中国文化常识中英文对照

十二属相中国民间有一个传统习俗，人一出生，就有一种动物做他的属相。

属相，也叫“生肖”，是中国民间传统的纪年和计算年龄的方法。

中国古代的纪年法是帝王年号与“干支”并用，其中“干支纪年法”从史书上有明文记载的公元前841年（庚申年），一直沿用到现在。

“干”是“天干”，有十个字组成，这十个字是：甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚、辛、壬、癸。

“支”是“地支”，由十二个字组成，这十二个字是：子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥。

把天干的十个字和地支的十二个字按顺序配合起来，可以得到60种排列，如：甲子、乙丑、丙寅……这60种排列周而复始，循环使用，每六十年叫做“一个甲子”。

如公历的2001年，是农历的辛巳年，公历的2002年，是农历的壬午年；而六十年后，2061年又是辛巳年，2062年又是壬午年。

从东汉（25——220）时开始，人们又用鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪12种动物来配十二地支，组成了十二生肖，也叫十二属相。

这就是子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龙、巳蛇、午马、未羊、申猴、酉鸡、戌狗、亥猪。

这样，子年是鼠年，丑年是牛年，寅年是虎年……于是，每个人一出生，就有一种动物作他的属相。

子年出生的属鼠，丑年出生的属牛，寅年出生的属虎，以此类推。

现在，中国人在用公历纪年和计算年龄的同时，仍然习惯用属相纪年和推算年龄。

twelve symbolic animalsit is traditional in China,when a perpon is born,one animal(shuxiang)is used to symbolize this year.Shuxiang,also called shengxiao(any ofthe 12 animals representing the Earthly Branches),is a traditional way in China to number the years and to record a person's age.The ancient Chinese people invented the method to designate the years by the Heavenly Stems consist of the characters:jia,yi,bing,ding,wu,ji,geng,xin,ren,and gui.And the Earthly Branches are composed of 12characters:zi,shu,yin,mao,chen,si,wu,wei,shen,you,xu,bining each of the 10 Heavenly Stems with one of the 12 Earthly Branches in sequence creates 60 chronological symbols.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,and 2062,to ter,people used 12 animalsto correspond to the 12 Earthly Branches,forming the 12Symbolic Animals,namely Earthly Branch One Rat,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 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 yin Year is the Year of the Year ofTiger,etc.Therefore,when a person is born,he has an animal 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 long as people know a person' probable age and his symbolic animao,people can infer his exact age and year of birth.小孩儿满月与抓周在中国，小孩儿的满月酒和抓周仪式独具特色。

在孩子的成长过程中，这两个仪式有里程碑式的纪念意义。

小孩儿出生满一个月的那天，孩子的家人一般要招呼亲朋挚友，邀请他们一起来庆祝孩子满月。

按照中国的传统，这一天，家里会充满了喜庆和节日的氛围，满月就要办得热热闹闹才行。

不过最近这些年，这个习俗在城市尤其是年轻夫妇中有逐渐被淡化的趋势。

但是，小孩儿满月对于每个家庭来说，仍然是一个非常值得纪念的高兴的日子。

“抓周儿”中的“周”是小孩儿满一周岁的意思。

关于“抓周儿”，最早记载于北齐。

“抓周儿”也就是在小孩儿满周岁那天，吃中午的长寿面之前，摆上经书、笔、墨、纸、砚、算盘、钱币、账册、首饰、花朵、胭脂、吃食、玩具等，如果是女孩儿则要加摆铲子、勺子（炊具）、剪子、尺子（缝纫用具）、绣线、花样子（刺绣用具），再由大人将小孩抱来，令其端坐，父母及他人不给予任何的引导或暗示，任孩子随意挑选，看他先抓什么，后抓什么，并以此为依据来预测孩子可能存在的志趣和将从事的职业以及前途。

One-Month-Old Feast and One-Year-Old 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 and relatives to a ceremony to celebrate the occasion.In a traditionalOne-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 youngpeople.Nevertheless,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 of Northern Qi.On the day when ababy is a year old , the family of the baby will lay out sutras,brush pens,ink sticks,paper,ink slabs,abacus,copper coins,accountbooks,jewelries,flowers,rouges,foods,toys,etc.Forgirls,scoops,scissors,rulers,thread,scissor-cut will be added.The parents then put the baby in front of these articles and make it sit up.Nobody will give and instruction 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.婚礼结婚是人生中的一件大事。