春節(jié)習(xí)俗（三）

The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and also the most important one of the whole year. Through the evolvement of thousands of years, a series of customs are spreading far and wide.

春節(jié)是中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的節(jié)日也是全年中最重要的節(jié)日。幾千年來(lái)，一系列的習(xí)俗在四面八方蔓延開(kāi)來(lái)。

掃塵 Sweeping the Dust

"Dust" is homophonic with "chen"（塵）in Chinese, which means old and past. In this way, “sweeping the dust” before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life. In a word, just before the Spring Festival comes, every household will give a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new.

"Dust"與“塵”是諧音（塵在漢語(yǔ)中的意思是舊的和過(guò)去的）。這樣，“在春節(jié)前掃塵”是指徹底清潔房屋掃除過(guò)去一年的厄運(yùn)。此習(xí)俗表達(dá)了收拾舊事物，歡迎新生活的美好愿望?？傊?，就在春節(jié)到來(lái)之前，為了告別舊年迎接新年，家家戶(hù)戶(hù)都會(huì)徹底打掃一下房屋

貼春聯(lián) Pasting Spring Couplets

“The Spring Couplet”, also called “couplet” and “a pair of antithetical phrases”, is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription, usually an auspicious phrase, above the gate. The sentence pasting on the right side of the door is called the first line of the couplet and the one on the left the second line. On the eve of the Spring Festival, every household will paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival. In the past, the Chinese usually wrote their own spring couplet with a brush or asked others to do for them, while nowadays, it is common for people to buy the printed spring couplet in the market.

“春聯(lián)”也被稱(chēng)為和“對(duì)聯(lián)”對(duì)立的一對(duì)短語(yǔ)，在中國(guó)是一種特殊的文學(xué)形式。春聯(lián)是由貼在門(mén)口兩側(cè)兩組對(duì)立的句子組成，在門(mén)上面的橫批通常是一個(gè)吉祥的短語(yǔ)。貼在門(mén)右側(cè)的句子被稱(chēng)作對(duì)聯(lián)的上聯(lián)，左側(cè)的為下聯(lián)。除夕那天，每家都會(huì)在門(mén)上貼上紅紙寫(xiě)的春聯(lián)，傳遞出節(jié)日喜慶和熱鬧的氣氛。在過(guò)去，中國(guó)人通常用毛筆自己寫(xiě)春聯(lián)或者請(qǐng)別人寫(xiě)春聯(lián)，而現(xiàn)在，人們普遍在市場(chǎng)上買(mǎi)印刷好的春聯(lián)。

貼窗花和“福”字 Pasting Paper-cuts and “Up-sided Fu”

Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious patterns, give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows, it is common for Chinese to paste the character “fu（福）”, big and small, on walls, doors and doorposts around the houses. “Fu（福）” shows people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character “fu（福）” to signify that blessing has arrived because “inverted” is a homonym for “arrive” in Chinese. Now many kinds of paper-cuts and “fu（福）” can be seen in the market before the Festival.

通常帶有吉祥圖案的窗花傳遞節(jié)日喜慶和熱鬧的氣氛和表達(dá)中國(guó)人期待幸福生活的美好愿望。除了貼窗花，在墻上，門(mén)上和房子周?chē)拈T(mén)框上貼大小福字是中國(guó)人表達(dá)對(duì)美好生活渴望的普遍習(xí)俗。一些人甚至倒貼福字來(lái)表示福到了，因?yàn)樵跐h語(yǔ)中“倒”是“到”的諧音?，F(xiàn)在在春節(jié)前的市場(chǎng)上隨處可見(jiàn)各種各樣的窗花和福字。

守歲 Staying Up Late on New Year's Eve

The tradition of staying up late to see New Year in originated from an interesting folk tale. In ancient China there lived a monster named Year, who was very ferocious. Year always went out from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to devour people. Therefore, on every New Year’s Eve, every household would have supper together. After dinner, no one dared go to sleep and all the family members would sit together, chatting and emboldening each other. Gradually the habit of staying up late on New Year’s Eve is formed. Thus in China, “celebrating the Spring Festival” is also called “passing over the year (guo nian)”. However, now there are less and less people in cities who will stay up late to see New Year in.

