用英语写一篇关于某个节日由来的作文

用英语写一篇关于某个节日由来的作文

Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.
In 1620, the settlers, or Pilgrims, they sailed to America on the May flower, seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous two-month voyage they landed at in icy November, what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.
During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of[1] starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.
All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety, knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depended on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed[2]. Years later, President of the United States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.
The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding, mince pie, other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.
Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing[3] to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families and with the regions where one lives, it is not easy to get a consensus on[4] the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.
Thanksgiving today is, in every sense, a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued[5] blessings.
感恩节的由来
感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日,而且它和早期美国历史最为密切相关.
1620年,一些朝圣者（或称为清教徒）乘坐"五月花"号船去美国寻求宗教自由.他们在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后,终于在酷寒的十一月里,在现在的马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯登陆.
在第一个冬天,半数以上的移民都死于饥饿和传染病,活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种.整个夏天他们都热切地盼望着丰收的到来,他们深知自己的生存以及殖民地的存在与否都将取决于即将到来的收成.后来,庄稼获得了意外的丰收,所以大家决定要选一个日子来感谢上帝的恩典.多年以后,美国总统宣布每年十一月的第四个星期四为感恩节.感恩节庆祝活动便定在这一天,直到如今.
感恩节庆祝模式许多年来从未改变.丰盛的家宴早在几个月之前就开始着手准备.人们在餐桌上可以吃到苹果、桔子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄,还有葡萄干布丁、碎肉馅饼、各种其它食物以及红莓苔汁和鲜果汁,其中最妙和最吸引人的大菜是烤火鸡和番瓜馅饼,这些菜一直是感恩节中最富于传统意义和最受人喜爱的食品.
人人都赞成感恩节大餐必需以烤火鸡为主菜.火鸡在烘烤时要以面包作填料以吸收从中流出来的美味汁液,但烹饪技艺常因家庭和地区的不同而各异,应用什幺填料也就很难求得一致.
今天的感恩节是一个不折不扣的国定假日.在这一天,具有各种信仰和各种背景的美国人,共同为他们一年来所受到的上苍的恩典表示感谢,虔诚地祈求上帝继续赐福.
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春节的由来(The Origin of Chinese New Year)
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means year, was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said, I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents? So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term Guo Nian, which may mean Survive the Nian becomes today Celebrate the (New) Year as the word guo in Chinese having both the meaning of pass-over and observe. The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
元宵节-Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival is a China’s traditional festival. It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year.
I,antern Festival is one of the biggest holidays in China. Several days before Lantern Festival, people begin to make lanterns. Lanterns are made in the shape of different animals, vegetables, fruits and many, other things. While making lanterns people usually write riddles on lanterns. On the eve of Lantern Festival, all the lanterns are hung up.
On Lantern Festival people go outside to have a look at the lanterns and guess the riddles on the lanterns. Perhaps you call see some wonderful folk performances,Dragon Dance and Yangko. Everything is very interesting and everyone is very happy. Our life is rich and varied.
端午节(Dragon Boat Festival)
The Dragon Boat Festival ,also called the Duanwu Festival ,is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar.People always eat rice dumplings and watch dragon boat races to celebrate it.
The festival is best known for its dragon-boat races,especially in the southern places where there are many rivers and lakes. Ití»s very popular.
The rice dumpling is made of glutinous rice,meat and so on. You can eat different kinds of rice dumplings.They are very delicious.
And Dragon Boat Festival is for Qu Yuan. He is an honest minister who is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.
Overall, the Dragon Boat Festival is very interesting!
清明节(Qingming Festival)
The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration.
The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.
This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served.
The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined.
On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.
In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere.
People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god's lanterns."
The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.
七夕节(introduction of Double-Seventh Festival)
The Double Seventh Festival, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. It often goes into August in the Gregorian calendar.
This festival is in mid-summer when the weather is warm and the grass and trees reveal their luxurious greens. At night when the sky is dotted with stars, and people can see the Milky Way spanning from the north to the south. On each bank of it is a bright star, which see each other from afar. They are the Cowherd and Weaver Maid, and about them there is a beautiful love story passed down from generation to generation.
Long, long ago, there was an honest and kind-hearted fellow named Niu Lang (Cowhand). His parents died when he was a child. Later he was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. So he lived by himself herding cattle and farming. One day, a fairy from heaven Zhi Nu (Weaver Maid) fell in love with him and came down secretly to earth and married him. The cowhand farmed in the field and the Weaver Maid wove at home. They lived a happy life and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the God of Heaven soon found out the fact and ordered the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens to bring the Weaver Maid back.
With the help of celestial cattle, the Cowhand flew to heaven with his son and daughter. At the time when he was about to catch up with his wife, the Queen Mother took off one of her gold hairpins and made a stroke. One billowy river appeared in front of the Cowhand. The Cowhand and Weaver Maid were separated on the two banks forever and could only feel their tears. Their loyalty to love touched magpies, so tens of thousands of magpies came to build a bridge for the Cowhand and Weaver Maid to meet each other. The Queen Mother was eventually moved and allowed them to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month. Hence their meeting date has been called "Qi Xi" (Double Seventh).
Scholars have shown the Double Seventh Festival originated from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220). Historical documents from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD371-420) mention the festival, while records from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) depict the grand evening banquet of Emperor Taizong and his concubines. By the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties, special articles for the "Qi Xi" were seen being sold on markets in the capital. The bustling markets demonstrated the significance of the festival.
Today some traditional customs are still observed in rural areas of China, but have been weakened or diluted in urban cities. However, the legend of the Cowhand and Weaver Maid has taken root in the hearts of the people. In recent years, in particular, urban youths have celebrated it as Valentine's Day in China. As a result, owners of flower shops, bars and stores are full of joy as they sell more commodities for love.
中秋节(The Mid-Autumn Day)
August 15th in ChineSe Lunar Calendar is the Mid-Autumn Day. It is one of the most important traditional festivals in China.
On that day people usually go back home to have family reunion. Each family will have the members get together to have a big dinner. The most popular food is moon cakes. They are round and look like the moon.
The moon is the brightest this night. People ate the delicious food while they were enjoying a beautiful full moon in their yard. At this time, some old people would like to tell many past events and tell the children a story about thO rabbit. The children really believed that there was a rabbit on the moon. They wanted to go to the moon and have a look one day.
What a great festival!
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