《春节实用英语词汇 Spring Festival Words》.doc

The?Background?of?Spring?Festival(春节背景知识) The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival， more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals，the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western （Gregorian） calendar， so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February. The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life，and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past，feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion，and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed. ??? Preparations for the New Year festival start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned，debts repaid，hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature， this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many homes incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors. ??? On New Year’s Eve houses are brightly lit and a large family dinner is served. In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. Most celebrating the festival stay up till midnight， when fireworks are lit， to drive away evil spirits. New Years day is often spent visiting neighbors，family and friends. The public holiday for New Year lasts 3 days in China， but the festival traditionally lasts till the 15th day of the lunar month and ends with the ‘Lantern Festival’. Here, houses are decorated with colorful lanterns， and Yuan Xiao，a sweet or savory fried or boiled dumpling made of glutinous rice flour is eaten. The Origin of Spring Festival(春节的由来) The Origin of Chinese New Year The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Beginning of Spring （the first of the tw