文化常識中英文對照;;

1、十二屬相中國民間有一個傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗，人一出生，就有一種動物做他的屬相。屬相，也叫“生肖”，是中國民間傳統(tǒng)的紀(jì)年和計(jì)算年齡的方法。中國古代的紀(jì)年法是帝王年號與“干支”并用，其中“干支紀(jì)年法”從史書上有明文記載的公元前 841年（庚中年），一直沿用到現(xiàn)在。“干”是“天干”，有十個字組成，這十個字是：甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚、辛、壬、癸?！爸А笔恰暗刂А?，由十二個字組成，這十二個字是：子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、中、酉、戌、亥。把天干的十個字和地支的十二個字按順序配合起來，可以得到 60種排列，如：甲子、乙丑、丙寅這60種排列周而復(fù)始，循環(huán)使用，每六十年叫做“一個甲子”。如公歷的2001年，是農(nóng)歷

2、的辛巳年，公歷的 2002年，是農(nóng)歷的壬午年；而六十年后， 2061年又是 辛巳年，2062年又是壬午年。從東漢（25220）時(shí)開始，人們又用鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬12種動物來配十二地支，組成了十二生肖，也叫十二屬相。這就是子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龍、巳蛇、午馬、未羊、中猴、酉雞、戌狗、亥豬。 這樣，子年是鼠年，丑年是牛年，寅年是虎年 于是，每個人一出生，就有一種動物作他的屬相。子年 出生的屬鼠，丑年出生的屬牛，寅年出生的屬虎，以此類推?，F(xiàn)在，中國人在用公歷紀(jì)年和計(jì)算年齡的同時(shí)，仍然習(xí)慣用屬相紀(jì)年和推算年齡。twelve symbolic animals it is

3、traditional in China,when a perpon is born,oneanimal(shuxiang)is used to symbolize this year.Shuxiang,also called shengxiao(any ofthe 12 animals representing the Earthly Branches),isa traditional way in China to number the years and to record a person's age.The ancient Chinese people invented th

4、e method to designate the years by the Heavenly Stems consist of thecharacters:jia,yi,bing,ding,wu,ji,geng,xin,ren,and gui.And theEarthly Branches are composed of 12characters:zi,shu,yin,mao,chen,si,wu,wei,shen,you,xu,hai.Combining each of the 10 Heavenly Stems with one of the 12Earthly Branches in

5、sequence creates 60 chronologicalsymbols.For example jiazi,yichou,bingyin,etc.These 60 symbols are used in circles and thus each year has a chronological symbol.For example,2001 corresponds to xinsi,2002 to renwu in the lunar calendar;after 60 years,2061,once again,corresponds to xinsi,and2062,to re

6、nwu.Later,people used 12 animalstocorrespond to the 12 Earthly Branches,formingthe 12Symbolic Animals,namely Earthly Branch OneRat,Earthly Branch Two Ox,Earthly Branch ThreeTiger,Earthly Branch Four Rabbit,Earthly Branch Five Dragon,Earthly Branch Six Snake,Earthly Branch Seven Horse,Earthly Branch

7、Eight Sheep,Earthly Branch Nine Monkey,Earthly Branch Ten Rooster,Earthly Branch Eleven Dog,Earthly Branch Twelve Pig .Thus the zi year is the Year of the Rat,and the chou Year is the year of the Ox,and the yinYear is the Year of the Year of Tiger,etc. Therefore,when a person is born,he has an anima

8、l as his aymbolic animal.The year 2002 was a renwu year under lunar calendar,also the year of Horse,and so children born in this yea are all Horse babies.Even though the Chinese people now number the years and their age under the Gregorian calendar,the still continue to use the symbolic animals.As l

9、ong as people know a person' probable age and his symbolic animao,people can infer his exact age and year of birth.小孩兒滿月與抓周在中國，小孩兒的滿月酒和抓周儀式獨(dú)具特色。在孩子的成長過程中，這兩 個儀式有里程碑式的紀(jì)念意義。小孩兒出生滿一個月的那天，孩子的家人一般要招呼親朋摯友，邀請他們一 起來慶祝孩子滿月。按照中國的傳統(tǒng)，這一天，家里會充滿了喜慶和節(jié)日的 氛圍，滿月就要辦得熱熱鬧鬧才行。不過最近這些年，這個習(xí)俗在城市尤其 是年輕夫婦中有逐漸被淡化的趨勢。但是，小孩兒滿

