A Legend of Lanterns on the Lantern Festival 元宵节的传说——点彩灯

元宵节是中国的传统节日，早在2000多年前的西汉就有了，元宵赏灯始于东汉明帝时期，明帝提倡佛教，听说佛教有正月十五日僧人观佛舍利，点灯敬佛的做法，就命令这一天夜晚在皇宫和寺庙里点灯敬佛，令士族庶民都挂灯。以后这种佛教礼仪节日逐渐形成民间盛大的节日。该节经历了由宫廷到民间，由中原到全国的发展过程。
The Lantern Festival, a traditional festival in China, dates back over 2000 years to the Western Han Dynasty. People began viewing lanterns on the Lantern Festival in the reign of Emperor Mingdi in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Mingdi, a Buddhism advocate, heard that Buddhist monks viewed Sakyamuni’s sarira (a Buddhist term meaning ‘relics’) and lit lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he had lanterns lit in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among the common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole country.
传说在很久以前，凶禽猛兽很多，四处伤害人和牲畜，人们就组织起来去打它们，有一只神鸟因为迷路而降落人间，却意外的被不知情的猎人给射死了。天帝知道后十分震怒，立即传旨，下令让天兵于正月十五日到人间放火，把人间的人畜财产通通烧死。天帝的女儿心地善良，不忍心看百姓无辜受难，就冒着生命的危险，偷偷驾着祥云来到人间，把这个消息告诉了人们。众人听说了这个消息，有如头上响了一个焦雷。吓得不知如何是好，过了好久，才有个老人家想出个法子，他说：“在正月十四、十五、十六日这三天，每户人家都在家里张灯结彩、点响爆竹、燃放烟火。这样一来，天帝就会以为人们都被烧死了”。
According to one legend, a long time ago, there were a lot of ferocious birds and beasts hurting humans and livestock, so people got organized and hunted them. A bird from Heaven got lost and fell to the earth, and was shot to death by an uninformed hunter. Upon discovering this, the Emperor of the Heaven was enraged and ordered his soldiers to set the earth on fire and destroy all humans and their livestock and property on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The Emperor’s kind-hearted daughter didn’t want innocent people to suffer from the catastrophe, so she risked her life and informed people of this. People were too scared at the news to know what to do. It was much later that an elderly person came up with an idea, “Every family should hang up lanterns and set off firecrackers and fireworks on the 14th, 15th and 16th day of the 1st lunar month, and thus the emperor will believe that everything has been burnt.”
大家听了都点头称是，便分头准备去了。到了正月十五这天晚上，天帝往下一看，发觉人间一片红光，响声震天，连续三个夜晚都是如此，以为是大火燃烧的火焰，心中大快。人们就这样保住了自己的生命及财产。为了纪念这次成功，从此每到正月十五，家家户户都悬挂灯笼，放烟火来纪念这个日子。
Others nodded their agreement to the idea and began to make their preparations separately. When the night of the 15th day of the 1st lunar month came, the Emperor looked down and found the earth ablaze and crackling with noises. The scene continued for three nights and so Emperor thought that the earth was ablaze and was satisfied that his bird was avenged. Thus, people and their property survived. In order to commemorate the success, people hang up lanterns and set off fireworks on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month every year.