春节习俗英文表达

春节庆祝活动是一年中最重要的庆祝活动。中国人庆祝春节的方式可能略微不同，但其愿望几乎是相同的，他们希望其家人和朋友来年健康和幸运。

Chinese New Year Celebration usually lasts for 15 days. Celebratory activities include Chinese New Feast, firecrackers, giving lucky money to children, the New Year bell ringing and Chinese New Year Greetings. Most of Chinese people will stop the celebrating in their home on the 7th day of New Year because the national holiday usually ends around that day, however celebrations in public areas can last until the 15th day of New Year.

春节庆祝活动通常持续15天。庆祝活动包括春节的年夜饭，放鞭炮，给儿童压岁钱，春节钟声和春节问候。大多数中国人将在春节的第7天停止庆祝活动，因为全国性节假通常在这一天结束，但在公共场所的庆祝活动可能最终持续到正月十五。

House Cleaning

房屋打扫

To clean houses on the New Year Eve is a very old custom dating back to thousands of years ago. The dust is traditionally associated wit h “old” so cleaning their houses and sweeping the dust mean to bid farewell to the “old” and usher in the “new”. Days before the New Year, Chinese families clean their houses, sweeping the floor, washing daily things, cleaning the spider webs and dredging the ditches. People do all these things happily in the hope of a good coming year.

春节打扫房屋这个非常古老的习俗甚至可以追溯到几千年前。灰尘在传统上与“旧”联系在一起，所以打扫房屋和扫除灰尘意味着辞“旧”迎“新”。春节的前几天，中国的各家各户都打扫房屋，扫地，清洗日用品，清除蛛网和疏浚沟渠。人们兴高采烈做所有这些事情，希望来年好运。

House decoration

房屋装饰

One of the house decorations is to post couplets on doors. On the Spring Festival couplets, good wishes are expressed. New Year couplets are usually posted in pairs as even numbers are associated with good luck and auspiciousness in Chinese culture.房屋装饰之一就是在门上贴对联。在春联上，抒发良好的祝愿。春联通常是成对张贴，因为双数在中国文化中是好运气和吉祥的象征。

People in north China are used to posting paper-cut on their windows. When sticking the window decoration paper-cuts, people paste on the door large red Chinese

character “fu”A red "fu"means good luck and fortune, so it is cus tomary to post "fu"on doors or walls on auspicious occasions such as wedding, festivals.

在中国北方，人们习惯于在窗户上贴剪纸。人们既在窗户上贴剪纸，又在大门上贴上大大的红色汉字“福”字，一个红色“福”字意味着好运和财富，因此习惯上在婚礼，节日之类的吉祥场合中，人们都会在门或墙上贴“福”字。

Waiting for the First Bell Ringing of Chinese New Year

等待春节的第一声钟鸣

The first bell ringing is the symbol of Chinese New Year. Chinese people like to go to a large squares where there are huge bells are set up on New Year’s Eve. As the New Year approaches they count down and celebrate together. The people believe that the ringing of huge bell can drive all the bad luck away and bring the fortune to them. In recent years, some people have begun going to mountain temples to wait for the first ringing. Hanshan Temple in Suzhou, is very famous temple for its first ringing of the bell to herald Chinese New Year. Many foreigners now go to Hanshan Temple to celebrate Chinese New Year.

第一次钟声是春节的象征。中国人喜欢到一个大广场，那里有为除夕设置的大钟。随着春节的临近，他们开始倒计数并一起庆祝。人们相信了大钟的撞响可以驱除霉运，带来好运。近年来，有些人开始去山上寺庙等待第一次钟声。苏州的寒山寺就非常著名，它的钟声宣布春节的到来。现在有许多外国人也去寒山寺庆祝春节。

Staying up late ("Shousui")

熬夜（“守岁”）

Shousui means to stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve. After the great dinner, families sit together and chat happily to wait for the New Year’s arrival.

