中秋节英文介绍

中秋节是中华民族的传统节日，是每个中国人都引以为豪的文化遗产，但是很多外国人都不熟悉这个节日，那么我们应该怎样向外国友人介绍这样一个有趣而且经典的节日呢?今天美文故事的小编就给大家带来几篇中秋节的英文介绍，希望大家喜欢。更多内容请访问美文故事

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox(秋分). Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon".

This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates(石榴), melons, oranges and pomelos(柚子) might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro(芋头)and water caltrope(菱角), a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds(西瓜子), lotus seeds(莲籽), almonds(杏仁), minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard(猪油). A golden yolk(蛋黄) from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary(闰月的) moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense(熏香), planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.

Moon Cakes

There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.

For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates(枣子), wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.

Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.

"Zhong Qiu Jie", which is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. It is a time for family members and loved ones to congregate and enjoy the full moon - an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. Adults will usually indulge in fragrant mooncakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot Chinese tea, while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns.

农历八月十五日是中国的传统节日——中秋节。在这天，每个家庭都团聚在一起，一家人共同观赏象征丰裕、和谐和幸运的圆月。此时，大人们吃着美味的月饼，品着热腾腾的香茗，而孩子们则在一旁拉着兔子灯尽情玩耍。

"Zhong Qiu Jie" probably began as a harvest festival. The festival was later given a mythological flavour with legends of Chang-E, the beautiful lady in the moon.

中秋节最早可能是一个庆祝丰收的节日。后来，月宫里美丽的仙女嫦娥的神话故事赋予了它神话色彩。

According to Chinese mythology, the earth once had 10 suns circling over it. One day, all 10 suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved when a strong archer, Hou Yi, succeeded in shooting down 9 of the suns. Yi stole the elixir of life to save the people from his tyrannical rule, but his wife, Chang-E drank it. Thus started the legend of the lady in the moon to whom young Chinese girls would pray at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

传说古时候，天空曾有10个太阳。一天，这10个太阳同时出现，酷热难挡。弓箭手后翌射下了其中9个太阳，拯救了地球上的生灵。他偷了长生不死药，却被妻子嫦娥偷偷喝下。此后，每年中秋月圆之时，少女们都要向月宫仙女嫦娥祈福的传说便流传开来。

In the 14th century, the eating of mooncakes at "Zhong Qiu Jie" was given a new significance. The story goes that when Zhu Yuan Zhang was plotting to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty started by the Mongolians, the rebels hid their messages in the Mid-Autumn mooncakes. Zhong Qiu Jie is hence also a commemoration of the overthrow of the Mongolians by the Han people.

在14世纪，中秋节吃月饼又被赋予了一层特殊的含义。传说在朱元璋带兵起义推翻元朝时，将士们曾把联络信藏在月饼里。因此，中秋节后来也成为汉人推翻蒙古人统治的纪念日。 字串7

During the Yuan Dynasty (A.D.1206-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung Dynasty (A.D.960-1279) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Packed into each mooncake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this event.

在元朝，蒙古人统治中国。前朝统治者们不甘心政权落入外族之手，于是密谋策划联合起义。正值中秋将近，起义首领就命令部下制作一种特别的月饼，把起义计划藏在每个月饼里。到中秋那天，起义军获取胜利，推翻了元朝，建立明朝。今天，人们吃月饼纪念此事。

Mid-Autumn Day 中秋节

Mid-Autumn Day is a traditional festival in China. Almost everyone likes to eat mooncakes on that day. Most families have a dinner together to celebrate the festival. A saying goes, "The moon in your hometown is almost always the brightest and roundest". Many people who live far away from homes want to go back to have a family reunion. How happy it is to enjoy the moon cakes while watching the full moon with your family members.

In Fujian Province

In Pu City, females must cross the Nanpu Bridge to pray for a long life. In Jianning, people light lanterns to pray to the moon for their babies. In Shanghang county, children have to get down on their knees when they worship the moon. In Long Yan, while eating moon cakes, parents will dig a small hole in the center of the cakes, which means that some secrets should be kept from children.

In Guangdong Province

In Chaoshan, women and children will worship the Moon. When the night comes, they will burn joss sticks in front of a table of fresh fruits as a sacrifice. At that night they will also eat taros. There are two reasons why people there eat this vegetable. One is that August is the best time to eat ripe taros, and the other comes from a story. In 1279 the Mongols defeated the Southern Song Dynasty and formed the Yuan Dynasty, and they carried out their cruel domination over the Han Chinese. At that time, a well-known general called Ma Fa held out in Chaozhou to fight with Mongols. When he failed, most citizens were killed. Because the Chinese word for taros and Mongols were similar, from then on people eat taros to prove that they will always remember the pain. To eat the taro means to eat the heads of the Mongols.

In the south of Yangtze River valley

In Nanjing people will not just eat moon cakes, they will also eat another famous dish called Guihua Dark. This dish could only be cooked during the Mid-Autumn Day, because it is cooked with osmanthus flowers, which blossoms in August.

In Wuxi of Jiangsu province, people like to burn joss sticks to celebrate this special festival. The burned joss sticks are wrapped in tulle with beautiful paintings of Moon Palace or Chang'e.

In Ji'an County of Jiangxi province, peasants burn pottery jars with straws and vinegar so that the smell of the vinegar can spread all over the villages. In Xincheng County, people celebrate this festival by lighting oil lamps from the 11th day of the 8th lunar month to the 17th day.

In Sichuan province

People will prepare a lot of food like moon cakes, ducks, glutinous rice cakes, and rice dumplings. In some places, people light orange lamps, or ask children run in the streets with pomeloes decorated with burning incense in their hands. In Jiading, they worship the God of the Land and play some local dramas to celebrate this special day.

In the North

People of Qingyun County in Shangdong province worship the God of Land as well as their ancestors on that day. In Lu’an of Shanxi province, parents will invite their son-in-laws to have dinner with them. In Xixiang county of Shanxi province, men usually go boating or climb mountains together, while women will stay at home and prepare for the dinner. In Luochuan County, parents send gifts to their children's teachers to show their gratitude.

Though different places have different customs to celebrate this special day, people all have common wishes of reunion, happiness, safety, health and harvest.

TOPChinese Ancient Poems and Mid-Autumn Festival

At the very beginning, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not so popular. It was the ancient Chinese poets who made the Festival popularity. They wrote many poems which are related to the moon and the festival, and when reading these poems people became more and more interested in it. Missing Home in the Silent Night by Li Bai is one of the most famous ancient poems related to the moon and the Mid-Autumn Festival.