春節(jié)是中國一個古老的節(jié)日，也是全年最重要的一個節(jié)日,，如何過慶賀這個節(jié)日,，在千百年的歷史發(fā)展中,，形成了一些較為固定的風俗習慣,，有許多還相傳至今,。Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, is an ancient festival, and the most important annual event in China. New Year celebrations in the past thousands of years have given rise to some enduring customs, many of which are still prevailing.除夕守歲是最重要的年俗活動之一,，守歲之俗由來已久,。最早記載見于西晉周處的《風土志》：除夕之夜，各相與贈送,，稱為“饋歲”,；酒食相邀，稱為“別歲”,；長幼聚飲,，祝頌完備，稱為“分歲”,；大家終夜不眠,，以待天明，稱曰“守歲”,。Staying up all night on Spring Festival's Eve is one of the most important festive activities, a tradition dating back to ancient times. The earliest reference is seen in Local Customs by Zhou Chu of Western Jin Dynasty (265 AD-317 AD): on the Spring Festival's Eve, people “mark the time of year” (Kui Sui) by exchanging gifts, “bid farewell to the past year” (Bie Sui) by getting together for dinner, “share the wishes for the new year” (Fen Sui) by making toasts, and “witness the turn of the year” (Shou Sui) by staying up till dawn. “一夜連雙歲,，五更分二天”，除夕之夜,，全家團聚在一起,，吃過年夜飯，點起蠟燭或油燈,，圍坐爐旁閑聊,，等著辭舊迎新的時刻，通宵守夜,，象征著把一切邪瘟病疫照跑驅(qū)走,，期待著新的一年吉祥如意。這種習俗后來逐漸盛行,，到唐朝初期,，唐太宗李世民寫有“守歲”詩：“寒辭去冬雪，暖帶入春風”。直到今天,，人們還習慣在除夕之夜守歲迎新,。 As a Chinese idiom puts it, “this night connects two years, and this dawn divides two days.” On Spring Festival's Eve, families get together for a reunion dinner, have some casual chats by the candle or lamp, and wait for the moment to usher in the New Year. By staying up all night, people hope to drive away all evils and diseases, and look forward to an auspicious year. This custom gained momentum in ancient times. In early Tang Dynasty (618 AD-907 AD), Emperor Taizong Li Shimin wrote a poem for this occasion, “Gone are the chilling winter snows, and enters the warm spring breeze.” Today, this tradition is still observed.古時守歲有兩種含義：年長者守歲為“辭舊歲”，有珍愛光陰的意思,；年輕人守歲,，是為延長父母壽命。自漢代以來,，新舊年交替的時刻一般為夜半時分。The ancient Chinese stayed up all night on Spring Festival’s Eve for two reasons. The elderly would like to “bid farewell to the passing year” and cherish the time, while the young hoped to prolong the life of their parents with this ritual. Since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), midnight has been recognized as the moment dividing the passing and coming years. 中國民間有“開門爆竹”一說,。即在新的一年到來之際,，家家戶戶開門的第一件事就是燃放爆竹，以嗶嗶叭叭的爆竹聲除舊迎新,。爆竹是中國特產(chǎn),，亦稱“爆仗”、“炮仗”,、“鞭炮”,。其起源很早，至今已有兩千多年的歷史,。放爆竹可以創(chuàng)造出喜慶熱鬧的氣氛,，是節(jié)日的一種娛樂活動，可以給人們帶來歡愉和吉利,。隨著時間的推移,，爆竹的應(yīng)用越來越廣泛，品種花色也日見繁多,，每逢重大節(jié)日及喜事慶典,，及婚嫁、建房,、開業(yè)等,，都要燃放爆竹以示慶賀，圖個吉利?，F(xiàn)在,，湖南瀏陽，廣東佛山和東堯,，江西的宜春和萍鄉(xiāng),、浙江溫州等地區(qū)是中國著名的花炮之鄉(xiāng),生產(chǎn)的爆竹花色多，品質(zhì)高,，不僅暢銷全國,，而且還遠銷世界。