守岁意味着除夕夜不睡觉。年夜饭后，家人聚坐一起，愉快聊天，等待春节的到来。

New Year Feast

年夜饭

Spring Festival is a time for family reunion. The New Year's Feast is "a must" banquet with all the family members getting together. The food eaten on the New Year Eve banquet varies according to regions. In south China, It is customary to eat "niangao" (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher every year". In the north, a traditional dish for the feast is "Jiaozi" or dumplings shaped like a crescent moon.

春节是与家人团聚的时间。年夜饭是所有家庭成员聚在一起“必须”的宴会。除夕宴会上吃的食物根据不同的地区各不相同。在中国南方，习惯吃“年糕”（糯米粉制成的新年糕点），因为作为一个同音字，年糕意味着“步步高升”。在北方，年夜饭的传统饭是“饺子”或像月牙儿形的汤圆。

Setting Firecrackers

燃放鞭炮

Lighting Firecrackers used to be one of the most important customs in the Spring Festival celebration. However, concerning the danger and the negative noises that lighting firecrackers may bring, the government has banned this practice in many major cities. But people in small towns and rural areas still hold to this traditional celebration. Right as the clock strikes 12 o'clock midnight of New Year's Eve, cities and towns are lit up with the glitter from fireworks, and the sound can be deafening. Families stay up for this joyful moment and kids with firecrackers in one hand and a lighter in another cheerfully light their happiness in this especial occasion, even though they plug their ears.

放鞭炮曾是春节庆祝活动中最重要的习俗之一。然而，担心燃放鞭炮可能会带来危险和烦人的噪音，政府已在许多大城市下令禁止燃放鞭炮。但在小城镇和农村地区的人们仍然坚持这种传统的庆祝活动。除夕夜一旦时钟撞响午夜12点钟，城市和乡镇都被烟花的闪闪光芒映亮，鞭炮声震耳欲聋。一家人熬夜就为这个欢乐的时刻，孩子们一手拿鞭炮，一手拿火机兴高采烈地点放着他们在这个特殊节日的快乐，尽管他们吓得捂着耳朵。

New Year Greetings(Bai Nian)

春节的问候（拜年）

On the first day of the New Year or shortly thereafter, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and Gongxi (congratulations), wishing each other good luck, happiness during the new year. In Chinese villages, some villagers may have hundreds of relatives so they have to spend more than two weeks visiting their relatives.

在春节第一天或此后不久，大家都穿着新衣服，带着弓向亲戚和朋友打招呼并恭喜（祝贺），彼此祝愿在新的一年里好运，幸福。在中国农村，有些村民可能有数以百计的亲戚，所以他们不得不拿出两个多星期来走亲访友。

On the first day of the new year, it’s customary for the younger generations to visit the elders, wishing them healthy and longevity.

春节第一天，按习惯，小一辈人要拜见老一辈，祝愿他们健康长寿。

Because visiting relatives and friends takes a lot of time, now, some busy people will send New Year cards to express their good wishes rather than pay a visit personally.

因为探亲访友花费大量时间，所以，现在有些忙碌的人就送春节贺卡来表达他们的良好祝愿，而不是亲自去拜访。

Lucky Money

压岁钱

It is the money given to kids from their parents and grandparents as New Year gift. The money is believed to bring good luck, ward off monsters; hence the name "lucky money". Parents and grandparents first put money in small, especially-made red envelopes and give the red envelopes to their kids after the New Year's Feast or when they come to visit them on the New Year. They choose to put the money in red envelopes because Chinese people think red is a lucky color. They want to give their children both lucky money and lucky color.

这是孩子们的父母和祖父母给他们作为春节礼物的钱。压岁钱据说能带来好运，能驱魔；因此，就有了“压岁钱”的称呼。父母和祖父母先把钱放入特制的小红包里，年夜饭后或当孩子们来拜年时，将红包发给他们。他们之所以要把钱放到红包里，是因为中国人认为红色是个幸运色。他们想给自己孩子既有压岁钱还有幸运色。

