Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, has more than 4,000 years of history. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for the whole families to get together, which is similar with Christmas Day to the westerners.
中国的春节，也被称为农历新年，迄今已有四千多年的历史。对于中国人来说，这是规模最大，最重要的传统节日。就如同西方的圣诞节一样，春节是一家团聚的日子。
Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th - 11th century BC), Spring Festival, which celebrates family reunion, is full of rich and colorful activities, and hopes with the advent of spring and flowers blossoming. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.
春节起源于商朝(公元前11-17世纪)，为了庆祝全家团圆和表达对春暖花开的期盼，节日期间会准备丰富多彩的活动。不同地区和不同少数民族人们会用自己独特的方式庆祝这一传统节日。
Legends
春节传说
There are many legends about Spring Festival in Chinese culture. In folk culture, it is also called guonian (meaning passing a year). It is said that the nian (year) was a strong monster which was fierce and cruel and ate one kind of animal including human being a day. Human beings were scared about it and had to hide on the evening when the nian came out. Later, people found that nian was very scared about the red color and fireworks. So after that, people use red color and fireworks or firecrackers to drive away nian. As a result, the custom of using red color and setting off fireworks remains.
中国文化中有很多关于春节的传说。在传统文化中，春节亦被称为过年。传说年是一种凶猛异常的怪物，每天都会吃一种动物(包括人)。人们非常惧怕他，当年夜间出来活动时，人们会找地方躲起来。后来，人们发现年非常害怕红色和爆竹，于是，人们用红色和鞭炮来驱赶年。久而久之，春节用大红色和放鞭炮的习俗就保留了下来。
Festivities Schedule
春节活动
Preparing the New Year starts 7 days before the New Years Eve. According to Chinese lunar calendar, people start to clean the house on Dec. 24, butcher on Dec. 26th and so on. People have certain things to do on each day. These activities will end Jan. 15th of the lunar calendar.
新年的准备工作在除夕前的七天就开始了。根据中国农历，人们从腊月二十四开始打扫屋子，二十六日杀猪宰羊等等。每一天都有不同的活动，所有这些活动将在正月十五结束。
Taboos
春节禁忌
The Spring Festival is a start for a new year, so it is regarded as the omen of a year. People have many taboos during this period. Many bad words related to death, broken, killing, ghost and illness or sickness are forbidden during conversations. In some places, there are more specific details. They consider it unlucky if the barrel of rice is empty, because they think they will have nothing to eat in the next year. Taking medicine is forbidden on this day, otherwise, people will have sick for the whole year and take medicine constantly.
春节是新的一年的开始，预示着一年的运气，所以过年期间有很多禁忌，比如死破杀鬼病这类字眼是谈话中要避免的。在某些地方还有一些特殊的禁忌，比如新年米缸空了不是好兆头，因为这预示着新的一年将没东西吃，春节那天也不能吃药，这会预示着新的一年疾病产生，医药不断。
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