10、月對于每個家庭來說， 仍然是一個非常值得紀(jì)念的高興的日子?！白ブ軆骸敝械摹爸堋笔切『簼M一周歲的意思。關(guān)于“抓周兒”，最早記 載于北齊。“抓周兒”也就是在小孩兒滿周歲那天，吃中午的長壽面之前， 擺上經(jīng)書、筆、墨、紙、硯、算盤、錢幣、賬冊、首飾、花朵、胭脂、吃食、 玩具等，如果是女孩兒則要加擺鏟子、勺子（炊具）、剪子、尺子（縫紉用 具）、繡線、花樣子（刺繡用具），再由大人將小孩抱來，令其端坐，父母 及他人不給予任何的引導(dǎo)或暗示，任孩子隨意挑選，看他先抓什么，后抓什 么，并以此為依據(jù)來預(yù)測孩子可能存在的志趣和將從事的職業(yè)以及前途。One-Month-Old Feast and One-Year-O

11、ld Catch（zhuazhou） of babiesIn China,One-Month-Old Feast and One-Year-Old Catch of a baby are of unique Chinese characteristics.These two ceremonies are milestone-like significance in the growing process of a baby.On the day when a baby is a month old,the family of the baby will invite their friends

12、 and relatives to a ceremony to celebrate the occasion.In a traditional One-Month-Old Ceremony,there will be a rejoicing and festive atmosphere in the family and the feast is supposed to be lively and joyful.However,in recent years this custom has been gradually abandoned among young people.Neverthe

13、less,One-Month-Old Feast still remains a memorable and happy moment for every family.Zhou in the word zhuazhou means "a baby is one year old".The earliest historical record about zhuazhou appearde during the Dynasty ofNorthern Qi.On the day when ababy is a year old , the familyof thebaby w

14、ill lay out sutras,brush pens,ink sticks,paper,ink slabs,abacus,copper coins,account books,jewelries,flowers,rouges,foods,toys,etc.For girls,scoops,scissors,rulers,thread,scissor-cut will be added.The parents then put the baby in front of these articles and make it situp.Nobody will give and instruc

15、tion or cue to the baby so that it is left free to choose by itself.Watching the baby catch the articles it likes,the family can then make predictions about its potential interests,future career and development.焙禮結(jié)焙是人生中的一件大事。傳統(tǒng)的中式蠟禮古樸而又熱鬧，隆重、喜慶并且 禮節(jié)周全，場面的鋪陳頗具特色，不過在現(xiàn)代，尤其是在城市里，已經(jīng)很少 見了。花轎是傳統(tǒng)蠟禮的核心內(nèi)容之一。結(jié)

16、蠟時(shí)，新娘要坐在花轎里從娘家被抬到 男方家中。花轎一般分四人抬，八人抬兩種，又有“龍轎” “鳳轎”之分。除去轎夫之外，還有持笙鑼、傘、扇等的隨行人員，一般的轎隊(duì)少則十幾人, 多則幾十人，很是壯觀。傳統(tǒng)的中式蠟禮中，新娘要蒙著紅蓋頭，在伴娘的 伴隨下，由新郎手持的大紅綢牽著，慢慢地登上花轎。在新娘成花轎去往男 方家里的途中，顛花轎是必不可少的熱鬧場面。轎夫一起左搖右擺使花轎不 穩(wěn)，新娘坐在里面也是左搖右晃。有的時(shí)候，新郎甚至不得不代替新娘或者和新娘一起向眾人抱拳施禮求饒，而這個時(shí)候，眾人歡笑不止，實(shí)際上是為 了增添新人成焙之日的喜慶氣氛。中式傳統(tǒng)蠟禮的最重要的部分便是拜堂成親。新人走到天地桌前，

17、上面擺放 有裝滿糧食的斗，斗的四周寫上“金玉滿斗”四個大字，以紅紙封口，斗內(nèi) 四角放若干硬幣，以供拜完天地后看熱鬧的親朋好友掏出來求取吉利之意。 斗中要插一柏枝，枝上綴有銅錢，這個柏枝便被稱作“搖錢樹”。斗旁放一 桿秤、一面鏡、織布機(jī)杼、一燈或一蠟燭。新郎在右，新娘在左，并肩站在 天地桌前，執(zhí)事人高聲喊道：“一拜天地，二拜高堂，夫妻對拜”。民間的 說法認(rèn)為，男女只有在拜過天地后才能算作是正式夫妻，因此對這個拜堂的 儀式非常重視。還有民間習(xí)俗有這樣有趣的研究，即如果新郎在結(jié)焙的當(dāng)天 因故不能拜天地，就讓他的姐妹抱只公雞來代替。坐完花轎、拜完天地、接下來新人要入洞房了。洞房是一直延續(xù)下來的叫法,