‘中国新年（Chinese New Year）’或‘春节（Spring Festival）’是最重要的中国传统节日（traditional Chinese holiday），也叫‘农历新年（Lunar New Year）’。这个节日从农历正月初一（the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar）开始，直到正月十五元宵节（Lantern Festival）结束。除夕（Chinese New Year's Eve）的字面含义是‘Year-pass Eve’。据说当初春节是为了纪念与一头叫做‘年’的神话野兽进行的斗争（fight against a mythical beast called 'Nian'）。

中国的阴阳历（lunisolar calendar）而不是公历（Gregorian calendar）决定了春节的日期。天干（heavenly stems）和地支（earthly branches）用来纪年。阴阳（yin and yang）与五行（the five elements of Chinese astrology）也用来描述一个具体年份。很多人混淆了他的农历生年（Chinese birth-year）

和公历生年（Gregorian birth-year）。有些算命的人（sign calculators）也会混淆农历和阳历。

12年形成一个属相（animal zodiac）循环（cycle）；60年形成一个综合循环。十二属相（zodiac animal signs）包括：鼠（rat）、牛（ox）、虎（tiger）、兔（rabbit）、龙（dragon）、蛇（snake）、马（horse）、羊（ram/sheep）、猴（monkey）、鸡（rooster）、狗（dog）与猪（pig）。

春节在很多国家和地区（countries and territories）都是公共假期（public holiday），包括中国大陆、中国台湾、中国香港、中国澳门、马来西亚、新加坡、文莱（Brunei）、印度尼西亚和菲律宾。还有一些国家以其它方式纪念中国春节，包括澳大利亚、加拿大、法国、新西兰和美国等。在正式假期（official holiday）前后，庆祝活动（celebrations/festivities）一直在进行。各国对春节规定的法定假期（statutory holiday）长短不一。

春节期间的庆祝活动中最重要的是拜访亲朋好友（visits to kin, relatives and friends），即‘拜年（new-year visits）’。青年人（juniors）和孩子（children）可以从已婚者（the married）和长辈（the elders）那里拿到红包（red packets/envelope）。红包也叫压岁钱，是从‘压祟钱（the money used to suppress or put down the evil spirits）’发展而来。钱数应为偶数（even numbers），因为奇数（odd numbers）不吉利。数字4被认为不吉利，因为和‘死’同音（a homophone with death）；数字8吉利，因为和‘发（wealth）’同音。互赠礼物（gift exchange）也是人们之间常有的事儿。

春节前一般要彻底打扫卫生（a thorough cleaning），以扫掉前一年的坏运气（to sweep away the bad luck of the preceding year）并迎接好运（to be ready for good luck）。房间要用带有吉利话（auspicious phrases）的剪纸（paper cutouts）和春联（couplets）进行装饰。信佛（Buddhism）和信道（Taoism）的人会将神坛（altar）与塑像（statues）清理干净。某些地区的人会有‘送神（sending the God home）’的仪式。灶王爷（Kitchen God）的纸人（paper effigy）会被烧掉以便让他去向玉帝（Jade Emperor）汇报这家人的好事（good deeds）和劣迹（transgressions）。

除夕最大的事儿就是吃团圆饭（reunion dinner），与西方的圣诞晚餐（Christmas dinner）的重要性类似。年夜饭上往往会有鱼，但某些地区的人不吃它，留到第二天，以示‘年年有余（May there be surpluses every year），

因为在汉语中‘鱼（fish）’与‘余（surplus）’同音。在北方（northern China），习惯上一定会在饭后开始包饺子（dumpling/jiaozi）并在午夜（around midnight）煮食。饺子象征财富（wealth），因为它外形像银锭（Chinese tael）。在南方（southern China），通常要做年糕（niangao/new year cake）。它的汉语发音表示越来越富有（increasingly prosperous）。现代的人们有时会进行倒计时（countdown）来迎接春节。从上世纪八十年代开始，中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会（CCTV New Year's Gala）会在每年的春节到来前开始播出。鞭炮（firecrackers）和焰火（fireworks）也是制造节日气氛的重要工具，不过在很多城市被禁放（banned）以防止火灾（fire hazards）。政府会组织大型焰火（large-scale fireworks）燃放来庆祝节日。

