中秋节里的文化探幽

安徽 王涛涛

中秋节是中国最重要的传统节日之一，通过中秋节，人们可以感受到中国传统节日的独特魅力。

?文章词数387难度★★★★建议用时7 分钟

1Chinese seem to bring their happiness to the people around the world during festivals, especially in the Mid-Autumn Festival. So-called “The moon, growing full now over the sea, brightens the whole of heaven” exactly conveys such an idea.

2With regard to the universality of the connotation（含义） of the Mid-Autumn Festival, enjoying the full moon is one of the main festival folk customs in the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. Not only limited to enjoying the full moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been a major day for social activities in Ming and Qing dynasties and belonged to one of the three largest festivals. The main significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival lies in celebrating the harvest, strengthening family ethics and advocating interpersonal communication. The main content of the Mid-Autumn Festival is laying emphasis on family ethics and interpersonal relationships.

3Traditional festivals are an important opportunity of intensively showing traditional culture while Chinese and overseas Chinese are the important carriers of popularizing traditional Chinese festivals to the world. When joyfully celebrating traditional ethnic festivals, they are emphasizing their cultural identity, showing the cultural glamour （魅力） of traditional Chinese festivals, and bringing the residents different cultural feelings through the festival ceremonies, festive dishes of ethnic groups and the emotional conveyance （传送） of festivals contained in them. Our traditional festivals will be endowed with global significance if the Spring Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and other festivals can draw the attention of local residents, enable them to understand our traditions and share our cultural heritage with them.

4To present traditional Chinese festival culture to the world, we should depend on small but complete festival items. For instance, markers like festival ceremonies, activities, gifts, food, souvenirs and dolls should be meticulously polished and designed to turn intangible non-material culture into enjoyable and tangible material carriers. Only such festival items can move people. For example, the roses on Valentine's Day, the fried thin paste on Chinese Valentine's Day and the moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival all have their tastes and implications. In the meanwhile, we can also learn from the festival folk customs created by East Asian countries and overseas Chinese, enrich and expand the contents of our traditional festival customs, enable traditional festivals to further meet the demand of globalization, get closer to human nature and better serve families and society.

Reading Check

Ⅰ. Choose the best answers according to the text

Ⅱ. Discussion

Do you agree on the significance of traditional Chinese festivals in the text? What's your understanding of the significance of traditional Chinese festivals?

_________________________________________________

Language Study

Complete the following phrases according to the text

1. 中秋节the____________Festival

2. 关于with____________to

3. 民间习俗____________customs

4. 庆祝丰收celebrate the____________

5. 强调lay____________on

6. 人际关系____________relationships

7. 文化身份cultural____________

8. 依靠；取决于____________on

主题应用·语库构建

Ⅰ. 热词积累

传统节日

Chinese New Year/the Spring Festival春节

New Year's Eve 除夕

the Little New Year 小年

the Lantern Festival 元宵节

Tomb-Sweeping Day/the Qingming Festival清明节

the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节

the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

the Double Seventh Festival/the Qixi

Festival 七夕

the Double Ninth Festival 重阳节

the Laba Festival 腊八节

文化习俗

ceremony 典礼；仪式

celebration 庆典；庆祝活动

paper cutting 剪纸

Chinese knotting 中国结

hold a variety of activities 举办各种各样的活动

do the Spring Festival shopping 置办年货

paste the Spring Festival couplets 贴春联

paste the Chinese character “fu” 贴“福”字

offer sacrifices to the God of Stove 祭灶

offer sacrifices to one's ancestors 祭祖

worship the God of Wealth 拜财神

get rid of the ill-fortune 去晦气

sweep the dust 扫尘

bid farewell to the old year 辞旧岁

have a haircut 理发

wear new clothes 穿新衣

make dumplings 包水饺

have/enjoy the family reunion dinner 吃团圆饭

watch a display of fireworks 观看烟火表演

set/let off fire crackers 放鞭炮

watch/enjoy the Spring Festival Gala 看春晚

hand out red envelopes 发红包

give lucky money 发压岁钱

go to the temple fair 逛庙会

guess lantern riddles 猜灯谜

pay a New Year's visit 拜年

send New Year's greeting cards 送新年贺卡

exchange gifts 交换礼物

enjoy the full moon together 一起赏月

watch the dragon boat race 观看龙舟比赛

Ⅱ. 美句背诵

1. The Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people and it is when all family members get together,just like Christmas in the West. 春节对中国人来说是最重要的节日， 也是所有家庭成员聚在一起的时刻， 就像西方的圣诞节一样。

2. The Spring Festival is a time for family reunion. It's a “must” for all of the family members to get together for the reunion dinner. People usually enjoy some traditional dishes at the reunion dinner. 春节是与家人团聚的时刻。 所有家庭成员都“必须”聚在一起吃团圆饭。 团圆饭通常是吃一些中国的传统菜肴。

3. People will usually decorate their doors and windows with red paper cutting because red means good luck. They usually clean their houses too,because they want to sweep away any bad luck. 人们通常会用红色剪纸装饰门窗， 因为红色代表好运。他们还会进行大扫除，因为他们想把霉运一扫而光。

4. The Lantern Festival is on the 15th day after the Chinese New Year in the first lunar month, normally in the middle or at the end of February. 元宵节是在农历第一个月的中国新年后的第15天，通常是在二月中旬或二月底。

5. People write riddles on the lanterns for passers-by to figure out. There are many kinds of riddles and most of them are connected with Chinese culture,referring to customs, historical events or Chinese literary works. 人们在灯笼上写谜语让过路的人猜。谜语的种类很多，大多与中国文化有关，涉及风俗习惯、历史事件或中国文学作品。

6. The Qingming Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals, which is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work but also a festival of commemoration.清明节是中国传统节日之一， 不仅是指导农作的季节性时间点， 也是一个纪念节日。

7. The Duanwu Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, so it is commonly known as the Double Fifth Festival or the Dragon Boat Festival. 端午节是在农历五月初五， 所以它通常被称为重午节或龙舟节。

8. Zongzi is one of the traditional festival foods of the Chinese nation. Chinese have the custom of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival. 粽子是一种中华民族的传统节日食物。 中国人有在端午节吃粽子的习俗。

9. The Double Seventh Festival, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. 七夕，即每年农历七月初七，是一个充满浪漫气息的传统节日。

10. Moon cakes are one of the most famous traditional cakes in China and it is a custom to eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. 月饼是中国最有名的传统糕点之一， 中秋节吃月饼是一种习俗。

11. What we love most is the time when we enjoy the full moon together.With the beautiful moon up in the sky, we sit together and eat moon cakes, sharing our stories. 我们最喜欢的是我们一起赏月的时光。美丽的月亮挂在天空中，我们坐在一起吃月饼，分享我们的故事。

12. In recent times, the Double Ninth Festival has become an occasion to pay respect to the old. 到了近代，重阳节这一传统节日成了敬老的佳节。

Ⅲ. 读后创写

假定你是校学生会主席， 新年即将到来， 为了帮助你校的外国学生更好地了解中国文化， 学生会将为他们举办一个新年晚会。请根据以下提示，给外国学生拟一份口头通知。

1. 时间和地点；

2. 晚会内容。

注意：

1. 词数80左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Good afternoon, every one._________

Ⅳ. 主题测评

见P47～P57自测园地“节日，多彩的文化”内容