Spring Festival

Day 1,166, 02:10 • Published in North Korea North Korea • by Leojane Zhu

My recent articles were all about politics of our country. It seemed a bit too monotony. I'd like to try some other kind of articles, I hope my newspaper can bring you fun in the game.
我最近的文章大多关于NK国内政治，未免单调了一些。于是想写些其他的东西，希望能给读者们带来更多的游戏乐趣。


This time, I'd like to choose the topic of "Spring Festival", it's about East Asian culture and custom, I hope you'll like it. 🙂
于是选择“春节”作为主题。其实主要是向英语玩家们介绍一下东亚地区的春节习俗。华语玩家估计看看图就够了吧。🙂

Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year) begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar (for 2011, it is Feb 3) and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day.It is widely celebrated in East Asia, due to the great influence of China in history.
春节始于农历新年第一天，一般认为到元宵为止。由于天朝的曾经辉煌，所以春节在东亚地区是很流行的。



Spring Festival is a very important festival in the East, just like Christmas in the West.
春节在东方文化里很重要，正如圣诞在西方那样。

Spring Festival is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong,Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,Taiwan, Vietnam, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Spring Festival is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans (Seollal), Tibetans and Bhutanese (Losar), Mongolians (Tsagaan Sar), Vietnamese (Tết), and the Japanese.
其实这段话我大部分是摘引自维基百科的，不翻译可不可以啊。反正就是介绍了一下过春节的地区呗。




Regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Spring Festival vary widely. However some are common.
不同的地区有不同的风俗，以下介绍一些常见的风俗。

Paper cutting and Post
贴窗花和年画

Paper cutting is a kind of carving art on paper( usually on red paper). People stick paper cuttings on the windows during the festival, hoping that the coming year will be a joyful year.
这个，其实没啥好解释吧。



Also, some posts will be sticked on the doors.
这个同样不解释。其实还有对联的。不过好像对联不是所有地区都贴的样子。



Firecrackers and Fireworks
爆竹和烟花

According to old legend, there was a terrible monster which liked to attack people on the Spring Festival Eve. The ancients tried many ways but failed to defeat it. Until one day, a naughty boy set off the firecrackers by accident, and the monster was so afraid of the thundering sound and it ran away. People finally found way to get rid of it. So this custom is inherited down to become a part of the celebration.
这段讲那个“年”的传说，其中淘气的小男孩是我自己编的部分。反正就是讲放鞭炮的事情啦。


Fireworks for the same reason, and it makes the night sky more colorful and beautiful.
烟花同理咯。


New dress/Full dress
新衣服和礼服

People will wear new clothes during the Spring Festival to express the expectations of the New Year. Some will put on traditional full dress to greet the New Year gorgeously and solemnly.
在新年里要穿新衣服，辞旧迎新嘛。也会有人穿起传统的礼服，以华丽庄重的姿态迎接新年。

Here are 3 pictures of women wearing traditional full dress. You can try to guess their nationality. I'll publish the answers later.(Hint: They're Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.)
三张东方女性的传统礼服图，欢迎来猜猜她们的国籍。
A.

B.

C.


Family Gathering
团圆
Spring Festival is the time for all the family members get together. No matter how far away from home, people will always try their best to get back to the family.
春节是阖家团圆的节日。不管身处何方，都会努力与家人团圆。这是亲情的牵绊。然则，现实有时候很残酷，唉，今年我好像不能回家过年了呢，叹气。


Family Dinner on the Eve
年夜饭
When family members get together, they'll have a wonderful dinner on the Eve. I'd rather say it's a feast.
这个好像没啥好解释的。年夜饭真的很盛宴啊。

Some choose to make the feast homemade, some choose in the restaurant.
我们家一般是自己做年夜饭的。往往除夕夜是吃不完的，各种菜重新热热，大概可以吃到初二初三吧。



Gift exchanging
拜年
People visit relatives and friends during Spring Festival. They send each other greetings and gifts.
拜年要说吉祥话，送年货。








Children will recieve "red envelop" from adults which contains money.
小朋友有红包拿。啊，我已经到了给小朋友红包的年纪了，泪目啊。

Thanks for reading. I wish you all a Happy Spring Festival!
感谢阅读。给大家拜个早年了！