元宵節(jié)的來歷和習俗

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，早在我國西漢時期（公元前206年——公元25年）就成為一個重要節(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，佛教就在中國盛行。有一位帝王聽說僧侶可以看到舍利，也就是佛被火化后留存在體內的東西，在陰歷的正月十五這一天點燈敬拜佛祖，于是這位帝王就命令這一天在他的宮殿和廟宇里點燈以表現(xiàn)他對佛祖的尊敬。此后，這項佛教儀式發(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)一直蔓延到整個中國。

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，全國上下每年都會過元宵節(jié)。不同形狀和大小的燈籠會懸掛在街上，吸引無數(shù)的游人。孩子們會拿著自制的或買來的燈籠在街上閑逛，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。燈籠的主人會將謎語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去燈籠的主人那看答案是否正確。如果答案是對的，他們將會得到一份小禮物。這項活動最早在宋朝（公元960-1279）出現(xiàn)，當人們在賞燈的時候開始。由于猜燈謎極具趣味性，又需要動腦筋，所以后來在全社會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.

人們在元宵節(jié)的時候會吃元宵，因此這個節(jié)日也就叫做元宵節(jié)。“元宵”還有另外一個名字—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。湯圓可以煮、炸或者蒸來吃。吃起來甜甜的，很美味。而且，湯圓在中國和“團圓”這個詞的發(fā)音相似，代表著團團圓圓。因此人們吃湯圓會象征著家庭的團圓、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)。一些本地政府還會組織煙火晚會。在晚上，當新年的第一輪滿月出來后，人們就會被天空中華麗的煙火和明月所陶醉。