18、新人入了洞房以后，按照習(xí)俗，新郎新娘的同輩親友聚集在洞房里，對新郎 新娘開一些充滿暗示的玩笑。這時(shí)即便過頭一點(diǎn)，新郎新娘也不會生氣，而 是想辦法巧妙化解，因?yàn)橛H朋好友鬧洞房圖的是高興和熱鬧。WeddingMarriage is the most important thing in the life.In China, atraditional wedding is simple and lively,ceremonious,and joyful.Thereare some unique features in this ceremony,but inmodernsociety,especia

19、lly in the city ,it is hardly seen any more.The bridal sedan is the core of the traditional wedding.In wedding,the bride should sit in the sedan, then be lifted from her mother's home to her husband' home.Generally,there are two kinds of sedan,that is ,four-lifter and eight-lifter,also divid

20、ed into "dragon sedan"and"phoenix sedan".There are so many suites who hold gongs,umbrellas,fans and so on,besides lifters,In group,there are more than ten people at least,and the occasion is very magnificent.In a traditional weddin,accompanied with a bridesmaid, the bride wearing

21、 a red veil and led along by the bridesgroom who holds a red silk in his hand,enters the bridal sedan.On the way to the husband's home,lifters jolt the sedan as it is necessary in a joyful wedding.Lifters swing the sedan from left to right,causing the bride to sit unsteadily inside.Some times th

22、e bridegroom has to substitute for his bride or beg to everyone else,while,all laugh to adding to the jubilance.The wedding ceremony is the most important part of a traditional Chinese wedding. The newlyweds go to the table for heaven and earth where there is a dou(a kind of basket)full of grain.The

23、 dou is written with red paper.There are many coins placed in the four corners of the dou to provide the"luck" meaning to the guests.There is a cypress branch,called "ready source of money",decorated with copper coins.Besides,one steelyard ,a mirror ,a loom,alamp or a candle are

24、also placed near the dou.Afterwards, the groom stand on the left side,the bride right by his side,while the director prompts,"First bow to the heaven and earth;second bow to the parents;third bow to each other".According to the folk saying, they will not be the formal couple until bowing t

25、o the heaven and earth.As a result,people pay a great attention to this ceremony.An interesting custom is that if the groom cannot come to this ceremony,he should ask his sister to hold a cock instead.After taking the bridal sedan,bowing to the heaven,it's time for the newlyweds to go to the bri

26、dal chamber.According to custom,their relatives and friends get together in the bridal chamber to banter the newly weds.At this time,the newlyweds will never get angry enven if the teasing games are a bit outrageous,but will try to skillfully dissolve since the relatives and friends intend to deligh

27、t them.旗袍與中國傳統(tǒng)服飾旗袍源自清代滿族女性服飾，被譽(yù)為中國傳統(tǒng)服飾文化的典范。它不僅在整體造型的風(fēng)格方面符合中國文化和諧的特點(diǎn)，而且它的裝飾手法也展現(xiàn)著濃厚的東方特質(zhì)。另外，穿旗袍可以增加形體的修長感，配上中高跟鞋，更可 以抬升人體的重心，將東方女性的端莊、典雅和含蓄的美展露出來。因此旗 袍在中國民族服裝中獨(dú)領(lǐng)風(fēng)騷，久盛而不衰。中國男子的傳統(tǒng)服飾比較有代表性的為長袍、馬褂，長袍和馬褂都是滿族男 子的服裝，盤領(lǐng)、窄袖，馬褂是對襟，大都有馬蹄袖，長袍為大襟。也有馬 褂、長袍相連的兩部形式，這種形式的長袍只有下半截，連扣在馬褂的內(nèi)下 擺。長袍馬褂給人的感覺是既不乏莊重，又顯得灑脫和舒適。2

