中国文化概论期末论文--(英文版2011)

CHINESE FOLK CULTURE

Folk culture has strong folklore and unique characteristics; it is a kind of culture that forms among the working people rather than governmental authority. Folk culture, also known as popular culture, is the basis of Chinese traditional culture. In China, the Book of Songs is the earliest poetry that contains much folk cultural of Pre-Qin dynasty, which reflects that our country’s folk culture is rich and colorful and has extensive knowledge and profound scholarship. However, as the time flying, there are lots of changes happened in the aspects of folk culture. In the tide of globalization, the folk custom culture that the basis of Chinese traditional culture is fading away gradually nowadays. According to this background, we should analyze the new appearance and discuss the protection measures of the folk culture further. It is not only because the Folk culture is the culture of the whole community foundation, and has strong vitality. As we all know, superficial culture is often the top of folk culture, and it is the result of the adaptation and refinement results of the folk culture, but also for the reason that Folk culture of a country are the national spirit of the main component of the national culture are an important cornerstone. So it is critical for Chinese peo ple learning more details about their own country’s folk culture. The traditional festival, also known as moon festival, is china’s second traditional festival next to the spring festival. It is the most important part of our country’s folk culture.

The five thousand years civilization of Chinese nation has bred brilliant folk culture, which forms the comparative advantage of industry development in folk culture resources. Chinese folk culture is famous to the whole world for it’s more than 5,000 years long history and its special existence forms. During the course of its long history, the hardworking Chinese people have created an ample material civilization as well as a splendid folk culture. In the field of folk culture, our people link the moon cakes and mid-autumn festival with Archer Yi, just like lots of people are fond of Associating Qu yuan and the dragon boat with the dragon boat festival, and combining sweeping day with honoring ancestor and new life.

Mid-autumn Festivals is one of three major Chinese holidays, along with the spring festival and The Dragon Boat Festival. It is an important festival during the eighth month of lunar calendar, for which billions of Chinese people go back to their home and gather together with their families. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pommels together. Mid-autumn festival as well as mouthwatering food people eaten during the period of it and various activities people held in the process of celebrating this festival play an important role of traditional festival, they are also kinds of civil epitome of our country’s folk culture.

Chinese people celebrate this significant festival from generations to generations since it was formed during the Xia and Shang dynasty. The mid-autumn festival is a traditional festival for both the Han and minority nationalities. There are also some records of the mid-autumn festival. The most popular records is that people believe

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.). Early 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. then it becomes very prevalent in the Tang dynasty (618 –907A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the southern song dynasty (1127—1279A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of the family reunion. And all families would get together on the evening of the mid-autumn festival to have ―the family reunion dinner‖ and eat the round moon cakes while enjoying the beauty of the full autumn moon. When it becomes dark, some people would look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. People from different ethnic groups in the same country differ from each other group in the way of celebrating the mid-autumn festival in details, the Tibetans, for instant, have their own tradition for the Mid-autumn Festival. But things have changed a bit after Ming dynasty. Since the Ming(1368—1644A.D.) and Qing dynasties (1644—1911A.D), the custom of mid-autumn festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear a bit union in the way of celebrating the mid-autumn festival and some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting mid-autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and dancing the fire dragon dances which is prevalent in Hong Kong. The custom of playing under the moon, however, is not as popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. On the other hand, it is also said that the festival originated in the imperial moon-worshipping ceremonies held when the moon was at its fullest on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. As the time flying, then this important activity honored by working people become more and more popular among the people. Whenever the mid-autumn 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. So the full moon gradually becomes a medium of communication and spiritual sustenance.

The traditional food marking the festival is the moon cake, whose round shape symbolizes both the fullness of the moon and family togetherness. About the moon cakes there are lots of legends. The most popular one among the Chinese people is the legend that happened in Yuan dynasty. During the Yuan dynasty china was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding sung dynasty were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of 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 successfully attached and overthrew the government. Nowadays, the special cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and were called the moon cake. People celebrate this traditional activity from generations to generations by eating various mouthwatering moon cakes and enjoying the beauty of the full autumn moon, the levels of the moon cakes gradually improved. As the rapid development of moon

cakes manufacturing technology, nowadays the moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, beans, Chinese dates, wheat and rice, it also include various other annexing agents. Usually something like egg yolk, milk and cheers can be found in the moon cakes, that is why the moon cakes are usually taste very sweet, soft and very delicious. It follows that people in vast increasing number compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the english-spoken country’s important festivals. The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and half inches in thickness, resembled western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. Originally, these cakes were just made with simple ingredients such as melon seeds, lotus seeds, beans, lard, triticum aestivum and rice. With the rapid development of social economy and technology, nowadays the moon cakes are being made with various new ingredients which only can be produced in our modern society. Recently, there are a variety of moon cakes in the moon cakes markets. But overall, the cake that a golden yolk 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 is the most common cake. Even though the moon and reunionare what mid-autumn festival celebration is all about, there are also lots of activities held in mid-autumn festival such as dancing fire dragon dance(跳火龙舞), Watching the Tide（观海潮）, Worshiping Months(祭月拜月).

The Mid-Autumn festival is Chinapeople's own unique festival. No matter when people refers to the mid-autumn festival, this traditional festival naturally leads us to the beautiful frames of family reunion and the picture described in the famous poem over moon festival as well as those great man of literature and writing that define our history. This traditional festival plays a very important role of our country’s folk culture. It gave us too much good cultural meaning and exerted a far reaching influence on Chinese people’s life even those Asian people’s life. it ma de our life more colorful, but what is the most important is that it Enriched our folk culture greatly and made a great contribution in spreading our culture as well as enhancing the influence of our culture in the world since more and more Asian countries’ people also have a ceremonious celebration to celebrate the coming of mid-autumn festival just like what we do during this traditional festival. Recently, the new national public holiday plan adds three traditional festivals– spring festival, Dragon-boat Festival and Mid Autumn Festival -- to the list of public holidays, which reflects that our country are playing more and more attention to the folk culture. It also passes on a message to us that we, as the citizen of our country, should to pay close attention to the development as well as the future of the folk culture.

商务英语4班Jackson (zuo)