光棍節(jié)的由來

       Singles Day falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one exclusively for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled 'Singles Day' on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set aside a special day for singles to celebrate their lives. To find out more about this celebration, read on.

　　每年的11月11日是“光棍節(jié)”。節(jié)如其名，這個新鮮的節(jié)日是專門為那些還過著單身生活的人們設立的。我在GOOGLE上搜索一下，驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)中國是世界上唯一一個專門為光棍們設立節(jié)日的國家。來一起了解一下這個節(jié)日吧~

　　Origin of Singles Day 節(jié)日起源

　　Betting 打牌

　　An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong.

　　故事從四個過著單調生活的單身漢說起。他們沒有人結婚，連女朋友都沒有，日子過得無精打采，終日打麻將度過。

　　One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the 'four columns' card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.

　　有一天他們打麻將從早上11點打到了晚上11點。奇妙的是，不管誰贏，都贏在了“四條”上。更加巧合的是，這一天正是11月11號。為了紀念這一天，他們給它命名為“光棍節(jié)”。

        University culture 大學傳統(tǒng)

　　Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name Singles Day because the date is comprised of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.

　　光棍節(jié)最先在90年代的江蘇南京各大高校興起。之所以叫“光棍節(jié)”是因為這一天的日子有四個光棍一樣的“1”。大學生們畢業(yè)了，把這個傳統(tǒng)帶到了社會上，光棍節(jié)就成了時尚青年們的一個特殊節(jié)日。

　　The main way to celebrate Singles Day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it's important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold 'blind date' parties in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives.

　　主流的慶祝方式就是和光棍朋友們一起搓一頓，而且一定要實行AA制。為了脫離單身，人們也會舉辦相親會，介紹單身男女認識。

　　Creative celebration 新奇慶祝

　　For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the middle dot.

　　光棍節(jié)的早上，單身青年們會吃四根有條，代表11.11的四個“1”，再吃一個包子，代表11和11之間的那個點。

　　Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day. Many attend 'blind date' parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning 'single' the four 'ones' of the date can also mean 'only one' as in 'the only one for me.' Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only 'one' in their heart.

　　很多單身朋友選擇在這一天告別單身，一些人參加相親會，一些人則在今天結婚。四個“1”不僅可以代表單身，還可以代表“唯一”，這也成了一些人的愛情告白日。