中英雙語話中國民風民俗 第148期:爆竹的起源

The Origin of setting Off Firecrackers

爆竹的起源

Setting off firecrackers is one of the most popular customs in the Spring Festival celebration. The crackles of firecrackers will burst reverberating across the heavens the moment the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. Firecrackers are also set off when people pay New Year calls and offer New Year sacrifices to their ancestors. The firecracker is also known as the bamboo-cracker, which is linked with a tale. According to Shen Yi Jing( Classic of Rare Gods)by Dongfang Shuo( 154-93B. C.)，a writer in the Western Han Dynasty,a group of odd people,a little more than a feet tall,lived in the high mountains of west China in ancient times. Naked,they lived on shrimps and crabs and often stole salt from villagers' houses to spice their food. These odd people would make villagers run a fever if the latter encountered them. They feared nothing but the crackles produced by burning bamboo tubes. Hence villagers resorted to burning bamboo tubes to threaten them away. Thinking the way magical，later people burned bamboo tubes on New Year's Eve, supposed to exorcise all evil spirits. In the Song Dynasty people began to set off firecrackers filled with gunpowder, instead of burning bamboo tubes,on New Year's Eve. Now,firecrackers are set off more for heightening the festive air than for the original purpose.

燃放鞭炮是在春節最流行的慶祝活動之一。鞭炮劈啪聲會使整個天空迴盪當鍾在除夕12點敲響的那一刻。當人們拜年或祭祀他們的祖先時也鞭炮。爆竹也被稱爲竹筒，這與一個故事聯繫在一起。據沈易經（經典稀的有神）由西漢作家東方朔（154-93B。℃。）所寫，一羣奇怪的一英尺多高的人，住在中國古代的西部高山上。裸體，他們以吃蝦蟹爲生，經常從村民的家裏偷鹽來調味他們的食物。這些奇怪的人會使最後遇到他們的人發燒。他們什麼都不怕，除了用燃燒竹筒製成的爆竹。因此，村民們使出燃燒竹筒來威脅他們離開。因爲這神奇的思維方式，後來人們在除夕燃燒竹筒來驅除所有的惡靈。在宋代人們在除夕開始使用有火藥的鞭炮而不是燃燒竹筒。現在，鞭炮把節日氣氛襯托得比原來更爲濃重。