春节

　　农历正月初一是我国汉族以及其他一些少数民族最为隆重的传统节日——春节。自从汉武帝以来(公元前140年)，中华民族一直都将春节视为最喜庆的日子。每逢大年初一，孩子们纷纷走上街头放鞭炮，就连大人们也高高兴兴地在爆竹声中辞旧迎新。北宋诗人王安石曾赋诗：“爆竹声中一岁除，春风送暖入屠苏。千门万户瞳瞳日，总把新桃换旧符。”他的诗生动地描绘了人们迎佳节时喜悦的气氛。

　　其实，春节还未来到，人们就忙碌了起来，各户全家老少齐上阵，粉墙的粉墙，洗被褥的洗被褥，准备“面貌一新迎新年”。有许多家庭还蒸豆沙包以及菜包子，不但自己受用，还招待亲朋好友。每一家都必须“年购”，贮存大量的美味食品在家中，否则一到春节就“惨”了，因为商店在节日期间会店门紧闭，老板及营业员们都回各自家中同亲人们一起过节了。

　　贴年画也是春节必不可少的一种活动。年画的内容非常丰富，有祝福招财的，如画一童子怀里抱着元宝，或者骑在大鲤鱼身上;也有除祸降福的，如在门板上贴的勇士像等。南朝的时候各家各户都在门上贴神荼、郁垒两兄弟的画像，传说他们能除妖伏怪，给人带来吉祥。到了唐朝，人们把自己最崇拜的秦叔宝、尉迟敬德两位大将的画像请到了门上。直至今日，我国的许多地区仍将这两位勇士敬若神明，每逢春节都张贴他们的像以增加吉祥的气氛。有相当一部分地区，特别是在乡村，喜欢把钟馗的画像帖于门首驱邪招福。钟馗一生刚正不阿，专门与恶鬼作对，死后玉皇大帝封他为“斩祟将军”，带领三千神兵天将捕鬼杀怪，在民间享有很高的声誉。

　　旧岁的最后一天叫“大年三十”，因“除旧岁”而得名“除夕”。除夕之夜，全家人围坐在一起说闲话。在外地工作的亲人赶回来与家人团聚，大伙儿边聊边饮茶，同时还嗑瓜子、吃油炸馓子等小食品。现在的除夕之夜，从晚八时到夜里十二时，各家都以看春节联欢晚会为主要活动，边看边唠家常，其乐融融。许多家庭闲聊时还不忘包饺子，除过先吃一部分之外，其余的要留到大年初一吃。当然，春节可不是光吃点饺子就算完啦，好吃的东西多着呢，如糖糕、汤圆、枣馍等。孩子们一见好吃的应有尽有，就拼命地饱口福，吃坏肠胃的可大有人在。有的人家在除夕之夜便给小辈们发压岁钱，有的则等到初一再发。孩子们盼过年，其中有一个目的就是能拿到数目不小的压岁钱，差不多所有的孩子都可以发一笔小财。

　　大年初一天不亮，爆竹声便响成了一片，噼噼啪啪似炒豆一般。父母为孩子们煮好饺子，让他们美美吃一顿。小家伙们吃完一抹嘴，便箭一般冲出去了。小朋友们聚集在大街上点各种各样的“炮”，有的叫“冲天响”“滚地雷”，有的叫“天女散花”“红衣骑士”，等等等等，名堂多得很。大人们则走东家访西家地“拜年”。单位的领导此时体现出“与民同乐”的风范，到部属的家里说些“春节快乐”“恭喜发财”类的祝福话语。

　　拜年的习俗古来有之。传说在很久以前有一种“年”的怪兽，每逢腊月三十便冲下山来，张着血盆大口寻人吃。惊恐的人们便把各种肉食放在门口请它吃，而他们自己闭门躲在家中。第二天人们打开房门，相互庆贺未被“年”吃掉。后来，人们拜年不仅说些祝福的话，还互赠贺年卡，卡片上或印着精美的图画，或写些警言妙句。

