元宵节的来历和习俗
元宵节在农历正月十五，通常是公历二月或三月，早在我国西汉时期（公元前206年——公元25年）就成为一个重要节日了。
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 grandfestival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.这一天重要的活动就是看灯啦。早在公元前206年至公元220年的汉代，佛教就在中国盛行。有一位帝王听说僧侣可以看到舍利，也就是佛被火化后留存在体内的东西，在阴历的正月十五这一天点灯敬拜佛祖，于是这位帝王就命令这一天在他的宫殿和庙宇里点灯以表现他对佛祖的尊敬。此后，这项佛教仪式发展成为普通民众的盛大节日，它的影响力从中原地区一直蔓延到整个中国。
直到今天，全国上下每年都会过元宵节。不同形状和大小的灯笼会悬挂在街上，吸引无数的游人。孩子们会拿着自制的或买来的灯笼在街上闲逛，十分开心。
"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.“猜灯谜”是节日的核心部分。灯笼的主人会将谜语写在一张纸条上并贴在灯笼上。如果游客能解开灯谜，他们就能将纸条拿下来去灯笼的主人那看答案是否正确。如果答案是对的，他们将会得到一份小礼物。这项活动最早在宋朝（公元960-1279）出现，当人们在赏灯的时候开始。由于猜灯谜极具趣味性，又需要动脑筋，所以后来在全社会各阶层中受到普遍欢迎。
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 glutinousrice 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.人们在元宵节的时候会吃元宵，因此这个节日也就叫做元宵节。“元宵”还有另外一个名字—汤圆，用糯米粉做皮，玫瑰花瓣、芝麻、豆酱、枣泥、胡桃肉、干果、糖和食用油做馅，做成的小面球团。汤圆可以煮、炸或者蒸来吃。吃起来甜甜的，很美味。而且，汤圆在中国和“团圆”这个词的发音相似，代表着团团圆圆。因此人们吃汤圆会象征着家庭的团圆、和谐和快乐。
每年农历的一月十五日是中国人的元宵节，它正好在春节之后。
The Lantern Festival is celebrated everywhere on January 15th of the lunar calendar, right after the Spring Festival.
传统意义上元宵节也是春节活动的一部分。
Traditionally, the Lantern Festival is a part of the Spring Festival.
这天是农历新年里第一个月圆的日子。
This day is always the first full moon in the lunar New Year.
中国各地张灯结彩，家家户户歌舞游乐，人们做元宵、放烟火。
Across China, people celebrate by hanging up lanterns and festoons, attending dancing and singing performances, making “Yuan Xiao” or sweet rice dumplings and lighting fireworks.
这也是庆祝春节的延续。
This is also a continuation of the Spring Festival celebration.
在元宵节之夜，天上明月高照，地上彩灯万盏。
On the Lantern Festival night, the moon illuminates the dark sky while many lanterns shine bright colors on the earth.
元宵夜观花灯的习俗开始于两千多年前的西汉时期。
The traditions of viewing decorative lanterns on this night began more than two thousand years ago in the Western Han Dynasty.
最早只是在皇宫中点灯祈福。
In the earlier times, those beautiful lanterns were only seen in the imperial palaces.
慢慢地演变成民间最盛大的灯节。
Slowly it evolved into a celebration on the grand scale for the ordinary folks everywhere.
在元宵节前许多天，人们就开始忙着用油纸、绸布、竹子和花朵等材料制作各式各样的灯笼。
A few days before the lantern festival, people begin gathering oiled paper, silk cloths, bamboo sticks and flower to make all types of lanterns.
或者到热闹的灯市上挑选自己喜爱的灯笼。
Some people go to the lively streets to pick a personal favorite.
花灯的主题既有民间传说，又有节日习俗和各种吉祥物等。
The lanterns sometimes come in a series about certain folklore, holiday customs, or lucky mascots.
元宵节也是一个浪漫的节日。
The Lantern Festival is also a romantic holiday.
在封建社会时，年轻女孩不允许出外自由活动。
In feudal society, young girls were not allowed to go out freely.
但在元宵节晚上，她们却可以结伴出游观赏花灯。
But on the night of the Lantern Festival, they were allowed to view the lantern lights in groups.
未婚男女也常借着赏花灯与情人相会。
Sometimes couples would go on dates strolling down the streets lit with lantern lights.
如今人们依然会在元宵夜相邀一起去赏花灯。
Today people still invite others to view lanterns together.
在中国南北各地都有风格不同的元宵灯会。
Across China, the Lantern Festival is celebrated in many different styles.
在临水的地方，人们把做好的莲花灯放进河里，让灯顺流而下，带去自己对已逝亲人的思念。
In places near water, people put Lotus Lanterns in the river to let them flow down stream, carrying the loss they feel for the relatives that have passed away.
在北方，传统习俗与现代科技相结合发展成为冰灯节。
In the North, as traditional customs combined with modern science and technology, there evolved the Ice Lantern Festival.
天然冰雪与灯光色彩巧妙结合，透过雕塑、造型、建筑和造景，成为一个绚丽的冰雪天堂。
The combination of the ice and snow with colored lights, carvings, designs, and special scenery yield a spectacular winter paradise.
猜灯谜是中国特有的文字游戏。
The Lantern Riddle is a special word-game played by the Chinese people.
人们不仅制作出各种漂亮的灯笼供大家观赏，还设计出许多有趣的谜语。
The Chinese people not only craft many types of beautiful lanterns for the others to appreciate, but also create many interesting riddles.
传统的灯谜是直接写在灯笼上的。
The traditional riddles are written on the lanterns.
现在，人们在灯笼的下面贴上写了谜语的纸条，供观灯的人猜。
Today, many people glue a slip of paper with the riddle at the bottom of the lanterns for the viewers to solve.
那些猜中的人还会得到出谜者赠送的小奖品。
Those who solve the riddles correctly will receive a prize from the riddle’s creator.
和其他的中国传统节日一样，元宵节也有自己的节日食品——“元宵”。
Just like China’s other traditional holidays, the Lantern Festival also has its own special dish —“Yuan Xiao”, or sweet dumpling soup.
虽然“元宵”在南北两地叫法不同，做法也不同，但它们都是用糯米粉做皮儿。
Although the sweet dumplings differ in name and recipe from the North and South, they are always made with glutinous rice flour as the outside.
里面包上各种果仁和糖做成的馅儿。
The filling is usually composed of different kinds of fruit kernels and sugar.
包出来的形状是一样的——圆圆的、白白的，因为它和元宵夜的圆月一样，代表着团圆。
The sweet dumplings are always round and white, as it represents the moon on the night of the Lantern Festival.
元宵
Sweet Dumplings Soup
团圆
reunion
灯谜
lantern riddles
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