守歲的傳統(tǒng)源自于一個(gè)有趣的民間故事。在中國(guó)古代有一個(gè)叫作‘年’的兇猛怪物，在除夕夜‘年’會(huì)從地洞里出來(lái)吃人。因此在除夕夜，每家每戶(hù)都會(huì)一起吃晚飯，晚飯以后沒(méi)人敢睡覺(jué)，所有的家庭成員會(huì)坐在一起聊天互相壯膽。逐漸在除夕夜守歲的習(xí)慣形成了，因此在中國(guó)，慶祝春節(jié)也被叫作過(guò)年。然而在城市里很少有人以守歲來(lái)歡迎新年。

貼年畫(huà) Pasting New Year Prints

The custom of pasting New Year Prints originated from the tradition of placing Door Gods on the external doors of houses. With the creation of board carvings, New Year paintings cover a wide range of subjects. The most famous ones are Door Gods, Surplus Year after Year, Three Gods of Blessing, Salary and Longevity, An Abundant Harvest of Crops, Thriving Domestic Animals and Celebrating Spring. Four producing areas of New Year Print are Tɑohuɑwu of Suzhou, Yɑngliuqing of Tianjin, Wuqiɑng of Hebei and Weifang of Shangdong. Now the tradition of pasting New Year paintings is still kept in rural China, while it is seldom followed in cities.

貼年畫(huà)的風(fēng)俗源自于把房子外面的門(mén)上貼門(mén)神的傳統(tǒng)。隨著木質(zhì)雕刻品的出現(xiàn)，年畫(huà)包含了更廣泛的主題，最出名的就是門(mén)神，三大神-福神薪神和壽神，莊稼豐收，家畜興旺，和慶祝春節(jié)。年畫(huà)的四大產(chǎn)地分別是蘇州桃花塢，天津楊柳青，河北武強(qiáng)和山東濰坊?，F(xiàn)在中國(guó)農(nóng)村仍然保持著貼年畫(huà)的傳統(tǒng)，而在城市里很少有人貼年畫(huà)。

吃餃子 Having Jiaozi

On New Year’s Eve, the whole family will sit together to make jiaozi and celebrate the Spring Festival. The shape of jiaozi is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure. The tradition of having jiaozi is very important during the Spring Festival. You cannot have a complete Spring Festival without having jiaozi. (See page 82 for more information about “jiaozi”)

在除夕那天，全家人會(huì)坐在一起包餃子慶祝春節(jié)。餃子的形狀像中國(guó)古代的金元寶，因此人們吃餃子以此來(lái)希望財(cái)富到來(lái)。在春節(jié)期間吃餃子是很重要的傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗。如果沒(méi)有吃餃子，你將不能擁有一個(gè)完整的春節(jié)。

看春節(jié)聯(lián)歡晚會(huì) The CCTV New Year's Gala

The New Year’s Gala is a variety show held by China Central Television (CCTV) since 1983. For every year since then at the turn of the Lunar New Year, the program begins at 8:00PM and lasts five or six hours. It brings laughter to billions of people, creates many popular words and produces lots of TV phenomena meriting attention. For over twenty years, its value has gone far beyond a variety show. It is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. Many Chinese would like to watch the gala while having the dinner on New Year’s Eve.

新年聯(lián)歡晚會(huì)是自1983年以來(lái)中央電視臺(tái)舉辦的綜藝節(jié)目。從那時(shí)候起每年在農(nóng)歷新年交替的時(shí)候，晚上八點(diǎn)節(jié)目開(kāi)始并持續(xù)五六個(gè)小時(shí)左右，春節(jié)晚會(huì)給數(shù)億人帶來(lái)了笑聲，創(chuàng)造了許多流行詞匯和值得關(guān)注的許多電視現(xiàn)象。20多年以來(lái)，它的價(jià)值已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了文藝晚會(huì)。對(duì)于國(guó)內(nèi)外的中國(guó)人都是非常必要的娛樂(lè)活動(dòng)，許多中國(guó)人想一邊吃除夕晚宴，一邊看春節(jié)聯(lián)歡晚會(huì)。

放鞭炮 Setting off Firecrackers

The firecracker is a unique product in China. In ancient China, the sound of burning bamboo tubes was used to scare away wild animals and evil spirits. With the invention of the gunpowder, “firecracker” is also called “鞭炮biānpào” (“炮” in Chinese means gun) and used to foster a joyful atmosphere. The first thing every Chinese household does is to set off firecrackers and fireworks, which are meant to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new. In the past few years, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities including Beijing due to fire and personal casualty caused by burning firecrackers. However, some Chinese thought that a Spring Festival without firecrackers was not lively enough and they burned firecrackers by stealth. So in recent years, the ban was canceled again. This shows that burning firecrackers is a very important activity during the Spring Festival.

