每年農(nóng)歷的正月十五日，春節(jié)剛過，迎來的就是中國的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日--元宵節(jié)。元宵主要的活動(dòng)就是看燈。東漢明帝時(shí)期，明帝提倡佛教，聽說佛教有正月十五日僧人觀佛舍利，點(diǎn)燈敬佛的做法，就命令這一天夜晚在皇宮和寺廟里點(diǎn)燈敬佛，令士族庶民都掛燈。

　　TheLanternFestivalfallsonthe15thdayofthe1stlunarmonth,usuallyinFebruaryorMarchintheGregoriancalendar.AsearlyastheWesternHanDynasty(206BC-AD25),ithadbecomeafestivalwithgreatsignificance.Thisday’simportantactivityiswatchinglanterns.ThroughouttheHanDynasty(206BC-AD220),BuddhismflourishedinChina.OneemperorheardthatBuddhistmonkswouldwatchsarira,orremainsfromthecremationofBuddha’sbody,andlightlanternstoworshipBuddhaonthe15thdayofthe1stlunarmonth,soheorderedtolightlanternsintheimperialpalaceandtemplestoshowrespecttoBuddhaonthisday.Later,theBuddhistritedevelopedintoagrandfestivalamongcommonpeopleanditsinfluenceexpandedfromtheCentralPlainstothewholeofChina.

　　每年農(nóng)歷的正月十五日，春節(jié)剛過，迎來的就是中國的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日?元宵節(jié)。元宵主要的活動(dòng)就是看燈。東漢明帝時(shí)期，明帝提倡佛教，聽說佛教有正月十五日僧人觀佛舍利，點(diǎn)燈敬佛的做法，就命令這一天夜晚在皇宮和寺廟里點(diǎn)燈敬佛，令士族庶民都掛燈。以后這種佛教禮儀節(jié)日逐漸形成民間盛大的節(jié)日。該節(jié)經(jīng)歷了由宮廷到民間，由中原到全國的發(fā)展過程。

　　Tilltoday,thelanternfestivalisstillheldeachyeararoundthecountry.Lanternsofvariousshapesandsizesarehunginthestreets,attractingcountlessvisitors.Childrenwillholdself-madeorboughtlanternstostrollwithonthestreets,extremelyexcited.“Guessinglanternriddles”isanessentialpartoftheFestival.Lanternownerswriteriddlesonapieceofpaperandpostthemonthelanterns.Ifvisitorshavesolutionstotheriddles,theycanpullthepaperoutandgotothelanternownerstochecktheiranswer.Iftheyareright,theywillgetalittlegift.Theactivityemergedduringpeople’senjoymentoflanternsintheSongDynasty(960-1279).Asriddleguessingisinterestingandfullofwisdom,ithasbecomepopularamongallsocialstrata.

　　直到今天，元宵點(diǎn)燈的習(xí)俗仍然在中國的各地流傳的，各式各樣美麗的花燈在這一天都會(huì)點(diǎn)亮，孩子們提著自制的燈籠走街串巷，非常高興。猜燈謎也是元宵節(jié)的一項(xiàng)重要活動(dòng)，花燈的主人會(huì)將謎面寫在燈籠上，掛在門口，如果有人可以猜中，就能得到小小的禮物。這項(xiàng)活動(dòng)最早起源于宋朝，因?yàn)橹i語能啟迪智慧又饒有興趣，所以流傳過程中深受社會(huì)各階層的歡迎。