愿，比如硬币代表财源滚滚、糖果寓意生活甜蜜、花生代表健康长寿、栗子寓意活力四射。在中国的很多地方，也有正月初一和正月十五吃饺子的习俗。 The custom of staying up all night dates back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589). In ancient times, after the reunion dinner, family’s members chatted around the stove while waiting for the arrival of the new year. Now they watch CCTV New Year's Gala.守岁的习俗可以追溯到南北朝时期（公元420年-589年）。在古代，吃完团圆饭之后，一家人就围在炉子边上聊天，等待新年的到来，现在，人们会观看中央电视台的春节联欢晚会。 Red envelope, also known as lucky money, is prepared for children by adults and the elderly and given after the reunion dinner. In folk culture, the children will live safe and sound for the whole year if they get lucky money. This custom still remains and the amount of money is increasing. Children use their money to buy books or other school supplies. Some families also save the money for future use or use it to help cultivate in their children the habit of saving.红包，也叫压岁钱，是大人或者老人准备吃完团圆饭后发给孩子们的钱。在民间文化中，如果孩子收到了压岁钱，新的一年他就会平平安安。这个习俗一直延续到现在，压岁钱的数目也在逐年增长。孩子们用压岁钱购买书籍或者其他学习用品，有的家庭也会把压岁钱存起来以后用，或者用压岁钱培养孩子节约的习惯。Visiting Friends and Relatives A special way for people to express good wishes to each other and an important activity during the festival is to visit their friends and relatives. In ancient times younger people had to salute the elderly by kowtowing; today they salute them by offering good wishes. In response, the older generation gives them money wrapped in red paper.“走亲访友”是人们表达对彼此美好祝愿的特殊方式，也是春节期间的一项重要活动。在古代，年轻人要向年长者磕头拜年；今天年轻人用祝福的方式向年长者拜年，作为回礼，年长者会给年轻人红包。Generally speaking, people drop in at relatives and friends' houses, greeting one another with 'Happy New Year'. This custom has not changed. In some rural places, where families have many relatives, this activity lasts for several days. It is impolite to visit someone without a gift. Therefore, special local products, fruits, desserts, wines and other small gifts should be taken when you visit others.人们通常会去往亲戚家和朋友家走亲访友，互祝“过年好”，这个习俗至今仍未改变。在一些农村地区，亲戚多的家庭，这项活动会持续很多天。走亲戚不带礼物是很不礼貌的。因此，走亲戚时一定要带些当地特产、水果、点心、酒水或者其他小礼物。Although busy people choose to send greetings by telephone or e-mail, the old tradition of paying visits is still popular.尽管忙碌的人们选择用打电话或发邮件的方式送出节日问候，但是走亲戚这项传统习俗却依然流行。 Temple fair is another old practice in festival traditions, especially in Beijing. Although they originally were a form of worship connected with temples, now they are more like carnivals and are sometimes held in parks. Traditional cultural performances such as playing diabolo, traditional magic, puppet shows and so on can be seen. Besides, people can buy all kinds of daily using things at very low prices.庙会是另一项古老的节日传统，尤其是在北京。尽管庙会最初是一种与寺庙有关的祭祀仪式，但现在它更像是狂欢节，而且有时也会在公园举行。在庙会上能看到抖空竹、传统戏法和木偶戏等传统文化表演。而且，人们还可以在庙会上低价买到各种各样的日用品。
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