　　人们在欢度春节的时候，也不会忘记已经亡故的亲人。他们会为亡亲敬一盅酒，或燃香祈求上天赐福给阴间的亲人。有的人家会结伴到亡亲的坟地去，在坟头供枣馍、油糕之类的东西。如今提倡火葬，人们则到存放亡亲骨灰的地方祭奠他们，同时给亡亲的长眠之地带去了节日的喜庆气氛。

　　我国的南方和北方都有“舞狮”贺春节的习俗，在形式及内容上大同小异。在乡下，村与村之间常举行舞狮比赛;在城市，社区与社区也接阵对垒。一只“狮子”通常由两人舞，一人舞狮头，另一人舞狮身。舞狮头者狮关键人物，必须眼明手快、反应敏捷，一般都是由幼童培养起来的。比赛时，两只狮子(通常代表两个团体)在一片锣鼓声中翩翩起舞。张开大口争夺一只巨型绣球。舞狮人身着戏装，上下翻腾，龙腾虎跃，好不雄健!好不威风!充分表现出了中华民族旺盛的生命力和不屈不挠的奋斗精神。舞狮头的人往往要亮出几个危险的高难度动作，如一跃跳到叠架起的桌椅上，赢得观众阵阵的掌声。

　　一些地区盛行“舞龙”的习俗，这和舞狮一样，也是庆贺新春的重要活动。舞龙需要若干人参与，一人舞龙头，其余人则是“龙身”。巨龙时而昂首阔步，时而张牙舞爪、摇头摆尾，赢得旁观人群的高声喝彩。人们的心随着巨龙翻腾的身体起伏，对舞龙人高超的技艺感到由衷地佩服。最为壮观的是夜间舞龙，巨龙的两只眼睛通常用手电筒充当，显得“目光炯炯”。一道道手电光刺破夜空，使人会联想到巨龙与怪兽搏斗的场景，不由热血沸腾，仿佛自己也加入到了与恶势力的酣战之中。

　　正月十五的元宵节在有的地方被称为“小年”，虽说比不得初一和初二那几日气氛隆重，却也热闹非 凡。许多店铺以及小商贩们把形形色色的灯笼挂出来展销，其外形有“哪吒闹海”“孙悟空”“猪八戒”和“沙僧”，也有“猪”“猫”“狗”“兔”等小动物。灯笼内置一蜡烛，在夜间闪闪烁烁，把“猪八戒”们、“狗”们照得通体发亮，煞是好看。在烛光的照耀下，有舞狮的、有舞龙的，有摇旱船和踩高跷的，组成了一幅幅美轮美奂的画面。无论白天还是黑夜，公园里都人山人海，游园的人们边品尝小路边摊点销售的各种小吃，边玩游戏，如抛圈和射击等。孩子们兴奋地在人群中窜来跑去，呼兄喊弟，还不时停下来用压岁钱买一些自己喜欢的小玩意儿。

　　元宵节“闹灯”是从唐朝传下来的习俗。一入夜，人们纷纷手提灯笼走出家门，一盏盏灯汇集成了灯的海洋。古时候都是官府出资将街道装点得焕然一新，到处一片“火树银花”。唐睿宗时，长安的皇宫外庆贺元宵节，曾架起一座高二十丈的灯山，上面镶嵌着五颜六色的彩带以及各种小饰物，还悬挂了五万盏彩灯。百姓们结伴赏灯，观看放焰火和精彩的杂耍表演。到了宋代，民间还添了猜字谜的游戏。出字谜的人把谜语写在细长的纸条上，再将纸条贴在灯笼的下端，猜中的人可领导一些小礼品。明代的元宵节更热闹，戏曲演员们走上街头献艺，给人们带来艺术的享受和欢声笑语。

　　元宵节的主食是“元宵”，或称“汤圆”，是一种糯米做成的带馅球状食物。南北方的元宵基本都差不多，有黑芝麻馅的、白糖馅的以及山楂馅的等;南方人还喜欢吃肉馅的元宵。现在的元宵种类丰富，里面裹的馅千变万化，适合于各种口味的食客。

　　元宵节期间，人们开始了新一轮的“访亲拜友热”。几天过后，热潮消退，人们就彻底收心了，开始专心致志地工作。

　　The Spring Festival

　　The first day of the first month in Chinese lunar calendar is Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival, celebrated by Han people and some ethnic minorities in China. Ever since the Emperor Wu’s Reign of Han Dynasty (140 BC) the festival has been regarded as the happiest day. When that day comes, children will set off firecrackers in streets. Even the adults like to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new. Wang Anshi, a well-known poet of North Song Dynasty, wrote the following verses to vividly portray the joyful atmosphere in the celebration:

　　Firecrackers are sending the old year away;

　　People are toasting in warm spring breeze.