在中國(guó)爆竹是一件特殊的產(chǎn)品。在中國(guó)古代，燃燒竹管的聲音被用來(lái)嚇走動(dòng)物和惡鬼。隨著火藥的發(fā)明，爆竹也被稱(chēng)作鞭炮，用來(lái)營(yíng)造歡樂(lè)的氣氛。在中國(guó)每家每戶(hù)第一件事要做的就是放煙花爆竹，因?yàn)檫@意味著告別舊年迎接新年。在過(guò)去的幾年中，由于燃燒爆竹所引起的火災(zāi)和個(gè)人傷害在一些包括北京的大城市已經(jīng)完全或者部分禁止放鞭炮了。然而有些中國(guó)人認(rèn)為沒(méi)有煙花的春節(jié)不夠熱鬧和生氣勃勃因此他們偷偷地放鞭炮。因此在近幾年，再次取消了這個(gè)禁令。這表明了在春節(jié)期間放鞭炮是非常重要的活動(dòng)。

拜年和壓歲錢(qián) New Year's Visit and Gift Money

On the first day of the Chinese lunar year, everybody puts on their best clothes and pays ceremonial calls on their relatives and friends, wishing them all the luck in the coming year. Juniors will greet seniors, wishing them health and longevity, while seniors will give juniors some gift money as a wish for their safety in the coming year. When friends meet, they will wish each other happiness and prosperity with a big smile. With the development of the new technology, there is a change on the way of giving New Years greetings. In recent year, it is common to send New Years greetings by such modern means of communication as telephones, emails and text messages.

中國(guó)農(nóng)歷新年的第一天每個(gè)人都會(huì)穿上他們最漂亮的衣服，禮節(jié)性地拜訪親戚和朋友，祝愿他們新的一年中好運(yùn)。小輩會(huì)問(wèn)候老輩，祝福他們健康長(zhǎng)壽，同時(shí)老輩會(huì)給小輩壓歲錢(qián)祝福他們來(lái)年平安。隨著新技術(shù)的發(fā)展，通過(guò)現(xiàn)代通訊手段如電話，發(fā)郵件和短信息等來(lái)送出新年問(wèn)候已經(jīng)非常普遍了。

逛廟會(huì) Temple Fair

Temple fair, usually held outside temples, is a kind of folk custom in China. During the Spring Festival, temple fair is one of the most important activities, in which there are such performances as acrobatics and Wushu, numerous kinds of local snacks and many kinds of things for everyday life. In recent years, the temple fair has become a place for people to appreciate the traditional art and experience the traditional life.

廟會(huì)通常在寺廟外舉行，是中國(guó)的一種民間習(xí)俗。在春節(jié)期間，逛廟會(huì)是一種最重要的活動(dòng)之一，在廟會(huì)上有雜技和武術(shù)表演，數(shù)不清的地方小吃和日常生活中的許多小玩意。近幾年來(lái)，廟會(huì)已經(jīng)成了人們欣賞傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)和體驗(yàn)傳統(tǒng)生活的地方。

Festival Greetings

Traditional Festival Greetings:

恭賀新禧 | Happy New Year

吉祥如意 | Everything Goes Well

恭喜發(fā)財(cái) | Wishing You Prosperity

年年有余 | Surplus Year after Year

歲歲平安 | Peace All Year Round

新春大吉 | Good Luck in the New Year

In the past two years, it has become a vogue for relatives and friends to send short messages to greet each other during the Spring Festival. With best wishes, the warm greetings of text messages give a happy and joyful atmosphere of the Festival.

Festival Greetings via Text Message

① 送你一件外套，前面是平安，后面是幸福，領(lǐng)子是吉祥，袖子是如意，扣子是快樂(lè)，口袋里滿(mǎn)是溫暖，穿上吧，讓它伴你每一天！新春快樂(lè)！

I will give you a coat as a present. The front is safety, the back happiness, the collar auspiciousness, the sleeves satisfaction, the buttons enjoyment and the pockets warmness. Wear every day. Wish you a happy New Year.

② 新年到了，不打算送給你太多，只給你五千萬(wàn)：千萬(wàn)要快樂(lè)！千萬(wàn)要健康！千萬(wàn)要平安！千萬(wàn)要知足！千萬(wàn)不要忘記我！

As the New Year comes, I will only give you five “do’s” as a present. Do be merry! Do be healthy! Do be safe! Do be satisfied! Do remember me!

 （聽(tīng)力課堂網(wǎng)Vicky翻譯）

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