英语词汇：中国农历春节英语词汇Spring Festival WordsGreeting Season:春节 The Spring Festival农历 lunar calendar正月 lunar January; the first month by lunar calendar除夕 New Year's Eve; eve of lunar New Year初一 the beginning of New Year元宵节 The Lantern FestivalCustoms:过年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival对联poetic couplet: two successive rhyming lines in poetry春联 Spring Festival couplets剪纸 paper-cuts年画 New Year paintings买年货special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping敬酒 propose a toast灯笼 lantern: a portable light烟花 fireworks爆竹firecrackers (People scare off evil spirits and ghosts with the loud pop.)红包 red packets (cash wrapped up in red paper, symbolize fortune and wealth in the coming year.)舞狮 lion dance (The lion is believed to be able to dispel evil and bring good luck.)舞龙dragon dance (to expect good weather and good harvests)戏曲 traditional opera杂耍 variety show; vaudeville灯谜 riddles written on lanterns灯会 exhibit of lanterns守岁 staying-up拜年 pay New Year's call; give New Year's greetings; New Year's visit禁忌 taboo去晦气 get rid of the ill- fortune祭祖宗 offer sacrifices to one's ancestors压岁钱 gift money; money given to children as a lunar New Year giftCulture Note: In the old days, New Year's money was given in the form of one hundred copper coins strung together on a red string and symbolized the hope that one would live to be a hundred years old. Today, money is placed inside red envelopes in denominations considered auspicious and given to represent luck and wealth辞旧岁 bid farewell to the old year扫房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaningBlessings:金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home生意兴隆 Business flourishes岁岁平安 Peace all year round恭喜发财 Wishing you prosperity和气生财 Harmony brings wealth心想事成 May all your wishes come true吉祥如意 Everything goes well国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace招财进宝 Money and treasures will be plentiful一帆风顺 Wishing you every success步步高升 Promoting to a higher position出入平安 Safe trip wherever you go祝你新的一年快乐幸福: Wish you happiness and prosperity in the coming year!事业成功，家庭美满: Wish you success in your career and happiness of your family!Food names:年糕 Nian-gao; rise cake; New Year cake团圆饭 family reunion dinner年夜饭 the dinner on New Year's Eve饺子 Jiao-zi; Chinese meat ravioli汤圆 Tang-yuan; dumplings made of sweet rice, rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings八宝饭 eight treasures rice pudding糖果盘 candy tray:什锦糖 assorted candies - sweet and fortune蜜冬瓜 candied winter melon - growth and good health西瓜子 red melon seed - joy, happiness, truth and sincerity金桔 cumquat - prosperity糖莲子 candied lotus seed - many descendents to come糖藕 candied lotus root - fulfilling love relationship红枣 red dates - prosperity花生糖 peanut candy – sweettraditions of chinese new yearbefore new year's evethe celebration actually starts on new year's eve with the family reuniondinner. by new year's eve, you should have done the following:clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year. put away all brooms and brushes. pay all your debts. resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates. buy the following: red money envelopes,oranges and/or tangerines,fill a "cheun hup(a circular red tray separated in eight compartments) with melon seedslotuschocolate coinsnuts etc. flowers (especially plum blossoms, peach blossoms, water lilies), a new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange. get new dollar bills from the bank. insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. now the red envelope is called a lai see or lucky money envelope.on new year's eveget together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.pay respect to ancestors and household gods. acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations. open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.on new year's daydecorate your home with symbols of good fortune. here are some suggestions:colors: bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).fruits: oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; being fruitful and multiply); persimmons (happiness and wealth)."chuen hup" circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness and continuity).flowers: if flowers bloom on new year's day, it will be a prosperous year. red banners or couplets with new year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.第三篇spring festival the spring festival is the most important festival for the chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like christmas in the west. all people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the spring festival. airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.the spring festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the gregorian calendar. it originated in the shang dynasty (c. 1600 bc-c. 1100 bc) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.strictly speaking, the spring festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. of them, the most important days are spring festival eve and the first three days. the chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the chinese lunar new year.many customs accompany the spring festival. some are still followed today, but others have weakened.on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called preliminary eve. at this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.after the preliminary eve, people begin preparing for the coming new year. this is called "seeing the new year in".store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the new year. materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. what's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.before the new year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. all the door panels will be pasted with spring festival couplets, highlighting chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. the content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the new year. also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance. the chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. the character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." what's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored new year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall. people attach great importance to spring festival eve. at that time, all family members eat dinner together. the meal is more luxurious than usual. dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. after the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching tv. in recent years, the spring festival party broadcast on china central television station (cctv) is essential entertainment for the chinese both at home and abroad. according to custom, each family will stay up to see the new year in.waking up on new year, everybody dresses up. first they extend greetings to their parents. then each child will get money as a new year gift, wrapped up in red paper. people in northern china will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient china. so people eat them and wish for money and treasure. southern chinese eat niangao (new year cake made of glutinous rice flour) onthis occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." the first five days after the spring festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the spring festival. people thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. however, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. as a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.the lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. a series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. the spring festival then comes to an end when the lantern festival is finished.china has 56 ethnic groups. minorities celebrate their spring festival almost the same day as the han people, and they have different customs.。