　　All the families are bathed in bright sunlight;

　　Old couplets are changed with new ones.

　　Actually, people start to be busy even before Spring Festival comes. They, old and young, whitewash walls and wash the sheets, expecting to greet the new year with everything fresh and clean. Families prepare red bean buns and vegetable buns, not for themselves only, but also for visitors. They all go shopping and keep in storage a lot of delicious food in the home. Or they’ll have a “miserable” Spring Festival as shops are closed then, and the bosses and the assistants will go home to celebrate the festival with their dear ones.

　　One of the necessary activities during the Spring Festival is to post pictures including the blessing and fortune making types, like a child holding a shoe-shaped gold ingot in his arms or riding on a huge carp, and also including the disaster dispelling or good-luck fetching types, like warrior pictures on the gates and so on. Shen Shu and Yu Lu were brothers who had the power to kill monsters and conquer ghosts as the legend told. So all the households liked to post their pictures on the gates for luck and happiness in Nan Dynasty. In Tang Dynasty, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jinde were the two most respectable generals among people, and so their pictures were posted on the gates. Even today the generals are still worshiped as gods in many areas of China and their pictures are posted in Spring Festivals to bring auspicious air. In some districts, especially in rural areas, people post Zhong Kui’s pictures on gates to dispel evils and fetch good luck, as it is said, and was appointed “ghost-killer general” by God of all gods after his death, leading 3,000 immortal soldiers to kill monsters and ghosts, enjoying a high fame among people.

　　The last day of the old year, Daniansanshi in Chinese, is called Farewell Day, as the old year is sent away this day. On the night of this day (Eve of lunar New Year), the family members sit together, chatting, sipping tea, cracking melon or sunflower seeds, eating fried dough twists and other snack foods. People, who work in other parts of the country, will come back to join their families. Their major activity on the eve now is to watch Spring Festival Galas, which usually last from 8 to 12 at night. While watching, chatting, they enjoy themselves very much. Many families make dumplings then, eating some, keeping the rest for the next day. Of course, people eat not only dumplings, but also varieties of refreshments in Spring Festival, such as candy cakes, sweet soup balls, jujube buns and so on. Children will eat as much as they can at sight of so many delicious things, and some will spoil their stomachs with too much eating. Money is handed out to the young as lucky gifts either on the eve or on New Year’s Day. It is one of the reasons that children long for Spring Festivals as they can make a small fortune out of the sizable sums of gift money which almost all children might get.

　　Even before the dawn of New Year’s Day comes, firecrackers crack everywhere, as noisily as bean frying. Parents boil dumplings for their kids, who will clean their mouths and dash out when having eaten enough. The little ones gather in streets, setting off all kinds of firecrackers, named Rockets, Rolling Mines, Fairy Scattering Flowers, Knights in Red and so on. There are so many of them! The adults, however, are busy paying New Year calls from door to door. Leaders of companies will carry on the tradition of “enjoying with the mass”, paying visits to his men, saying blessing words, like “happy Spring Festival” and “wishing you prosperity”.

　　The custom of paying New Year’s visits comes from ancient times. As the legend goes that there was a monster called Nian, who would come out of the mountains in search of people for food. People were so scared that they put meat at door for the monster, and they themselves hid in houses. The next day they’d open the doors and congratulate each other on being alive. Later they’d not only say blessing words when they paid visits, but also change New Year’s cards printed with beautiful pictures or smart words.

