Listen to this articlechūnjié 春节
Spring Festival
中华民族及海外华人最重要的传统节日。狭义的春节指农历新年第一个月的第一天，广义的春节是指从农历最后一个月的23日（祭灶）到新年第一个月的15日（元宵节）这一段时间。现代意义的春节实际上是古代一年之始与立春节气两者的混合。春节期间，人们会祭拜神灵和祖先，张贴春联和年画，置办年货，吃团圆饭，给压岁钱，除夕守岁，燃放爆竹，走亲访友，等等。它凝结着中国人的伦理情感、宗教情怀、生命意识，具有深厚的历史内涵和丰富的节俗内容。在伦理与宗教层面，除了祭祀，祈求祖先和神灵对家人的庇佑，春节更多体现了中国人对家族团圆、和睦及亲情的重视；在时间与生命意识上，在辞旧迎新、驱除邪祟的同时，表达人们对新年的祝福及对未来生活的美好期待。受中华文化影响，中国周边一些国家和民族也有庆祝春节的习俗。
This is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese nation and overseas Chinese. In the narrow sense, it is the first day of the Lunar New Year. In a broader sense, it refers to the festival that occurs between the 23rd day of the last lunar month (the day of Offerings to the Kitchen God) and the 15th day of the first lunar month (the Lantern Festival). In a modern sense, Spring Festival is a mixture of the beginning of the New Year and the Beginning of Spring on the lunar calendar. During Spring Festival, people pay tribute to deities and their ancestors, post auspicious couplets and New Year paintings, buy new year’s goods and put on new clothes, have a family reunion dinner, give children gift money, stay up the whole night on New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to the departing year, set off firecrackers and visit relatives and friends. In terms of family relationships and religion, people make sacrifices to ancestors and deities for the protection of their family members. In addition, Spring Festival reflects the importance Chinese people attach to family reunion, harmony within a family and kinship. When it comes to the Chinese people’s sense of life and sense of time, they not only bid farewell to the departing year and express their welcome to the new year, they also express their expectation for a better future. Through the influence of Chinese culture, some of China’s neighboring countries also celebrate Spring Festival.
引例 Citation：
◎爆竹声中一岁除，春风送暖入屠苏。千门万户曈（tóng）曈日，总把新桃换旧符。（王安石《元日》）
（爆竹声中，旧的一年缓缓离去；春风送来温暖，全家人聚在一起品尝着屠苏美酒。太阳升起，朝霞照亮了千门万户；家家争先恐后地换上新的桃符，表示除旧迎新。）
The year departs amid the sound of fireworks, and a warm breeze helps to ferment the wine. When the light of dawn shines upon thousands of homes, every family puts up New Year couplets. (Wang Anshi: New Year’s Day)
