元旦节英语介绍

元旦节英语介绍

【元旦介绍】

From the above mentioned customs, we can see that there are especially many taboos during Chinese New Year. On Yuan Dan in particular, there are more taboos on speech and behaviour than those on other ordinary days. Similarly, there are more activities in pursuit of good cause than usual.

On probing the activities and taboos, we have no difficulty to understand that the theme behind is always related to fortune, wealth and goodness, and that people usually concern themselves with a good beginning for the year.

Some taboos may look superstitious on the surface, but they do produce efficacy. If we practise them circumspectively, they will yield practical results.

For example, the prohibition of bad words, quarrel, weeping and crying, together with the emphasis on thinking positively even when things are broken, provide some normative rules for people to follow.

This gives people the opportunity to mend their ways, to develop good attitudes, and to form a habit of thinking positively and looking at the good side of things.

The prohibition of sweeping and disposing the rubbish in the first five days forces people to arrange their things and clear away the rubbish properly at the end of each year, so that no unwanted things will be carried forward to the new year.

At the same time, the taboo also compels people to learn to be thrifty. This is because to prevent accumulated things from becoming rubbish, people must be careful in the use of any paper or other things, and thus avoid waste of things.

The avoidance of medicine and sneeze on the first day looks like a joke and is absurd as far as the patient is concerned. However, because of the taboos, people will be conscious enough to take serious care of their health during the windy and snowing season.

Thus, they will avoid falling sick in the New Year and wasting away the precious spring hours.

Nowadays, people have abandoned the custom of bringing along greeting cards when they go for New Year house visits. However, Chinese Malaysians still maintain the habit of sending New Year greeting cards by post before the New Year.

There are even non-Chinese sending New Year greeting cared in English or

Malay languages to their Chinese friends. Moreover, the Chinese like to use colourful New Year cared to decorate their houses, so as to strengthen the New Year atmosphere.

Like the ancient days' greeting cards for he zheng which were displayed in the main hall, these modern New Year cards also reflect the social position of the persons who receive the cards. Thus, in the way, the ancient rite of he zheng has developed in Malaysia with a Malaysian colour.

【元旦的由来传说】

In a legend about the prosperous era of Yao and Shun some 4000 years ago, when Yao was the king, he created many benefits for the people and was loved by them. However, since his son was not as capable as him, Yao did not pass on his throne to his son but to Shun, a wise and saintly man.

Yao said to Shun: \"You must pass the throne to a right person. Then I will feel at peace when I die.\" Shun passed his throne to Yu, who was a hero because he could control flooding. Just like Shun, Yu also did a lot of good deeds for the people and was revered by them.

After Yao died, Shun set the day he made sacrifices to the heavens and gods, as well as to the late Yao, as the first day of the year, and the first day of the 1st

lunar month became known as Yuan Dan or Yuan Zheng. This was Yuan Dan in ancient times.

Previous dynasties would organize celebrations and sacrifices on Yuan Dan, for example sacrificing to the immortals and their forefathers, writing Spring Festival scrolls, writing character fortunes and dragon dancing.

People also celebrated the day by making sacrifices to immortals and ancestors, pasting spring festival scrolls onto their houses, setting off firecrackers, staying up all night, eating dinners at reunions as well as putting on a \"society fire\".

These scenes are of such impact that the poet Xin Lan in the Jin Dynasty immortalised the scenes of Yuan Dan in his poem Yuan Zheng.