中秋节的起源英文版【精彩3篇】
The Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival - Part 1
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the moon is believed to be the brightest and fullest. The festival has a rich history and is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. In this article, we will explore the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to ancient Chinese legends, the Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of the moon goddess, Chang'e. The story goes that long ago, there were ten suns in the sky, scorching the earth and causing great suffering to the people. In order to save humanity, the hero Houyi shot down nine of the suns with his bow and arrow, leaving only one sun in the sky. As a reward for his bravery, the Queen Mother of Heaven gave Houyi an elixir of immortality. However, he did not consume it immediately as he did not want to leave his beloved wife, Chang'e, behind.
One day, while Houyi was out hunting, a villain named Feng Meng broke into their house and tried to steal the elixir. Fearing that Feng Meng would succeed, Chang'e swallowed the elixir to prevent him from getting it. As a result, she became immortal and floated up to the moon. When Houyi returned home and learned about what had happened, he was devastated. To commemorate his wife, he offered sacrifices to the moon on the day of her ascension, which eventually became the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In addition to the legend of Chang'e, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also closely associated with the harvest. During ancient times, the festival was a time for farmers to celebrate the end of the harvest season and give thanks for the abundance of crops. People would gather with their families and friends to enjoy mooncakes, a traditional pastry filled with sweet bean paste or lotus seed paste. The round shape of the mooncakes symbolizes completeness and reunion, while the act of sharing them represents the importance of family and unity.
Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with various customs and traditions. Families gather for a reunion dinner, where they enjoy mooncakes and other delicious food. Lanterns are lit up and carried around the neighborhood, creating a festive atmosphere. Children participate in lantern-making competitions and carry colorful lanterns in the shape of animals or characters from folklore. Moreover, the full moon is considered a symbol of prosperity and good luck, so people often admire the moon and recite poems in its honor.
In conclusion, the Mid-Autumn Festival has a long and fascinating history. It originated from the worship of the moon goddess Chang'e and evolved into a celebration of harvest and family reunion. The festival is deeply cherished by the Chinese people and continues to be an important part of their cultural heritage.
中秋节的起源英文版 篇三
中秋节的起源英文版
The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox（秋分）. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon".
This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates（石榴）, melons, oranges and pomelos（柚子） might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro（芋头）and water caltrope（菱角）, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds（西瓜子）, lotus seeds（莲籽）, almonds（杏仁）, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard（猪油）. A golden yolk（蛋黄） from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary（闰月的） moon. uUlsda E
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense（熏香）, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.
Moon Cakes
There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successful
For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates（枣子）, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.