28、001年APEJ議各國元首穿著“唐裝”集體亮相，掀起了一股以穿“唐裝”為時(shí)尚的風(fēng)潮。將“唐裝”作為中式服裝的通稱，主要因?yàn)閲舛挤Q華人居 住的地方為“唐人街”，所以“唐人”作為中式服裝的通稱，主要是因?yàn)閲?外都稱華人居住的地方為“唐人街”，所以“唐人”穿的衣服自然就叫做“唐裝” 了。當(dāng)今的“唐裝”是由清代的馬褂演變而來的，它的款式結(jié)構(gòu)有 四大特點(diǎn)：一是立領(lǐng)，上衣前中心開口，立式領(lǐng)型；二是連袖，即袖子和衣 服整體沒有接縫，以平面裁剪為主；三是對襟，也可以是斜襟；四是直角扣， 也就是盤扣；另外從面料來說，則主要使用織錦緞面料等。另外，中國不動地域和不同民族的服飾也各有特色。比如，肚兜就是關(guān)中和陜北

29、的傳統(tǒng)的貼身服飾，肚兜的形狀就像背心的前襟，上面用布帶系在脖頸 上，下面兩邊各有一條帶子系在腰間，它可以避免肚子受涼，夏天時(shí)兒童穿 在外面也顯得天真爛漫。在兒童穿的肚兜上嘗嘗繡有虎頭像和“五毒”圖案，給予了大人希望孩子健康成長的美好祝愿。再比如，中國少數(shù)民族彝族的服 飾也很有特點(diǎn)。彝族婦女的頭飾大致有纏頭、包帕、繡花帽三類，其中紅河 地區(qū)婦女的頭飾更是琳瑯滿目，以銀飾為貴為美。披風(fēng)是彝族男女皆備的特 色服裝，以動物皮毛、毛麻織品和草編織制品為原料，以青、藍(lán)二色為主。Cheong-Sam and Traditional Chinese CostumesThe cheong-sam has its

30、 origin in the Manchu female's costumes in theQing Dynasty and has been regarded as the model of Chinese traditional habilatory culture .As for the reason, the cheong-sam not only accords withe the characteristic of harmony within Chinese culture in terms of the style ,but also shows rich orient

31、al idiosyncracy with regard to ornamental techniques.In addition,the cheong-samwill give more pominence to a lady'sslender figure ,and also help to heighten the center of gravity of human bodies together withe high-heel shoes,so taht civility,elegance anddignety will be fully displayde.Therefore

32、,the cheong-sam developed its own trend ,which has been long lasting.As for the traditional clothes of Chinese men ,the long gown and mandarin jacket are typical.Both of them have roundnecks and narrow sleeves. The mandarin jacket can be seen as a kind of Chinese-style jacket with buttons down the f

33、ront, mostly with sleeves like a horse's hoof.However,the front of long gowns,with buttons on the right,is basically large.There is also a type of garment combining the long gown and the mandarin jacket ,and they will only have the under-half part,buttoning in the under lap of the mandarin jacke

34、t.The long gown and mandarin jacket will giver the impression of comfortableness and ease as well as sobriety.In 2001,the presidents struck a pose on the stage in Chinese style costumes at the APEC Forum,and thus a trend of wearing Chinese style costumes came into being.The very reason why clothing

35、with Chinese style has been labeled as Chinses -style costumes is that the place where overseas Chinesd reside in has been called"Chinese town"and consequently the cosstumes which the Chinese wear are called Chinese style costumes.Current Chinese-style costumes were transformed fromthe man

36、darin jacket of the Qing Dynasty,and there are four majorcharacteristics in terms of design.First,Chinese-style costumes have a stand-up collar and buttons in very middle of the front of the jacket;second,there is no seam between sleeves ande jacket;third,the costumes are jackets with buttons down t

37、he front or in diagonal way;last,they have right-angled buttons.In addition,with regard to the outside material,Chinese costumes are mostly made with silk.Moreover,the feature of clothing varies with areas andnationalities.For instance, hte bellyband is the traditionalclose-fitting costume in Centra

38、l China and north of Shanxi.Thebellyband is just like the front of vest with a lace tying to the neck and it an prevent children from catching a cold.The children's wearing of bellyband will also show their naivety.Most bellybands willl be embroidered with the pattern of atiger head and the &quo

39、t;Five Poisons",which contain a parents' nice expectation of wishing their children health.To take the costumes of the YiNationality as another example,they are rather distinctive with three types of women's had wears including decorating brocade round the head and acap with an embroide

