1、Spring Festival,Could you tell me something about spring festival? the time the reason we celebrate it the way to celebrate it the origin auspicious words,The time,Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（滿月）15 days later.,How to celebra

2、te,New Years Eve and New Years Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving.,How to celebrate,The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（儀式）, unites the living members with those who have passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great re

3、spect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival, because it starts from the Beginning of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coordinatio

4、n with the changes of Nature).,The Origin of Chinese New Year,Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means year, was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the

5、night before the beginning of a new year.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian.,The Origin of Chinese Ne

6、w Year,To Nian he said, I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents? Then it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harassed people and their domestic animals from time t

7、o time.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian was gone and other beasts of prey were also scared into forests, people began to enjoy their peaceful life.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,Before the o

8、ld man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each years end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red was the color the beast feared the most.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of

9、Nian is carried on from generation to generation. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.,The Origin of Chinese New Year,The term Guo Nian, which may mean Survive the Nian becomes C

10、elebrate the (New) Year as the word guo in Chinese has both the meaning of pass-over and observe.,Traditional New Year Foods,Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well a

11、s those close to us who have died.,Traditional New Year Foods,Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them. Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prospe

12、rity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.,Traditional New Year Foods,In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice（糯米）pudding zong zi (glutinous ri

13、ce wrapped up in reed（蘆葦）leaves), another popular delicacy.,Traditional New Year Foods,In the north, steamed-wheat bread (man tou) and small meat dumplings are the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food prepared at this time is meant to symbolize abundance and wealth for the household.,The 15

14、-Day Celebration of Chinese New Year,the first day of the Lunar New Year the second day the third and fourth days,the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods the sons-in-laws pay respect to their parents-in-law,the fifth day the s

15、ixth to the tenth day,Po Woo, people stay at home to welcome the God of Wealth, no-visiting the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely,the tenth through the twelfth day the thirteenth day,friends and relatives should be invited for dinner you should have simple rice congee and mustard gree

16、ns (choi sum) to cleanse the system.,the fourteenth day the fifteenth day,for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night. the Lantern Festival（元宵節(jié)）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.,Auspicious wor

17、ds,Questions,Q: Do you think that new festivals will be introduced in the future? What kind? Q: Do you think festivals are important events in the working year?,Questions,Q: Would you agree that the original significance of festival is often lost today?,Answers,The world is changing so fast. People

18、are embracing new lifestyles as East and West come together. Westerners begin to eat dumplings with chopsticks to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival. And Chinese young people exchange chocolates and roses on Valentines day. So, you see? People are experimenting with new life patterns. And its quite p

19、ossible that new festivals may be invented or introduced. Wouldnt that be cool?,What kind? Well, I dont know for sure because its the future right? But I heard this year, in my country, some people celebrated the mens day, which is on August the third. Its dorky.(書(shū)呆子) But its new and exciting, right

20、. Will it last? I dont know. All I know is that this is an interesting attempt.,Answers,Its very important for two reasons. For the country, its a time to remember our cultural origin and our historical past. The whole country celebrates our root and its very inspiring. We become so proud of our pas

21、t. I guess thats why festivals are important. For the individual, festivals give us a chance for relaxation as we often have a few days off. Its a time of fun, meeting friends or entertainment. So after that we feel like a new man. In a sense, holidays restore our balance between work and leisure. Thats also why we need festivals for China.,Answers,I think the original significance for festivals are to celebrate our tradition. Its an end to the old year and the beginning of a new year. So its a connecting day. But t