清明节 英语介绍及词汇.doc

The Qingming FestivalKey Words1. 清明节the Qingming Festival2. 24 节气 the 24 seasonal division points3. 春耕播种spring plowing and sowing4. 祭祖to offer sacrifices to ones ancestors5. 扫墓to sweep the tombs (of the deceased)6. 寒食节the Hanshi / Cold Food Festival7. 公墓public cemeteries8. 在墓碑前祭拜to bow before the memorial tablet9. 焚香to burn incense10. 烧纸钱to burn paper money11. 春游的习俗the custom of Spring outings12. 放风筝to fly kites (kite flying)13. 一串小灯笼a string of little lanterns14. 植树，树苗to plan trees, saplings15. 植树节the Arbor Day16. 秋千a swing17. 踏青stepping the green18. 孝顺(to practice) filial piety19. 健身body-building20. 拔河tug of war21. 斗鸡rooster-fightingThe Qingming FestivalThe Qingming Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work; it is more a festival of commemoration. The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served. The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined. On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet. In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere. People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night.A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the threadlook like shining stars, and therefore, are called gods lanterns. The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called Arbor Day. But since 1979, Arbor Day was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.Qingming Festival ActivitiesSwingSwing is a kind of game utensils. Swinging is a sport that the player swings back and forth with a tread plate hung on a frame by long ropes.The origin of swing can be traced back to some 100,000 years ago. Climbing trees or crossing streams is the most primitive embryonic form of swinging. Later in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 years ago), the swing consisting of a tread plated hung on the frame by ropes was introduced into the Central Plains area. Since the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), swinging had gradually became a folk activity performed at the Tomb Sweeping Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and other festivals until present day. Swinging can be categorized into the single swing, double swing, standing swing and sitting swing. Each village has its own master swinging player and sometimes competitions are held. The one swinging highest with the most beautiful movements will receive praise from neighbors. Swinging days are often good opportunities for young men and women to encounter and interact. Swing, as the folk traditional sport with a history of several thousand years still maintains its vitality nowadays.Kite-flyingThe custom of kite-flying prevails during the Tomb Sweeping Day (around April 5th).The bamboo crossbow of the kite vibrates with a buzz as it rises aloft on the power of its tail.Big kites can be as broad as about three metres square with a tail of six to ten metres. Most kites have a rectangular shape. The rest are patterned as crabs, centipedes, butterflies and dragonflies, or Chinese characters such as fortune or longevity. All kites are constructed with fine craftsmanship.When flown in the evening, they have lights attached to their tails and some have as many as three to five lights strung together.Stepping-the-greenStepping-the-green refers to the spring-outgoing people talk about now. Qingming is in early March when it begins to turn warm, and everything is blooming. So it is just a good time to go out for a walk. And so Qingming is not just a blue time for remembrance, but also a green time for fun.Tomb-sweepingTomb-sweeping is the main observance of the Qingming Festival. Tomb-sweeping is the concrete expression of practicing filial piety, which has been emphasizing by the Chinese people since ancient times. Therefore, the Qingming Festival has been an important day for the Chinese since early times. Tomb-sweeping activities are usually done two days before Qingming or the ten days after. On the day of tomb sweeping, the descendants would clear the wild grass around the ancestors tomb, clean the dust, and then present the food and fresh flowers.Tomb Sweeping Day, also called Cold Food Day, is the most important day for people to offer sacrifice to ancestors. It started from the Zhou Dynasty, with a history of over 2500 years. Qingming is one of the 24 solar terms in China, indicating the coming of late spring, thus the best plowing and growing time, while Cold Food Day is a day when folks sweep the ancestors tombs and eat cold food. Qingming was adjacent to Cold Food Day, so later on they gradually became one festival, and thus Cold Food became another name for Qingming, and dusting the tomb and eating cold food turned into the customs of Qing Ming. Qing Ming has evolved into a culture-rich and meaning-deep remembrance day.Since people with weak constitutions might get hurt by eating cold raw food on Qingming, when the weather is still cold, various activities were invented for body-building, like stepping-the-green outgoing, swing, Chinese football (蹴鞠c j), polo, willow-plant