元宵節(jié)的來(lái)歷和習(xí)俗

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.

元宵節(jié)在農(nóng)歷正月十五，通常是公歷二月或三月，早在我國(guó)西漢時(shí)期（公元前206年——公元25年）就成為一個(gè)重要節(jié)日了。

This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grandfestival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.

這一天重要的活動(dòng)就是看燈啦。早在公元前206年至公元220年的漢代，佛教就在中國(guó)盛行。有一位帝王聽說(shuō)僧侶可以看到舍利，也就是佛被火化后留存在體內(nèi)的東西，在陰歷的正月十五這一天點(diǎn)燈敬拜佛祖，于是這位帝王就命令這一天在他的宮殿和廟宇里點(diǎn)燈以表現(xiàn)他對(duì)佛祖的尊敬。此后，這項(xiàng)佛教儀式發(fā)展成為普通民眾的盛大節(jié)日，它的影響力從中原地區(qū)一直蔓延到整個(gè)中國(guó)。

Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited.

直到今天，全國(guó)上下每年都會(huì)過元宵節(jié)。不同形狀和大小的燈籠會(huì)懸掛在街上，吸引無(wú)數(shù)的游人。孩子們會(huì)拿著自制的或買來(lái)的燈籠在街上閑逛，十分開心。

"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.

“猜燈謎”是節(jié)日的核心部分。燈籠的主人會(huì)將謎語(yǔ)寫在一張紙條上并貼在燈籠上。如果游客能解開燈謎，他們就能將紙條拿下來(lái)去燈籠的主人那看答案是否正確。如果答案是對(duì)的，他們將會(huì)得到一份小禮物。這項(xiàng)活動(dòng)最早在宋朝（公元960-1279）出現(xiàn)，當(dāng)人們?cè)谫p燈的時(shí)候開始。由于猜燈謎極具趣味性，又需要?jiǎng)幽X筋，所以后來(lái)在全社會(huì)各階層中收到普遍歡迎。

People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinousrice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

人們?cè)谠?jié)的時(shí)候會(huì)吃元宵，因此這個(gè)節(jié)日也就叫做元宵節(jié)。“元宵”還有另外一個(gè)名字—湯圓，用糯米粉做皮，玫瑰花瓣、芝麻、豆醬、棗泥、胡桃肉、干果、糖和食用油做餡，做成的小面球團(tuán)。湯圓可以煮、炸或者蒸來(lái)吃。吃起來(lái)甜甜的，很美味。而且，湯圓在中國(guó)和“團(tuán)圓”這個(gè)詞的發(fā)音相似，代表著團(tuán)團(tuán)圓圓。因此人們吃湯圓會(huì)象征著家庭的團(tuán)圓、和諧和快樂。

In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

在元宵節(jié)的白天里，會(huì)有很多表演節(jié)目，例如，舞龍燈、舞獅、采蓮船、扭秧歌、踩高蹺和打鼓。到了晚上，除了華麗的燈籠，煙火也是另一道美麗的風(fēng)景。很多家庭從春節(jié)開始就在放煙火，并且延續(xù)到了元宵節(jié)。一些本地政府還會(huì)組織煙火晚會(huì)。在晚上，當(dāng)新年的第一輪滿月出來(lái)后，人們就會(huì)被天空中華麗的煙火和明月所陶醉。