24节气之22：冬至高考英语【China Daily 外刊双语精读24节气】精读.docx

July 12, 2022 24 Solar Terms: 9 things you may not know about Winter Solstice24节气:关于冬至你可能不知道的9件事The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Winter Solstice (Chinese: 冬至), the 22nd solar term of the year, begins this year on Dec 21.中国传统农历将一年分为24个节气冬至(中文:冬至)，今年的第22个节气，从12月21日开始On the first day of Winter Solstice, the Northern Hemisphere experiences the shortest day and the longest night in the year, as the sun shines directly at the Tropic of Capricorn. From then on, the days become longer and the nights become shorter. The Winter Solstice also marks the arrival of the coldest season in the year.Here are nine things you should know about Winter Solstice.冬至的第一天，北半球经历了一年中最短的白天和最长的夜晚，因为太阳直接照射在南回归线上。

从此，白天变长，夜晚变短冬至也标志着一年中最冷季节的到来以下是关于冬至你应该知道的九件事The Winter Solstice Festival冬至节There was a saying in ancient China, "The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival."中国古代有句谚语，“冬至和春节一样重要As early as the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256BC), people worshipped the gods on the first day of the Winter Solstice, which also was the first day of the new year. The Winter Solstice became a winter festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220AD). The celebratory activities were officially organized. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest.早在周朝(约11世纪-公元前256年)，人们就在冬至的第一天崇拜神灵，冬至也是新年的第一天。

冬至在汉朝(公元前206年-公元220年)成为一个冬季节日庆祝活动是官方组织的在这一天，官员和老百姓都会休息During subsequent dynasties, such as the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911), the Winter Solstice was a day to offer sacrifices to Heaven and to ancestors.在随后的朝代，如唐(618-907)，宋(960-1279)和清朝(1644-1911)，冬至是祭天和祭祖的日子Eating nuts 吃坚果When midwinter arrives, vital movement begins to decline and calm down. In this period, eating an appropriate amount of nuts, such as peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, is good for one's body. Traditional Chinese medical science teaches that the quality of a nut is tepidity and most nuts have the function of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening the brain and heart.当仲冬到来时，生命活动开始下降并平静下来。

在这个时期，吃适量的坚果，如花生、核桃、栗子、榛子、杏仁等，对身体有好处中国传统医学教导坚果的品质是微温的，大多数坚果具有滋肾、健脑和强心的功能Eating dumplings 吃饺子During Winter Solstice in North China, eating dumplings is essential to the festival. There is a saying that goes "Have dumplings on the first day of Winter Solstice and noodles on the first day of Summer Solstice."冬至时期，在中国北方，吃饺子是必不可少的节日有句话说得好“冬至第一天吃饺子，夏至第一天吃面条Eating wontons吃馄饨People in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, are accustomed to eating wontons in midwinter. According to legend, during the midwinter feast 2,500 years ago, the King of Wu (one of the states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period) was disgusted with all kinds of costly foods and wanted to eat something different. Then, the beauty Xishi came into the kitchen to make "wontons" to honor the king's wish. He ate a lot and liked the food very much. To commemorate Xishi, the people of Suzhou made wontons the official food to celebrate the festival.江苏苏州人习惯在隆冬吃馄饨。

据传说，在2500年前的仲冬盛宴期间，吴王(西周和春秋时期的国家之一)对各种昂贵的食物感到厌恶，想吃点不同的东西然后，美女西施来到厨房做“馄饨”来满足国王的愿望他吃了很多，非常喜欢这些食物为了纪念西施，苏州人把馄饨作为庆祝节日的官方食品Eating tangyuan 吃汤圆In places such as Shanghai, people eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour, to celebrate Winter Solstice.在上海等地，人们吃汤圆，一种用糯米粉制成的有馅的小汤圆，以庆祝冬至Eating mutton and vermicelli soup羊肉粉丝汤In Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, people call midwinter the "Ghost Festival". On that day, it is customary for people there to drink mutton and vermicelli soup and eat the dumplings in the soup. They give the midwinter soup a strange name - "brain" - and share it with their neighbors.在宁夏回族自治区银川吃羊肉粉丝汤，人们把隆冬称为“鬼节”。

在那一天，那里的人们习惯喝羊肉粉丝汤，吃汤里的饺子他们给仲冬的汤起了一个奇怪的名字——“脑”——并与邻居分享Eating rice cakes 吃年糕During the Winter Solstice, Hangzhou residents traditionally eat rice cakes. In the past, before the approach of the winter solstice, every household would make the cakes to worship their ancestors or use as gifts for relatives and friends. Today, though fewer families eat homemade cakes, people there still buy rice cakes for the Winter Solstice Festival.冬至期间，杭州居民传统上吃年糕过去，在冬至来临之前，家家户户都会制作月饼来祭拜祖先或作为礼物送给亲朋好友今天，尽管吃自制蛋糕的家庭越来越少，但那里的人们仍然会在冬至购买年糕。

Offering nine-layer cakes to ancestors祭祖九层饼Taiwan residents keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. People with the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in order of their ages. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand banquet.台湾居民保留着祭祖九层饼的习俗同姓或同宗的人聚集在祖庙里，按年龄顺序祭拜祖先祭祀仪式后，总会有盛大的宴会Eating red-bean and glutinous rice吃红豆糯米饭In some regions south of the Yangtze River on the first day of Winter Solstice, the whole family gets together to have a meal made of red bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things.在冬至的第一天，长江以南的一些地区，全家人聚在一。