The everyday Chinese has a custom of “door-opening firecrackers” (Kai Men Bao Zhu). On New Year’s Day, every family would set off some firecrackers when they open the door for the first time of the year, so as to welcome the New Year with a crackling sound. Firecrackers are a Chinese product, also know as Bao Zhang, Pao Zhang, or Bian Pao. They have a history of over two thousand years. Setting off firecrackers creates a festive and gleeful ambience. It is a festive entertainment that brings joy and blessings to everyone. Today, firecrackers are used on various occasions, and come in many types. On major festivals or events like weddings, launching a building, opening a business, firecrackers are set off to celebrate and bring in good fortune. Today, Liuyang of Hunan, Foshan and Dongyao of Guangdong, Yichun and Pingxiang of Jiangxi, Wenzhou of Zhejiang and other places are known as hometowns of firecrackers. These cities produce different types of quality firecrackers for domestic consumption and export. Visiting Relatives and Friends新年的初一，人們都早早起來,，穿上最漂亮的衣服,，打扮得整整齊齊，出門去走親訪友,，相互拜年,，恭祝來年大吉大利。拜年的方式多種多樣,，有的是同族長帶領(lǐng)若干人挨家挨戶地拜年,；有的是同事相邀幾個人去拜年；也有大家聚在一起相互祝賀,，稱為“團拜”,。由于登門拜年費時費力，后來一些上層人物和士大夫便使用各貼相互投賀,，由此發(fā)展出來后來的“賀年片”,。On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone gets up early and dress up properly to visit relatives and friends, and wish them an auspicious New Year. Such visits take many forms. The leader of a family may take several family members from door to door; colleagues may make such visits in groups; sometimes a group of people may gather together for “group greetings” (Tuan Bai). Because visiting one’s home takes both time and effort, some prestigious figures and officials developed a form of greeting via letters, which later became “New Year Cards.”Visiting Relatives and Friends春節(jié)拜年時，晚輩要先給長輩拜年,，祝長輩人長壽安康,，長輩可將事先準備好的壓歲錢分給晚輩，據(jù)說壓歲錢可以壓住邪祟,，因為“歲”與“祟”諧音,，晚輩得到壓歲錢就可以平平安安度過一歲。壓歲錢有兩種,，一種是以彩繩穿線編作龍形,，置于床腳，此記載見于《燕京歲時記》,；另一種是最常見的,，即由家長用紅紙包裹分給孩子的錢。壓歲錢可在晚輩拜年后當眾賞給,，亦可在除夕夜孩子睡著時,，由家長偷偷地放在孩子的枕頭底下。現(xiàn)在長輩為晚輩分送壓歲錢的習俗仍然盛行,。During Spring Festival visits, the young should greet the elderly first and wish them longevity and health. The elderly would then give the young some New Year money. This practice is believed to suppress the devil and guarantee a safe year for the young, because the Chinese characters for “Year” and “Devil” are homophones. This money is given in two forms. One is noted in Record of the Seasons in Yanjing: the coins are linked by colorful ropes, braided in the form of a dragon and left at the end of the bed. Another is wrapping money in red envelopes. The money may be given in the presence of others after the young greeted the elderly. Parents may also put some money under the pillow when their kids are sound asleep in the night of Spring Festival’s Eve. Gifting New Year money still prevails in China. 在古代的農(nóng)業(yè)社會里,，大約自臘月初八以后，家庭主婦們就要忙著張羅過年的食品了,。因為腌制臘味所需的時間較長,，所以必須盡早準備，中國許多省份都有腌臘味的習俗,，其中又以廣東省的臘味最為著名,。In the ancient agrarian society, starting from the eighth day of lunar December, housewives would be busy preparing Spring Festival food. Preserving meat takes a long time, and the housewives must start early. Many Chinese provinces have the custom of preserving meat, and the most renowned preserved meat is produced in Guangdong. 蒸年糕,，年糕因為諧音“年高”，再加上有著變化多端的口味,，幾乎成了家家必備的應(yīng)景食品,。