初一从‘接神（welcoming the deities of the heavens and earth）’开始，随后就是拜年等活动。初二是已婚妇女回娘家（for married daughters to visit their birth families/parents）的日子。有些人认为初三、初四不适合拜年，而适合上坟（grave-visiting）。初五被认为是财神爷（god of

wealth/fortune god）的生日。正月十五要吃元宵（rice dumplings: a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup）。户外还要燃起蜡烛（candles）以引领游魂（wayward spirits）回到自己的家。人们也会提着点燃的灯笼（lighted lanterns）逛街。

春节期间也有一些令局外人困惑的迷信（superstitious beliefs）或者传统文化观念（traditional cultural beliefs）。比如贴红菱形纸（red diamond-shaped poster）的‘福（auspiciousness）’字。它常常被倒着贴（hanging upside down），因为汉语的‘倒（upside down）’与‘到（arrive）’是同音字（homophones）。金元宝（yuanbao ingots）象征财富。除了春联，年画（New Year pictures）、中国结（Chinese knots）、剪纸（papercutting）等都用来增加气氛。舞龙（dragon dance）和舞狮（lion dance）也是人们庆祝春节的传统活动。人们打招呼会说一些吉祥话，如‘新年快乐（Happy New Year）’、‘恭喜发财（Congratulations and be prosperous）’、‘岁岁平安（Everlasting peace year after year）’等。

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together,

春节是我国民间最重要的传统节日，这是一家团聚的时刻,

just like Christmas in the West.

就像西方的圣诞节一样.

It originated in the Shang Dynasty from the people's sacrifices to gods and ancestors 春节起源于殷商时期祭神祭祖活动，

at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.

在辞旧迎新之际。

During the last ten days before Spring Festival,

在春节前最后十天，

store owners are busy as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year.大小商铺生意兴隆，因为人们都忙于置年货。

Materials not only include edible oil, rice, poultry, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and all kinds of nuts.

年货包括油、米、鸡、鸭、鱼、肉，还有糖饵果品及各式各样的果仁。

What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children

除此之外，人们还要准备各种各样的装饰物，为小孩子添置新衣新鞋，

as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives are all on the list of purchasing.

以及准备过年时走亲访友、孝敬长辈的礼品。

Before the New Year comes, people completely clean the inside and outside of their homes.

春节前，人们会把屋子里里外外都打扫得干干净净。

Then they begin decorating their clean rooms with an atmosphere of joy and festivity.然后，他们会把家装饰得充满节日气氛

All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets.

门的两侧贴上春联，

Also, pictures of the gods of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits

大门前还要贴上门神和财神的画像以避邪

and welcome peace and abundance. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass.迎福。在窗户玻璃上贴上红色剪纸。

According to custom, each family will stay up to count down for the New Year on the eve of the Spring Festival.

按照传统，除夕晚上全家老少都要一起熬夜守岁，倒数新年。

Lighting firecrackers was once the most typical custom during the Spring Festival.在过去，点爆竹是春节最典型的习俗。

People thought the banging and popping could help drive away evil spirits.

人们认为鞭炮齐鸣能驱赶邪气。

Children will get money as a New Year's gift, wrapped up in red packets.

孩子会得到装在红包里的压岁钱。

A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days.

一系列的春节活动，比如舞狮子、耍龙灯、演社火、逛庙会等都将持续数天。

The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is over.

直到元宵节过后，春节才算真正结束。

【Greeting 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 Festival 【Customs】：

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

买年货 special purchases for the Spring Festival ;do Spring Festival shopping

年画 New Year paintings 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 禁忌 taboo

拜年 pay New Year‘s call; give New Year‘s greetings; New Year‘s visit

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 gift

【Culture 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-cleaning

【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 八宝饭 eight treasures rice pudding

汤圆 Tang-yuan; dumplings made of sweet rice, rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings 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 红枣 red dates - prosperity

糖莲子 candied lotus seed - many descendents to come

糖藕 candied lotus root - fulfilling love relationship

花生糖 peanut candy - sweet

【Blessing】:

