今天是农历腊月廿三日，俗称“小年”，是中国民间祭灶的日子，中国最隆重、最热闹的传统佳节——春节也从每年腊月二十三或二十四的祭灶拉开序幕。从今年的春节开始，中国文化译研网将陆续推送与中国传统节日相关的内容，一起分享中国悠久的传统文化，敬请关注。春节是中国一个古老的节日，也是全年最重要的一个节日，如何过庆贺这个节日，在千百年的历史发展中，形成了一些较为固定的风俗习惯，有许多还相传至今。Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, is an ancient festival, and the most important annual event in China. New Year celebrations in the past thousands of years have given rise to some enduring customs, many of which are still prevailing.“腊月二十四，掸尘扫房子” ，据《吕氏春秋》记载，中国在尧舜时代就有春节扫尘的风俗。按民间的说法：因“尘”与“陈”谐音，新春扫尘有“除陈布新”的涵义，其用意是要把一切穷运、晦气统统扫出门。这一习俗寄托着人们破旧立新的愿望和辞旧迎新的祈求。 每逢春节来临，家家户户都要打扫环境，清洗各种器具，拆洗被褥窗帘，洒扫六闾庭院，掸拂尘垢蛛网，疏浚明渠暗沟。到处洋溢着欢欢喜喜搞卫生、干干净净迎新春的欢乐气氛。As a Chinese idiom goes, one shall “dust the house on the 24th day of lunar December.” According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Lv, one of China’s earliest history books, this tradition dates back to the reign of Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun (2333 BC-2184 BC). “Dust” is a homophone of “old” in the Chinese language. The Chinese believe that by cleaning up before the New Year they “remove the old and summon the new,” while all bad omens would be dusted off. This tradition embodies people’s wishes for a new beginning. Before every Spring Festival, all households would wash the wares, beddings and curtains; tidy up the yard and rooms; get rid of dust and spider nets; and unclog ditches and drainage. With all the vigorous cleaning, the Chinese share the joyous atmosphere around the Spring Festival.春联也叫门对、春贴、对联、对子、桃符等，它以工整、对偶、简洁、精巧的文字描绘时代背景，抒发美好愿望，是中国特有的文学形式。每逢春节，无论城市还是农村，家家户户都要精选一幅大红春联贴于门上，为节日增加喜庆气氛。这一习俗起于宋代，在明代开始盛行，到了清代，春联的思想性和艺术性都有了很大的提高，梁章矩编写的春联专著《槛联丛话》对楹联的起源及各类作品的特色都作了论述。Spring Festival couplets (Chun Lian) are also known as door couplets (Men Dui), spring stickers (Chun Tie), paired couplets (Dui Lian), paired lines (Dui Zi) or peach wood charms (Tao Fu). These symmetrical rhyming couplets written on scrolls are both concise and ingenious. They are a unique Chinese literary form that expresses the spirit of the time and the wishes of the people. During the Spring Festival, red scrolls of couplets can be seen on the door of every household, urban and rural, making this festival all the more joyful. This tradition originated in the Song Dynasty (960 AD-1279 AD), and became widespread in the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD-1644 AD). In the Qing Dynasty (1616 AD-1911 AD), the couplets had more profound meanings and artistic expressions. Liang Zhangju expounded on the origin and genres of these couplets in his works On Spring Festival Couplets.春联的种类比较多，依其使用场所，可分为门心、框对、横披、春条、斗方等。“门心”贴于门板上端中心部位；“框对”贴于左右两个门框上；“横披”贴于门媚的横木上；“春条”根据不同的内容，贴于相应的地方；“斗斤”也叫“门叶”，为正方菱形，多贴在家俱、影壁中。Spring Festival couplets come in different types and serve various purposes. Door center (Men Xin) are two scrolls placed below the upper panel of the doorframe. Frame couplets (Kuang Dui) are two scrolls separately placed on both sides of the doorframe. Top scroll (Heng Pi) is pasted on the upper panel of the doorframe. Spring stripes (Chun Tiao) are stuck to different spots depending on their contents. Door leaf (Dou Fang, Dou Jin or Men Ye) takes the shape of square diamond and usually appears on furniture or screen walls.Paper Cutting and the “Fu”在民间人们还喜欢在窗户上贴上各种剪纸——窗花。窗花不仅烘托了喜庆的节日气氛，也集装饰性、欣赏性和实用性于一体。