年糕的式樣有方塊狀的黃、白年糕,，象征著黃金,、白銀，寄寓新年發(fā)財?shù)囊馑肌?/section>Steamed Spring Festival rice cake is also a must have for many families, because its name is a homophone of “new heights for every year,” and it comes in many flavors. Square yellow rice cake symbolizes gold, and white cake silver, which heralds a wealthy year.Steamed Spring Festival Rice Cake年糕的口味因地而異,。北京人喜食江米或黃米制成的紅棗年糕,、百果年糕和白年糕。河北人則喜歡在年糕中加入大棗,、小紅豆及綠豆等一起蒸食,。山西北部在內(nèi)蒙古等地，過年時習慣吃黃米粉油炸年糕,，有的還包上豆沙、棗泥等餡,，山東人則用黃米,、紅棗蒸年糕。北方的年糕以甜為主,，或蒸或炸,，也有人干脆沾糖吃。南方的年糕則甜咸兼具,，例如蘇州及寧波的年糕,，以粳米制作，味道清淡,。除了蒸,、炸以外，還可以切片炒食或是煮湯,。甜味的年糕以糯米粉加白糖,、豬油、玫瑰,、桂花,、薄荷、素蓉等配料,，做工精細,，可以直接蒸食或是沾上蛋清油炸。The flavors vary in different places. Beijing locals prefer rice cake made of glutinous rice or brown rice, sometimes mixed with red dates or multiple ingredients. Hebei locals enjoy steamed rice cake mixed with red dates, red beans and green beans. In northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, people have fried brown rice cake, sometimes stuffed with bean paste or date paste. People in Shandong make steamed rice cake with brown rice and red dates. The northern Chinese flavor is mostly sweet. The rice cakes are steamed or fried, and eaten with sugar dipping. The southern Chinese flavor can be either sweet or savory. People in Suzhou and Ningbo make light-flavored cakes with Japonica rice, which can be steamed, fried, sliced and stirred, or boiled for soup. Sweet rice cake is made of glutinous rice, white sugar, pork oil, rose and osmanthus flowers, mint and other ingredients. It takes delicate forms, and may be steamed or fried with an egg white coating. 真正過年的前一夜叫團圓夜,，離家在外的游子都要不遠千里萬里趕回家來,，全家人要圍坐在一起包餃子過年,，餃子的作法是先和面做成餃子皮，再用皮包上餡,，餡的內(nèi)容是五花八門,，各種肉、蛋,、海鮮,、時令蔬菜等都可入餡，正統(tǒng)的餃子吃法,，是清水煮熟,，撈起后以調(diào)有醋、蒜末,、香油的醬油為佐料沾著吃,。也有炸餃子、烙餃子（鍋貼）等吃法,。因為和面的“和”字就是“合”的意思,；餃子的“餃”和“交”諧音，“合”和“交”又有相聚之意,，所以用餃子象征團聚合歡,；又取更歲交子之意，非常吉利,；此外,，餃子因為形似元寶，過年時吃餃子,，也帶有“招財進寶”的吉祥含義,。一家大小聚在一起包餃子，話新春,，其樂融融,。The night before Spring Festival is a night for reunion. All family members would return home regardless of any long distance travel. The whole family would sit together and make dumplings. The first step is to make dumpling wrappers, and next step is to wrap some stuffing. The ingredients for stuffing are various. Any meat, egg, seafood, and vegetable can be added into the stuffing. The proper way to eat dumplings is to boil with water, and eat with dipping containing vinegar, garlic and sesame oil. Dumplings may also be fried or roasted (Guo Tie). “He Mian” (mixing the flour) sounds like “together,” and “Jiao Zi” (dumpling) “connect.” So dumplings are regarded as a symbol for happy reunions. Besides, “at the midnight” is pronounced as “Jiao Zi,” and the dumplings are usually shaped as golden ingots, giving them an auspicious meaning of “bringing in more wealth.” When the whole family is engaged in the making of dumplings, they are actually enjoying brisk conversations and the joy that is Spring Festival.
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