Treasures fill the home 财源广进

Business flourishes 事业兴隆

Peace all year round 岁岁平安

Wishing you prosperity 恭喜发财

Harmony brings wealth 家和万事兴

May all your wishes come true 心想事成

Everything goes well 万事如意

The country flourishes and people live in peace 国家富强、人民安康

Money and treasures will be plentiful 财源茂盛

Wishing you every success Promoting to a higher position 事业有成、更上一层楼、蒸蒸日上

Safe trip wherever you go 一帆风顺

Wish you happiness and prosperity in the coming year! 祝你新的一年快乐幸福

Wish you success in your career and happiness of your family! 事业成功，家庭美满（阖家欢乐）

【中国新年禁忌】：

Dos and Donts of Chinese New Year

Do's:

Wish everyone you meet a happy New Year by saying "gong xi fa cai", which translates to: "Have a happy and prosperous New Year!" 对每一个你遇到的人道一声：“恭喜发财”，翻译成英文就是：“在新的一年里拥有幸福繁荣的生活”；

Wear articles of red clothing because red symbolizes luck. 穿红色布料做成的饰品，因为红色昭示着幸运；

Eat vegetarian food because it's not good to see blood. 吃素食，因为见血是不吉利的；

Buy new trousers because the Chinese word for trousers is "fu", (Chinese homonym for wealth) 买新裤子（衣服），因为汉语里裤子

就是“服”，（在汉语里与财富的“富”谐音）；

Children should stay up as late as possible on New Year's Eve for it is believed that the later they stay up, the longer their parents will live. 孩子应该在除夕之夜尽可能晚睡、熬夜因为据说

他们睡的越晚，他们的父母越长寿；

Visit family (especially those older than yourself) and friends to pass on your wishes on good fortune for the New Year. (plus kids and single people will receive lai-see lucky red packets full of money. 拜访亲戚朋友（尤其是比你年长的），传递

你对他们来年幸福的美好祝愿（另外孩子和单身的人将会得到装满钱的幸运红包，称为“来喜”。）

Give two lai see to each child. Because happiness comes in two's, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lai see to employees and associates. 给每个孩子两份“来喜”（我觉得应该指钱是偶数的），因为好事成双，不要只给一份。这是你把祝愿传递给下一代的方法。企业主（老板）也要给员工和同事红包。

Don'ts:

Don't wear white or black clothing, since they are the traditional colours of mourning. 不要穿白色或黑色服装，因为这是传统意义上丧事的颜色；

Don't buy new shoes for the first month of the New Year, because the sound of shoe in Chinese is "hai". "Hai" is similar to the sound of sighing, which Chinese believe is not a good way to start the year. 不要在新年的第一个月买新鞋，因为在汉语里鞋的发音是“孩”（好像是四川地区的发音），它与叹息”唉“相近，中国人认为这不是新年伊始的好兆头。

Don't wash your hair for the first three days of the New Year, because the Chinese word for hair is a homonym for the Chinese word for wealth. Therefore, Chinese believe it isn't a good thing to 'wash away your wealth' right at the start of the New Year. 在新年的前三天里不要洗头，因为汉语里“头发”的“发”和“发财”的“发”同音。因此，中国认为在新年伊始把财富给冲走可不是好兆头。

Floors may not be swept and garbage may not be disposed of on the first day of the New Year for fear of casting riches out the door. 在新年第一天，不拖地，不扔垃圾，因为怕把"财"给送走了；

Don't swear or quarrel. 不要诅咒发誓，也不愿吵架；

Don't break any dishes, otherwise you may incur more misfortune for the New Year. In the event of breaking a dish, quickly say "Peace for all time", and the bad luck will be warded away. 不要打破碗碟，否则在来年你可能会遭遇不幸。一旦打破了，要马上说“岁岁平安”，这样坏运气就会被赶走了；

Don't greet people who are in mourning. 不要向服丧期的人们问候（主要指不要说喜庆的话吧？）

Don't drop your chopsticks. 不要让筷子掉地上；

Don't say the number 'four' (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death. 不要说数字“四”（汉语里和“死”谐音）或者提到死；

Don't borrow or lend money. 不要借钱也不要借给别人钱。