中国文化博览:中华民俗之元宵节的起源和习俗

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunarmonth, 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.

元宵节是在阴历的元月15号，通常在阳历的二月或者三月。早在西汉时期（公元前206年-公元25年）元宵节就已经成为具有重要意义的节日。

This days 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 Buddhas 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.

这一天重要的活动就是看灯啦。早在公元前206年至公元220年的汉代，佛教就在中国盛行。有一位帝王听说僧侣可以看到舍利，也就是佛被火化后留存在体内的东西，在阴历的正月十五这一天点灯敬拜佛祖，于是这位帝王就命令这一天在他的宫殿和庙宇里点灯以表现他对佛祖的尊敬。此后，这项佛教仪式发展成为普通民众的盛大节日，它的影响力从中原地区一直蔓延到整个中国。

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，全国上下每年都会过元宵节。不同形状和大小的灯笼会悬挂在街上，吸引无数的游人。孩子们会拿着自制的或买来的灯笼在街上闲逛，十分开心。

Guessing lantern riddlesis an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddleson 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 peoples 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.

猜灯谜是节日的核心部分。灯笼的主人会将谜语写在一张纸条上并贴在灯笼上。如果游客能解开灯谜，他们就能将纸条拿下来去灯笼的主人那看答案是否正确。如果答案是对的，他们将会得到一份小礼物。这项活动最早在宋朝（公元960-1279）出现，当人们在赏灯的时候开始。由于猜灯谜极具趣味性，又需要动脑筋，所以后来在全社会各阶层中收到普遍欢迎。

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. Whats 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.

人们在元宵节的时候会吃元宵，因此这个节日也就叫做元宵节。元宵还有另外一个名字汤圆，用糯米粉做皮，玫瑰花瓣、芝麻、豆酱、枣泥、胡桃肉、干果、糖和食用油做馅，做成的小面球团。汤圆可以煮、炸或者蒸来吃。吃起来甜甜的，很美味。而且，汤圆在中国和团圆这个词的发音相似，代表着团团圆圆。因此人们吃汤圆会象征着家庭的团圆、和谐和快乐。

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.

在元宵节的白天里，会有很多表演节目，例如，舞龙灯、舞狮、采莲船、扭秧歌、踩高跷和打鼓。到了晚上，除了华丽的灯笼，烟火也是另一道美丽的风景。很多家庭从春节开始就在放烟火，并且延续到了元宵节。一些本地政府还会组织烟火晚会。在晚上，当新年的第一轮满月出来后，人们就会被天空中华丽的烟火和明月所陶醉。