双语话节气｜当大寒遇上腊八

节气词汇

Great Cold 大寒

大寒，是二十四节气中的最后一个节气，一般可以译为“Great Cold”。

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Great Cold (Chinese: 大寒), the 24th solar term, begins this year on Jan 20 and ends on Feb 3.

Great Cold is the last solar term in winter and also the last solar term in the annual lunar calendar. In this period, snow, rain and icy cold weather exert a big influence on people's lives.

传统习俗

寒潮

“大寒”是二十四节气中的最后一个节气，此时寒潮南下频繁，是中国大部地区一年中的寒冷时期。

During Great Cold, as the cold current moves southward, the weather is very cold. Although modern meteorological observation shows that in some regions of China the weather during Great Cold is not colder than Great Cold, the lowest temperatures of the whole year still occur in the Great Cold period in some coastal areas.

吃“消寒糕”

“消寒糕”是年糕的一种，“年糕”有“年高”之意，带着吉祥如意、年年平安、步步高升的好彩头。

在老北京的习俗中，大寒这天一家人分吃年糕，既带着吉祥味，也能驱散身上寒意，所以称为“消寒糕”。

During Great Cold, People in Beijing have a habit of eating "dispelling cold cake", a kind of rice cake. In Chinese the word "rice cake" has the same pronunciation with the word "higher in a new year", which symbolizes good luck and continual promotion.

买芝麻秸

旧时，大寒时节的街上，还常有人争相购买芝麻秸，因为“芝麻开花节节高”。除夕夜，人们将芝麻秸洒在行走之外的路上，供孩童踩碎，谐音吉祥意“踩岁”，同时以“碎”、“岁”谐音寓意“岁岁平安”，求得新年好口彩。

Great Cold always coincides with the end of the year in the lunar calendar. In some areas of China, people always fall over each other in eagerness to buy sesame straw during this period because of the old saying, "Rise joint by joint like sesame flowers on the stem." This saying is used to describe either ever-rising living standards or making steady progress in thought, studies or skills.

炸春卷

安徽安庆则有大寒炸春卷的习俗。

In Anqing of Anhui province, people traditionally eat fried spring rolls during Great Cold. The stuffing inside the spring roll contains meat or vegetables and the flavor can be salty or sweet.

喝鸡汤

南京居民有大寒喝鸡汤的习俗，选用老母鸡，配以人参、枸杞和木耳炖煮，寒冷的天气喝一碗热腾腾的鸡汤，真是享受。

Residents in Nanjing of Jiangsu province like to drink stewed soup during Great Cold. They always stew the aged hen soup with ginseng, matrimony vine and black fungus.

冬季运动

不少地方，人们会在大寒这天出门参加滑雪、滑冰、乘雪橇等冬季运动，为寒冷的季节增加一丝活泼和欢乐。

In various regions of China, Great Cold is the perfect time for winter sports such as skiing, ice skating and sledding.

健康贴士

冬天是万物沉睡的时节。当万物沉寂在严寒之下，人体的新陈代谢也是非常缓慢。在这段时间，人们应该早睡晚起，尽量在体内储存阳气。

Winter is a time for all lives to hide. When everything is hiding from the cold, human body’s supersession is also very slow. During this period, people should sleep early and get up late, and try to save the Yang Qi inside the body.

腊八节起源

农历十二月初八是中国的传统节日——腊八节，在这一天人们庆祝丰收、祭祀祖先、拜神。最重要的是，在这一天人们要做由各种谷物、豆类和干果熬成的腊八粥以祈求来年和平及好运。

Laba Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar （阴历的）month. It’s a day for celebrating harvest, offering sacrifices（祭品） to ancestors, and worshiping gods（拜神）. But above all, it is a day for cooking Laba Congee（腊八粥）, a hodgepodge（大杂烩） of grains, beans and dried fruits used to invoke（祈求） peace and good fortune.

中国人相信腊八节喝腊八粥会带来好运，腊八粥充满着中国人民对幸福生活的美丽期望。

Chinese people believe that eating congee during Laba festival will bring good luck. Laba Congee is infused with（充满了） Chinese people’s beautiful expectations of a happy life.

腊八节习俗

腊八粥

腊八粥配料表

糯米：glutinous rice

红豆：red beans

小米：millet

高粱：Chinese sorghum

花生：peanuts

莲子：dried lotus seeds

枣子：dried dates

杏仁：almond

腊八节喝腊八粥是中国传统习俗，腊八粥不仅好喝，对身体也十分有益。

The laba porridge is not only a yummy traditional rite（习俗） in China to mark the laba festival but also a delicacy（美味） good for health.

腊八粥，表达为“laba porridge”；“la”即“腊”，农历12月就是“腊月”，即“12th lunar month”。腊八就是腊月初八，这天要喝的腊八粥也称八宝粥，即“babao porridge(eight treasures)”。

腊八粥由多种食材熬制，但所用材料各地不同，主要成分包括糯米 glutinous rice，红豆 red beans，薏米 millets，大米 Chinese sorghum，莲子 lotus seeds，枣 dates，栗子 chestnuts，核桃 walnut，杏仁 almonds，花生 peanuts等。

腊八蒜

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。

In North China there is a custom of pickling garlic（浸泡大蒜） 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（计算） the year’s income and expenses as year-end approaches.

腊八面

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。

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

煮五豆

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。

In some areas, people boil five kinds of beans and make a dough （面团）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.

吃冰

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。

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.

寺庙施粥

根据有记载的历史，大的佛寺要向穷人施粥以显示对佛祖的信仰。在距今500年前的明朝，腊八粥变成了神圣的食物，就连皇帝也要在过节的时候赐粥给群臣。在封建上层社会的推动下，腊八粥迅速风靡全国。

Accordingto written records, large Buddhist temples would offer it to the poor to showtheir faith to Buddha.

In the Ming Dynasty about 500 years ago, it became sucha holy food that emperors would offer it to their officials during festivals.As it gained favor in the feudal upper class, it also quickly became popularthroughout the country.