元宵节英语

元宵节英语

The 15th day of the 1st lunar month is the Chine Lantern

Festival becau the first lunar month is called yuan-month and

in the ancient times people called night Xiao. The 15th day is the

first night to e a full moon. So the day is also called Yuan Xiao

Festival in China.

According to the Chine tradition, at the very beginning of

a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky,

there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for

people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve the

puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) and

get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere.

History

Until the Sui Dynasty in the sixth century, Emperor Yangdi

invited envoys from other countries to China to e the colorful

lighted lanterns and enjoy the gala（节日的，庆祝的）

performances.

By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty in the venth century,

the lantern displays would last three days. The emperor also lifted

the curfew（宵禁令）, allowing the people to enjoy the festive

lanterns day and night. It is not difficult to find Chine poems

which describe this happy scene.

In the Song Dynasty, the festival was celebrated for five days

and the activities began to spread to many of the big cities in

China. Colorful glass and even jade were ud to make lanterns,

with figures from folk tales painted on the lanterns.

However, the largest Lantern Festival celebration took place

in the early part of the 15th century. The festivities continued for

ten days. Emperor Chengzu had the downtown area t aside as

a center for displaying the lanterns. Even today, there is a place

in Beijing called Dengshikou. In Chine, Deng means lantern and

Shi is market. The area became a market where lanterns were sold

during the day. In the evening, the local people would go there

to e the beautiful lighted lanterns on display.

Today, the displaying of lanterns is still a big event on the

15th day of the first lunar month throughout China. People enjoy

the brightly lit night. Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan

Province, for example, holds a lantern fair each year in the

Cultural Park. During the Lantern Festival, the park is literally an

ocean of lanterns! Many new designs attract countless visitors.

The most eye-catching lantern is the Dragon Pole. This is a

lantern in the shape of a golden dragon, spiraling up a 27-meter

-high pole, spewing fireworks from its mouth. It is quite an

impressive sight!

Origin

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the

Lantern Festival. But one thing for sure is that it had something

to do with religious worship.

One legend tells us that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the

God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that the God of

Heaven controlled the destiny of the human world. He had

sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided when to

inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence（瘟疫）upon human

beings. Beginning with Qinshihuang, the first emperor to unite

the country, all subquent emperors ordered splendid

ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to bring

favorable weather and good health to him and his people.

Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty directed special attention to

this event. In 104 BC, he proclaimed it one of the most important

celebrations and the ceremony would last throughout the night.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism.

Tianguan is the Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His

birthday falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It is said

that Tianguan likes all types of entertainment. So followers

prepare various kinds of activities during which they pray for

good fortune.

The third story about the origin of the festival is like this.

Buddhism first entered China during the reign of Emperor Mingdi

of the Eastern Han Dynasty. That was in the first century. However,

it did not exert any great influence among the Chine people.

one day, Emperor Mingdi had a dream about a gold man in his

palace. At the very moment when he was about to ask the

mysterious figure who he was, the gold man suddenly ro to the

sky and disappeared in the west. The next day, Emperor Mingdi

nt a scholar to India on a pilgrimage（朝圣）to locate Buddhist

scriptures. After journeying thousands of miles, the scholar finally

returned with the scriptures. Emperor Mingdi ordered that a

temple be built to hou a statue of Buddha and rve as a

repository for the scriptures. Followers believe that the power of

Buddha can dispel darkness. So Emperor Mingdi ordered his

subjects to display lighted lanterns during what was to become

the Lantern Festival.

Yuanxiao

Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another

important part of the Lantern Festival,or Yuanxiao Festival is

eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour. We call

the balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan. Obviously, they get the name

from the festival itlf. It is said that the custom of eating

Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth

centuty, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods.

The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuansiao are either sweet

or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts（胡桃）,

same, osmanthus flowers（桂花）, ro petals, sweetened

tangerine peel, bean paste, or jujube paste（枣泥）. A single

ingredient or any combination can be ud as the filling . The

salty variety is filled with minced meat, vegetables or a mixture.

The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and

southern China. The usual method followed in southern

provinces is to shape the dough of rice flour into balls, make a

hole, inrt the filling, then clo the hole and smooth out the

dumpling by rolling it between your hands. In North China, sweet

or nonmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The fillings are

presd into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled

in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the

flour sticks to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and

rolled a cond time in the rice flour. And so it goes, like rolling a

snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size.

The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains. This

tradition encourages both old and new stores to promote their

Yuanxiao products. They all try their best to improve the taste

and quality of the dumplings to attract more customers.

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