2024年3月14日发(作者：)

中国新年

Every winter, a sixth of the world's population, including more than one

billion Chinese citizens, celebrate Chinese New Year. The 15-day festival, also

known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, kicks off on the second new

moon after the winter solstice, or according to the Gregorian calendar in use

since the 16th century, sometime between January 21 and February 19. But

Chinese New Year goes back a lot further than the 16th century—it's based on

the ancient Chinese calendar, which existed as early as the 14th century BC. Even

though China adopted the Western calendar in 1912 and began marking January

1 as the official start of the year, Chinese New Year remains the country's most

important social and economic holiday.

每年冬天，全世界六分之一的人口，包含超过十亿中国人，庆祝中国新年。这持续十

五天的节日，又称作农历新年或春节，在冬至后的第二个新月开始，或根据十六世纪开始

使用的公历，中国新年大约落在一月二十一号和二月十九号间。不过中国新年可回溯至十

六世纪更久远以前——它是以中国古老历法为根据，那早在西元前十四世纪就存在。即使

中国在1912年采用西洋历法，并开始将一月一号标为正式的一年之始，中国新年仍是国

家最重要的社交和商业节庆。

Over the centuries, holiday festivities have spread far beyond China and now

take place all over the world. In fact, the biggest celebration outside of China

takes place in the United States—San Francisco to be exact. Ever since the Gold

Rush in the 1840s and '50s brought an influx of Chinese immigrant workers to

Northern California, the city has held a massive parade for Chinese New Year.

几世纪来，节日庆典已远布至中国以外的地方，如今在全世界举行。事实上，中国外

最大的庆典就在美国举行——准确点说是在旧金山。自1840和1850年代的淘金热将大

量中国移工带到北加州后，旧金山这城市就为中国新年举办盛大的游行活动。

According to Chinese tradition, each year is named for one of the 12 animals

associated with the Chinese zodiac. Two of those animals, the dragon and the

rabbit, are particularly important to Chinese New Year. You'll see dragons

everywhere, because the Chinese are said to have descended from the mythical

creature. And on the 15th day of the New Year, known as the Festival of Lanterns,

many people display paper lanterns in the shape of rabbits. These symbolize a

Chinese goddess named Chang'e, who is said to have brought a rabbit along with