20160216 【元宵節小典故】

元宵節的由來：漢文帝
　　元宵節的由來，說法很多，但根據史籍，一般認為元宵節開始於西漢時期。相傳漢文帝是在大將周勃戡平「諸呂之亂」後即位稱帝的，而戡平的日子剛好是正月十五，因此每逢正月十五這一天漢文帝都會出宮遊玩，與民同樂，以示紀念。在古代正月又稱為元月，稱夜為「宵」，正月十五又是一年的第一個月圓夜，所以，漢文帝就把它定為「元宵節」，又稱「元夜」或「元夕」。


中國的情人節

　　元宵節也是一個浪漫的節日，元宵燈會在封建的傳統社會中，也給未婚男女相識提供了一個機會，傳統社會的年輕女孩不允許出外自由活動，但是過節卻可以結伴出來遊玩，元宵節賞花燈正好是一個交誼的機會，未婚男女借著賞花燈也順便可以為自己物色對象。元宵燈節期間，又是男女青年與情人相會的時機。


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元宵節玩甚麼

　　這元宵節的夜晚，處處可見兒童手提燈籠外出嬉戲，各地的廟宇也會張燈結綵，高搭彩棚，展示各式飛禽走獸、花鳥人物及古今人物的花燈，並舉辦花燈競賽。 而在中正紀念堂的舉辦「臺北燈會」，每年都有相當精彩的展示活動，吸引了不少賞燈的人潮。熱鬧有趣的燈謎晚會則為更豐富了元宵節的習俗 。
　　此外，臺南鹽水的蜂炮、臺北平溪的放天燈等地方特殊風俗活動，亦為元宵節熱 鬧的夜空添增燦爛色彩，故又有「南蜂炮、北天燈」之稱。
　　除了觀賞花燈、提燈籠外，吃湯圓也是元宵節重要的習俗之一，圓圓軟軟的湯圓，希望家家都能團圓無缺。

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元宵節的由來英文介紹

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

This day's 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 Buddha's 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 grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.

每年農曆的正月十五日，春節剛過，迎來的就是中國的傳統節日--元宵節。元宵節主要的活動就是看燈。東漢明帝時期，明帝提倡佛教，聽說佛教有正月十五日僧人觀佛舍利，點燈敬佛的做法，就命令這一天夜晚在皇宮和寺廟裡點燈敬佛，令士族庶民都掛燈。以後這種佛教禮儀節日逐漸形成民間盛大的節日。該節經歷了由宮廷到民間，由中原到全國的發展過程。


　　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. "Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival.

Lantern owners write riddles on 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 people's 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.

直到今天，元宵節點燈的習俗仍然在中國的各地流傳的，各式各樣美麗的花燈在這一天都會點亮，孩子們提著自製的燈籠走街串巷，非常高興。猜燈謎也是元宵節的一項重要活動，花燈的主人會將謎面寫在燈籠上，掛在門口，如果有人可以猜中，就能得到小小的禮物。這項活動最早起源於宋朝，因為謎語能啟迪智慧又饒有興趣，所以流傳過程中深受社會各階層的歡迎。

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 glutinous rice 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. What’s 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.
民間過元宵節吃元宵的習俗。元宵由糯米製成，或實心，或帶餡。餡有豆沙、白糖、山楂、各類果料等，食用時煮、煎、蒸、炸皆可。起初，人們把這種食物叫“浮圓子”，後來又叫“湯糰”或“湯圓”，這些名稱“團圓”字音相近，取團圓之意，象徵全家人團團圓圓，和睦幸福，人們也以此懷念離別的親人，寄託了對未來生活的美好願望。

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.
隨著時間的推移，元宵節的活動越來越多，白天有耍龍燈、耍獅子、踩高蹺、劃旱船扭秧歌、打太平鼓等傳統民俗表演。到了夜晚，除了五顏六色的美花燈之外，還有豔麗多姿的煙火。大多數家庭會在春節時留下一些煙花等到元宵節這天燃放，而一些地方政府也會舉辦煙花大會，當新年的第一個月圓之夜在盛大的煙火表演中來臨時，人們都陶醉在這令人難忘了煙花與皎潔的明月中。

元宵節英文字彙
元宵節：festival of lanterns，lantern festival dumplings
元宵： the rice glue ball
燈謎：riddles written on lanterns
燈具：lamps and lanterns
燈花： snuff
燈籠褲： bloomers galligaskins knickers pantalettes plus fours
燈籠： lantern scaldfish
燈塔： beacon lighthouse pharos
燈語： lamp signal
燈油： kerosene lamp oil