清明節 The Tomb Sweeping Day
The tomb sweeping day is one of the traditional festivals in China. On April 5th, people start to visit their ancestors’ tombs. Generally speaking, people will bring the home-made food, some fake money and paper-made mansion to their ancestors. When they start to honour their ancestor, they will light up some candles and incense, put some flowers around the tombs. The most important thing is to put the home-made food in front of the tombs. The food, also known as saCRIfices, is usually made up with a chicken, a fish and some pork. It’s a symbol of the offspring’s respect to the ancestors. People believe that the forbears will share the food with them. The children dedicate the food and money to their forbears in order to show their love and caring. The young offspring will go down on their knees and pray for their ancestors. They can say their wishes in front of the tombs and the ancestors will make their dreams come true.
清明節是中國的傳統節日之一。從每年的4月5日開始,人們就開始去祭拜自己的祖先。一般來說,人們會帶一些自制的食品,冥幣和祭品燒給他們的祖先。當人們開始拜祖的時候,就會點燃蠟燭和香火,在墳墓周圍掛上鮮花。最重要的事情是把祭祀的食物擺在墳墓前。這些食物,又稱之為祭品，通常由一只雞、一條魚、一些豬肉組成。這是后代對祖先所表示的一種尊重。人們認為老祖宗會和他們一同分享美食。后代們獻上食物和錢財表示他們對先人的愛和關心。晚輩們則會跪在墳前,說出自己的心愿,向先人禱告,讓祖宗保佑自己的愿望得以實現。
In some provinces of China, people use different activities to commemorate this day, for instance, spring-outing, swinging, tree planting and making special food. One special food is Ay Tsao rice balls. It looks like Tang-yuan, but its colour is green. Mix the ay tsao juice with the rice powder, then make it into small balls. The Ay Tsao rice ball is done. People believe that eating ay tsao rice balls can get rid of the bad luck and everything will go smoothly. Other activities such as spring outing, tree planting are the other ways to commemorate the forbears. For one thing, it is a sign that people should look into the future and embrace the hope; for another thing, we do hope our ancestor rest in peace.
在中國的某些省份,人們通過舉行不同的活動來紀念清明節。例如,春游、蕩秋千、植樹以及做特殊的食物。其中一種特別的小吃叫艾粑粑。艾粑粑看起來像湯圓,但它的顏色的是綠色的。把艾草汁和糯米粉混合在一起,搓成小球,艾粑粑就做好了。人們認為吃艾粑粑能祛除邪氣,讓諸事順利。其余的活動,例如春游、植樹都是紀念先人的方式之一。一方面,這些活動告訴人們要展望未來,擁抱希望;另一方面,我們希望先人能安息。
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