Saturday, October 18, 2008

Halloween

Halloween, 中文一般上译为“万圣节”,其实并不正确。

Halloween 落在每一年的十月三十一日。欧洲人在信仰基督教前,就已经庆祝 Halloween。基本上,它是异教 (Pagan) 的节庆。欧洲人改信基督后,仍然保留传统节庆。教会初期势力有限,知道不能要求老百姓完全放弃传统习俗,就刻意选择在十一月一日庆祝万圣节 – All Saints Day。万圣节的庆祝仪式是在前一天傍晚开始,这就和 Halloween 撞在一起了。

现在,我们在每一年的十月三十一日扮鬼、制做南瓜灯笼和玩 trick-or-treat,我们庆祝的是 Halloween,不是万圣节。

P/S

圣诞节的起源,也和 Pagan 教有关,我将于十二月再写。

8 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing this.

    i also thought that both are the same! :)

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  2. I also thought that 万圣节 should be All Saints' Day.

    And funny that Halloween is only widely celebrated in the States, but rarely in Europe where it all began.

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  3. kikey
    No problemo :-)

    kyh
    Halloween is said to have originated from Ireland. Lots of Irish migrated to the States in the past few centuries. Kennedy is an Irish name.

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  4. 今天才知道有这么一个节日叫All Saint's Day呢:P
    在这里,我想如果不是基督教徒的话,无论是庆祝halloween或万圣节,都是乘机疯一下的借口。

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  5. No holloween mood in KL lorr! Hungry ghost festival more celebration. LOL

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  6. sinji
    Do you know why even non-Christians celebrate Christmas? That's the thing I am going to write in December.

    pete
    Yah... I also wonder why. Halloween is popular in Singapore and Hong Kong.

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  7. KS you are right 万圣节not Halloween! Its celebrated day before All Saints Day. Cool!. Write to 陶杰 tell him the mistake so at following print can be revised.. Cheers

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  8. pingping
    How to write to 陶杰? I don't have his address.

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