40、rde case.Especially in the area of Honghe,women's head wearsare full of beautiful colors and styles.They prefer silver ornamentsto show their riches and beauty.However,the manteau can be regardedas the distinctive costumes for all people of the YiNationality,whichare mostly made of fur ,delaine,

41、hemp and straw and whose colors aremainly cyan and blue.課文老鼠為什么怕貓?jiān)诠糯藗兪褂檬刂斫o時(shí)辰命名的。但是地支的名稱很古怪，人們 總是記不住，所以引起了許多麻煩。玉皇大帝就想出了一個辦法，準(zhǔn)備選十 二種動物，用它們和十二地支相配，幫助人們記憶。但天下的動物太多了， 怎么選呢？玉皇大帝定了一個日子，讓動物們自己去天庭報(bào)名，前十二種動 物將被選上。動物們很興奮，都希望自己是十二個幸運(yùn)的動物中的一個。貓和老鼠是鄰居，又是好朋友，它們也想去報(bào)名?？墒秦埧倫鬯瘧杏X，它怕 自己起不來，就讓老鼠第二天叫自己起床。第二天早晨，老鼠早早地就醒了

42、， 可是它忘了叫醒貓，就急急忙忙出發(fā)了。走到半路時(shí)，一頭牛從后面趕上了 老鼠。你的個子大，步子也大，它每走一步，老鼠得跑好幾步。老鼠心想：“路還遠(yuǎn)著呢，我都快跑不動了，必須想個辦法才行?！彼蛯吓Ｕf：“牛 大哥，我給你唱支個歌吧，這樣走路會輕松些?！崩吓Ｕf：“好呀?！崩鲜?就唱了起來，可是牛什么也沒聽見，還問：“你怎么不唱？”老鼠說：“我在唱呢，你沒聽見嗎？哦，可能是因?yàn)槲覀€子太小，離你的耳朵太遠(yuǎn)，你才 沒聽見。如果我騎在你的脖子上，你就聽得見了。”老牛說：“好主意?！?于是，老鼠就爬到了牛脖子上唱起來：“牛大哥牛大哥，過小河爬山坡，要 問世上誰最棒？牛大哥和我一一”老牛一聽，跑得更快了。它

43、們跑到天庭門 口時(shí)，看見誰也沒來，牛高興地叫起來：“我第一！我第一！”牛還沒說完，老鼠就已經(jīng)從牛身上滑下來，先一步占到了牛的前面。就這樣, 老鼠的了第一名，牛排在了第二名。不久，其他的動物也一個一個到了，它 們是：虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗和豬。老鼠高高興興地回到家后，這才想起好朋友貓。它跑到貓的家里一看，貓還 在睡大覺呢。貓沒有被選上，氣壞了。從這以后，貓一見老鼠就咬，老鼠也 總是怕看見貓。對話孫靜怡：我給你出一個謎語，請你猜一猜：“全國十二個，人人有一個，外 國不曾有，請問是什么？”瑪麗亞：外國沒有，中國有，這我可猜不出來，我是外國人??！孫靜怡：這是日本前首相田中角榮訪問中國時(shí)，給

44、周恩來總理出過的一個謎 語。當(dāng)時(shí)周恩來聽了哈哈大笑，回答說：“十二生肖?！爆旣悂啠赫f到生肖，我正好有個問題要問你。你說這十二生肖到底是怎么來 的呢？孫靜怡：這個中國古代歷法有關(guān)系。你知道地支嗎？瑪麗亞：聽說過，它是中國古代的紀(jì)年方式，可是和動物有什么關(guān)系呢？孫靜怡：古代的人們想記住自己的出生年份，可是那些地址的名字太麻煩， 所以就找比較形象的東西來幫助記憶，最后想到用十二種動物代表十二個地 支。每年用一種動物做代表。順序就是：子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龍、 巳蛇、午馬、未羊、中猴、酉雞、戌狗、亥豬。也就是說，子年出生的人， 都屬鼠，丑年出生的人都屬牛據(jù)說什么年出生的人就有這種動物的一些 特點(diǎn)，這十二種動物就叫做十二生肖，也叫十二屬相?，旣悂啠哼@個辦法不錯，要是我，怎么也不可能記住那些復(fù)雜的名稱。孫靜怡：是啊，用可愛的動物來代表年份，容易記住，也比較有趣，所以這 種習(xí)俗到現(xiàn)在還有。瑪麗亞：我有一個問