　　When celebrating Spring Festivals, people never forget their dead dear ones. They’ll toast for their wealth, or burn incenses, praying that god might bless their dead in nether world. Some families will go to the tombs of their dead, and place jujube buns and fried cakes before the tombs as tributes. Nowadays cremation is encouraged, people will hold memorial ceremonies in places where ashes of their dead are kept, bringing joyful air of the festival to their eternal resting place.

　　Lion Dancing is also a custom prevailing in the south and the north of the country. All those dancings are very much the same in forms and contents. Villages in rural areas compete with each other to be the best in Lion Dancing, and communities in the cities also fight for the honor. Two men form a “lion”, one acting as the “head”, and the other the “body”. The one as “head” is the key figure, who, trained in early childhood, is usually agile and fast. In competition, two lions, representing two sides, dance energetically in accompaniment of gongs and drums, struggling to snatch a huge silk ball with widely-opened mouths. The players in stage costumes jump and leap, bend and rise, displaying great vitality and vigor. The dancing fully shows the exuberant strength and the indomitable struggle spirit of Chinese nation. The “lion head” is supposed to present a few dangerous moves, such as jumping on piles of chairs and tables, just to win warm applause of the audience.

　　In some districts prevails the custom of Dragon Dancing, which, like Lion Dancing, is also one of the important activities to greet the coming spring. A few men form a “dragon’, one acting as the “head”, and the rest the “body”. The gigantic dragon strides proudly ahead, making threatening gestures, assuming an air of complacency, winning loud applauses of the audience from time to time. Spectators’ hearts will tremble as the huge dragon trembles, and they really admire the dragon players for their super skills. Dragon Dancing at night is a spectacular sight. The two eyes of the huge dragon, usually two electric torches in fact, are eyes with piercing gleam, shooting lights through the dark sky, reminding people of its fight with a monster. Spectators’ blood surges, as if they themselves joined the fight with evil forces.

　　The Lantern Festival in the 15th day of the new lunar year, known as Minor Spring Festival in some areas, is celebrated in boisterous atmosphere, though it is not as important as the first day or second day of the new lunar year. Shops and peddlers put out colorful lanterns on show, lanterns in forms of Na Zha’s Adventure in East Sea, Monkey King, Pigsy, Sha Wujing, pigs, cats, dogs, rabbits and other small animals. Candles are placed inside lanterns, twinkling at night, and the Pigsys and dogs all shine brightly, a beautiful scene to see. Lion Dancing, Dragon Dancing, Land Boat Rowing and Stilt Walking in the candlelight present splendid pictures. There is a sea of people in parks to celebrate, buying all kinds of delicious things for a taste at booths and stalls, playing games, like casting circles and shooting…Excited, children run to and fro in the crowds, shouting loudly, stopping to buy with their gift money baubles at times, which strike their fancy.

　　The custom of Lantern Festival Celebration comes from Tang Dynasty. At night, people step out of their houses with lanterns, and all the lanterns with their bright lights form magnificent sights. In ancient times, lanes and streets were decorated with official money, when fireworks and lanterns were everywhere to be seen. During Emperor Ruizong’s Reign in Tang Dynasty, there just outside the royal palace in Changan, the capital then, was built up a mountain of lanterns to celebrate the festival, nearly 70 meters high, decorated with colorful ribbons, trimmings and 50,000 lanterns. People would go in pairs or groups, to watch lantern shows, fireworks displays and acrobatic feats. In Song Dynasty, Crossword Guessing was added to the programs of celebration. Crossword puzzles written on scrolls were glued to the lower parts of lanterns, and the winners of the guessing work could get a few small gifts. The Lantern Festival became more lively in Ming Dynasty. Opera actors then would offer performances in streets, bringing people artistic entertainment and laughter.

　　During Lantern Festival, people mainly eat yuanxiao (or called sweet soup balls) which are glutinous rice balls with various kinds of stuffing, like black sesames, sugar, haws and so on. They are much the same both in the south and the north. The southerners also like rice balls stuffed with meat. Nowadays the balls vary with all different types of stuffing, to be suitable for various tastes.

　　During Lantern Festival, a new heat of visiting occurs, which, however, lasts only a few days. When it is over, people will thoroughly concentrate on their work.

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