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Spring Festival and the legend about the Spring Festival
Facts about the Spring Festival
1. The Spring Festival is also called Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year. It is regarded as the most important traditional festival for Chinese people. Now it is the most important national holiday in China.
2. The Spring Festival originated in the Shang Dynasty. During that time , people sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of the old year or at the beginning of a new year.
3. The Date of the Spring Festival is determined by the lunar calendar. The festival is celebrated on the first day of the first lunar month , which often occurs sometime in the last ten days of January or in February according to the Gregorian calendar（公历，阳历）.
4. Each Chinese New Year is named for one of the 12 zodiacal（生肖） animals in turn. The animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
5. During the Spring Festival , people decorate the streets with flowers, colored banners and all kinds of red lanterns.
6. The Spring Festival is now a three -day holiday. But since October 1999, people at work have enjoyed seven days off. It is known as the " Golden Week" , which is made possible by allowing people to work four extra days before and after the Spring Festival.
7. Traditionally , the celebration of the Spring Festival will not end until the fifteenth of the first lunar month, which is the Lantern Festival.
8. The Spring Festival in China is an occasion for family reunion. It is a tradition for people who are away from home to come back and spend the festival with their families. Young people also make use of the seven-day holiday to travel, usually after the family reunion on the Chinese New Year's Eve. These have made the time before and after the Spring Festival the busiest for Chinese transportation system.
The legend about the Spring Festival
According to a popular legend, the celebration of the Spring Festival is related to a fierce beast back in ancient times. This monster was called Nian (年), and it was like a strong bull in shape and size, but with a head like that of a lion. Nian lived deep in the mountains most of the time, but on the Eve of the Spring Festival, it would come out and eat people. People were very frightened, but they found out later that Nian was afraid of fire, the red color and loud noise. Therefore , before Nian came again, people put red things on their gates and stayed up all night around a fire. They threw bamboos into the fire to make cracking sounds and beat on things to make loud noises. When Nian came to the village again that night, it was so frightened that it ran back to the mountains and never came back. The next morning, people congratulated each other on successfully surviving the Nian. Later, the customs have been kept through the years. Nowadays, Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival by putting up Spring Festival couplets（春联） written on red paper on both sides of their door , setting off firecrackers in the evening and around midnight. They still stay up late on the Eve of the Spring Festival and pay a New Year visit to each other the next day.
春节及春节传说
关于春节
1、春节也称为中国新年或农历新年。它被认为是中国人最重要的传统节日。现在是中国最重要的全国性假日。
2、春节起源于商代。节日期间，人们在新年结束或新年开始时祭祀神和祖先。
3、春节的日期是由农历确定的。农历正月初一庆祝春节，公历通常在1月下旬或2月下旬进行。
4、每一个中国的新年都是以十二生肖中的一个动物来命名的。动物有鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴子、鸡、狗和猪。
5、春节期间，人们用鲜花、彩旗和各种红灯笼装饰街道。
6、春节现在是三天假期。但自1999年10月以来，上班族享受七天假期。这被称为“黄金周”，是通过允许人们在春节前后多工作四天凑成的。
7、传统上，春节的庆祝活动要到农历正月十五，也就是元宵节才结束。
8、中国的春节是家人团聚的日子。对于离家在外的人来说，回家与家人共度节日是一个传统。除夕全家团聚后，年轻人通常也利用七天假期旅行，使得春节前后是中国交通系统最繁忙的时间。
关于春节的传说
根据一个流行的传说，春节的庆祝活动与古代的一头凶猛的野兽有关。这个怪物叫“年”, 它的形状和大小都像一头强壮的公牛，但头部像狮子。年大部分时间住在深山里，但在除夕夜，它会出来吃人。人们非常害怕，但后来他们发现年害怕火，害怕红色和嘈杂的声音。所以，在年再次来之前，人们把红色的东西贴在门上，并围着火炉彻夜未眠。他们把竹子扔进火里发出劈啪声，然后敲打东西发出很大的声音。那天晚上，当年再次来到村子里时，它被吓得跑回了山上，再也没有回来。第二天早上，人们互相祝贺经过“年”的浩劫后成功幸存下来。后来，这些习俗一直保持了多年。现在，中国人庆祝春节的方式是在门的两边贴上红纸写的春联，晚上和午夜前后放鞭炮。他们在除夕仍然守岁，第二天互相拜年。
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