剪纸在中国是一种很普及的民间艺术，千百年来深受人们的喜爱，因它大多是贴在窗户上的，所以也被称其为“窗花”。窗花以其特有的概括和夸张手法将吉事祥物、美好愿望表现得淋漓尽致，将节日装点得红火富丽。Chinese families also decorate their windows with paper cuttings, known as window flowers. These are artistic window decorations that resonate with the joy of festival. Paper cutting is a widespread folk art favored by the Chinese for thousands of years. It is called “window flower” because it is mostly used to decorate windows. Window flowers are special, vivid caricatures of auspicious symbols and good wishes. Their presence lightens up the festival.Paper Cutting and the “Fu”在贴春联的同时，一些人家要在屋门上、墙壁上、门楣上贴上大大小小的“福”字。春节贴“福”字，是中国民间由来已久的风俗。“福”字指福气、福运，寄托了人们对幸福生活的向往，对美好未来的祝愿。为了更充分地体现这种向往和祝愿，有的人干脆将“福”字倒过来贴，表示“幸福已到”“福气已到”。民间还有将“福”字精描细做成各种图案的，图案有寿星、寿桃、鲤鱼跳龙门、五谷丰登、龙凤呈祥等。
When pasting Spring Festival couplets, many families also stick pictures of the character “Fu” (福) on their doors, walls and doorframes. This is also a long-standing folk tradition. “Fu” means blessings and good fortune. It embodies the longing for a better life and wonderful future. In order to precipitate the arrival of good fortunes, some would turn the character upside down, meaning the “dawn of blessings.” Sometimes the “Fu” is surrounded by intricate patterns of the Longevity God, longevity peaches, carps jumping over the dragon gate, bumper crops, and dragon and phoenix.
Spring Festival Paintings春节挂贴年画在中国城乡也很普遍，浓黑重彩的年画给千家万户平添了许多兴旺欢乐的喜庆气氛。年画是中国的一种古老的民间艺术，反映了人民朴素的风俗和信仰，寄托着他们对未来的希望。年画，也和春联一样，起源于“门神”。 随着木板印刷术的兴起，年画的内容已不仅限于门神之类单调的主题，变得丰富多彩，在一些年画作坊中产生了《福禄寿三星图》、《天官赐福》、《五谷丰登》、《六畜兴旺》、《迎春接福》等精典的彩色年画、以满足人们喜庆祈年的美好愿望。 中国出现了年画三个重要产地：苏州桃花坞，天津杨柳青和山东潍坊；形成了中国年画的三大流派，各具特色。During the Spring Festival, both urban and rural residents decorate their homes with vivacious Spring Festival paintings, making their houses look prosperous and festive. Spring Festival painting is an ancient folk art that reflects folk customs, beliefs and hopes. Like the Spring Festival couplets, the earliest Spring Festival paintings depicted the “Door God.” Later, woodblock printing introduced variety to the once monotonous motif of Door God. Some workshops produced colorful paintings to express people’s wishes for the New Year, including “Three Gods of Happiness, Success and Longevity,” “Heavenly Blessing,” “Bumper Harvest,” “Thriving Livestock” and “Happiness Dawns Upon Spring.” Among the production sites, three stood out, namely Taohuawu of Suzhou, Yangliuqing of Tianjin and Weifang of Shandong. These places contributed to three distinctive genres of the Spring Festival paintings.中国现今中国收藏最早的年画是南宋《随朝窈窕呈倾国之芳容》的木刻年画，画的是王昭君、赵飞燕、班姬和绿珠四位古代美人。民间流传最广的是一幅《老鼠娶亲》的年画。描绘了老鼠依照人间的风俗迎娶新娘的有趣场面。民国初年，上海郑曼陀将月历和年画二者结合起来。这是年画的一种新形式。这种合二而一的年画，以后发展成挂历，至今风靡全国。The earliest Spring Festival painting known by modern collectors is a woodcarving made during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 AD-1279 AD), depicting four legendary beauties, Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and Lvzhu. The most popular folk theme is “Mouse’s Wedding,” a funny scene where a mouse marries his bride according to human rituals. In the early years of the Republic of China (1912 AD-1949 AD), Zheng Mantuo combined calendars with Spring Festival paintings in Shanghai, giving rise to a new form of Spring Festival painting. These calendars are still very popular across China.
