用英语说中国文化:腊八习俗

　　编者按：腊八节有许多习俗，腊八节是中国的一种传统文化，在英语中是怎么写这个节日的呢?一起来看一看腊八习俗的英语介绍吧。

　　The Laba (simplified Chinese: 腊八; traditional Chinese: 臘八; literally: "Eighth of La") is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the La Month (or Layue 臘月), the twelfth month of theChinese calendar. It is customary on this day to eat Laba Congee. The Laba Festival had not been on a fixed day until the Southern and Northern dynasties, when it was influenced by Buddhism and got a fixed time on the eighth day of twelfth month, which was also the enlightenment day of the Buddha. Therefore, many customs of the Laba Festival are related to Buddhism. It corresponds directly to the Japanese Rohatsu and the South Asian Bodhi Day.

　　Traditions and Customs

　　Main traditions for Laba Festival are eating Laba porridge and making Laba garlic.

　　Laba Rice Porridge:

　　Mainly popular in Northeast China, Northwest China and Jiangnan (lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), Laba porridge is the essential food for the festival. Since the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), it has had the custom of eating Laba porridge on the Laba Festival. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD), emperors usually offered Laba porridges to their officials and the common people made it for sacrificing to their ancestors. Buddhist temples offered Laba rice porridges to the poor to show their faith to the Buddha. It was also used to present relatives and friends.

　　Laba porridge usually contains glutinous rice, wheat, corn, dried dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, loongan meat, red beans, peas, millet, raisins and some other ingredients. It was mostly made with eight ingredients and boiled as the way to boil the common porridge. By adding some sugar or salt, it will be tastier. As the beans is hard to boil, it's better to soak them for hours before boiling. After the porridge is done, it is customarily offered to the gods and ancestors as the sacrifice first. Next can be send to relatives and friends. But it should be sent before noon. Finally, family enjoys it together. To left some porridge is good, as it means there will be leftovers each year.

　　Making Laba garlic:

　　Making Laba garlic on the Laba Festival is a custom in northern China. It is very easy to make. The ingredients are garlic and vinegar. After peeling the garlic and putting it in a jar and filling it with vinegar (sugar can also be added), the rest time is to wait. Almost twenty days later, the garlic will become green. People usually eat it together with the dumplings on the Spring Festival Eve.

　　Traditionally, the consumption of Laba congee was an important element of the festival. In Northeast China, Northwest China and Jiangnan, this custom has been preserved, but it has become rarer in South China. On the first day of spring the government would hold a ceremony called “Beating Spring Ox” with the purpose of encouraging farming. Officials would use a colorful club to beat an earthen ox after worshiping the God of Grain; this was the so-called “Scourging Spring”. Even today, people in some places name Spring Begins as Beating Spring. After the ritual of “Beating Spring”, people would compete in grabbing the scattered pieces of the earthen ox, which would dispel pests or ants, and bring them good harvest in farming and abundant production of silk and livestock.

　　腊八蒜

　　LABA GARLIC

　　In North China there is a custom of pickling garlic in vinegar on Laba Day. After some pickling, the garlic will turn green. This pickled garlic goes very well with dumplings. In Chinese, the words “garlic” and “calculate” have the same pronunciation; therefore, eating garlic on Laba Day is symbolic of reckoning the year’s income and expenses as year-end approaches.

　　在中国的北方有一个习俗，在腊八节的时候把蒜泡到醋中，经过醋的浸泡后，蒜会变的通体碧绿。经过醋泡过的蒜和饺子一起吃更配哦~在中国“蒜”与“算”同音，随着年底的临近，在腊八节那天吃蒜是计算整年收支的象征。

　　腊八面

　　LABA NOODLES

　　Because northerners like foods made from wheat flour, they eat Laba noodles on Laba Day.

　　因为北方人喜欢吃小麦面粉做的食物，所以在腊八节那天他们吃腊八面。

　　煮五豆

　　BOILING FIVE KINDS OF BEANS

　　In some areas, people boil five kinds of beans and make a dough in the shape of sparrow’s head on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. They believe if they eat “sparrow heads”, the sparrows will have headaches and not harm their crops in the coming year.

　　有一些地区，人们在农历十二月初八那天煮五种豆子，并将面团揉成一个麻雀的头的形状。人们相信如果吃“麻雀头”，麻雀就会头疼，来年它们就不会伤害农作物。

　　吃冰

　　EATING ICE

　　Northerners have a custom of leaving a basin of water outside the house to be frozen; they break this ice into pieces and eat it on Laba Day. The ice on this day is said to possess supernatural power, capable of keeping those who eat it free from stomachache for a whole year.

　　北方人有一个习俗，他们在房子外面放一盆水等水冻成冰，在腊八节那天把冰捣碎并把它吃掉。据说，这天的冰拥有超自然的力量，它能让吃了的人一整年都不会肚子疼。

　　公众号：英语学习

　　本文为原创文章，版权归作者所有，未经授权不得转载!