明天就是一年一度的中秋节，今年又是“皓月”遇见“教师”，是团圆遇上了感恩。在这个特殊的节日里，作为英语老师的您又要怎么用英语传授中秋传统节日的相关知识呢？
什么是中秋节
What is Mid-Autumn Festival?
中秋团圆宴
To the Chinese, Mid-Autumn Festival means family reunion and peace. The festival is celebrated when the moon is believed to be the biggest and fullest. To the Chinese, a full moon is a symbol of prosperity, happiness, and family reunion.
对中国人来说，中秋节意味着团聚、平安。人们觉得，中秋节的月亮最大、最圆。满月象征着繁荣、幸福和团圆。
中国人怎么过中秋？
How the Chinese Celebrate Mid-Autumn？
中秋团圆宴
Many traditional and meaningful celebrations are held in most households in China, and China’s neighboring countries. The main traditions and celebrations include eating mooncakes, having dinner with family, gazing at and worshipping the moon, and lighting lanterns.
大部分中国家庭以及中国的邻国都会举行许多传统的庆祝活动，主要庆祝方式包括吃月饼，吃团圆饭，赏月和点灯笼。
中秋节起源版本一
Why Mid-Autumn Festival is Celebrated and How it Started？中秋团圆宴
Mid-Autumn Festival has a history of over 3,000 years, dating back to moon worship in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). It’s such an important festival that many poems were written about it, stories and legends about the festival are widespread, and its origins have been guessed at and explained by generations of Chinese.
中秋节有三千多年历史，可以追溯到商代时对月亮的崇拜。因为中秋节的重要地位，历代诗人都会为中秋节写诗，关于中秋节的故事、传奇在民间广为流传，中秋节的起源也被历代中国人探究。
The term “Mid-Autumn” first appeared in the book Rites of Zhou (周礼), written in the Warring States Period (475–221 BC). But the term only related to the time and season; the festival didn’t exist at that point.
“中秋”一词最早出现在战国时期《周礼》一书中，但是该词只和时间和季节有关，当时还没有中秋节。
In the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), it was popular to appreciate the moon. Many poets liked to create poems related to the moon when appreciating it. There is a legend that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty visited the Moon Palace in his dream and heard a wonderful song.
唐代时赏月风靡，诗人在赏月之时佳作连连。据传，唐玄宗曾在梦中去往月宫并听到优美的歌声。
In the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD), the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was established as the “Mid-Autumn Festival”. From then on, sacrificing to the moon was very popular, and has become a custom ever since.
北宋时期，农历八月十五才被正式确立为中秋节，从那以后，为月亮献祭盛行，从那以后便成为风俗。
中秋英文绘本故事
中秋节起源版本二
Why Mid-Autumn Festival is Celebrated and How it Started？中秋团圆宴
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month， usually in early September to early October of the Gregorian calendar with full moon at night. It is a time for family members and loved ones to congregate and enjoy the full moon – an auspicious symbol of abundance，harmony and luck. Adults will usually indulge in fragrant mooncakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot Chinese tea， while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns.
每年农历八月十五日，是传统的中秋佳节。这时是一年秋季的中期，所以被称为中秋。在这天，每个家庭都团聚在一起，一家人共同观赏象征丰裕、和谐和幸运的圆月。此时，大人们吃着美味的月饼，品着热腾腾的香茗，而孩子们则在一旁拉着兔子灯尽情玩耍。
The festival has a long history. In ancient China， emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had had the word “Mid-Autumn”. Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full， bright moon on that day， worshipped it and expressed their thoughts and feelings under it. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907)， the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed， which became even grander in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties， it grew to be a major festival of China.
中秋节有悠久的历史，和其它传统节日一样，也是慢慢发展形成的，古代帝王有春天祭日，秋天祭月的礼制，早在《周礼》一书中，已有“中秋”一词的记载。后来贵族和文人学士也仿效起来，在中秋时节，对着天上又亮又圆一轮皓月，观赏祭拜，寄托情怀，这种习俗就这样传到民间，形成一个传统的活动，一直到了唐代，这种祭月的风俗更为人们重视，中秋节才成为固定的节日，《唐书·太宗记》记载有“八月十五中秋节”，这个节日盛行于宋朝，至明清时，已与元旦齐名，成为我国的主要节日之一。
The Mid-Autumn Festival probably began as a harvest festival. The festival was later given a mythological flavour with legends of Chang-E， the beautiful lady in the moon.
中秋节最早可能是一个庆祝丰收的节日。后来，月宫里美丽的仙女嫦娥的神话故事赋予了它神话色彩。
中秋节还有哪些习俗
What are the customs of the Mid Autumn Festival中秋团圆宴
赏月 admire the full moon /watch the full moon to celebrate the festival碧空如洗，圆月如盘。人们在尽情赏月之际，会情不自禁地想念远游在外、客居异乡的亲人。中国人历来把家人团圆、亲友团聚，共享天伦之乐看得极其珍贵，历来有“花好月圆人团聚”之谓。
点灯笼 light lanterns
玩花灯play with lanterns / scaldfish
中秋玩花灯主要只是在家庭、儿童之间进行的，多集中在南方。
祭月offering sacrifice to the moon
中秋祭月仪式是一种古老的祭祀礼仪，表达人们祈求月神降福人间的一种美好心愿。
一个英文视频让你看懂各种常见月饼
中秋团圆宴
月饼是中秋节的代表性食物。
Moon cakes are the representative food of Mid-Autumn Festival.
那天晚上，家家户户都边吃月饼 边赏月，当天是圆月，月饼便做成圆的，看上去像满月。
On Mid-autumn Day, families eat moon cakes and enjoy the glorious full moon; the moon cake is round and looks like the full moon.
对于月饼，每个人都有自己的喜好，并且在庆祝活动到来的时候，我们已经享尽了 各种各样的月饼。
As for moon cakes, everyone has their own favorites. And we’ve already stuffed our faces with plenty kinds of moon cakes by the time the festivities arrive.
月饼种类传统月饼：（Traditional styles）广式月饼：（Cantonese-style moon cake）苏式月饼：（Suzhou-style moon cake）京式月饼：（Beijing-style moon cake）滇式月饼：（Yunnan-style moon cake）创新月饼：（Contemporary Styles）低糖月饼：（low-sugar moon cake）无脂月饼：（fat-free moon cake）冰皮月饼：（snow skin moon cake）水果月饼：（fruits moon cake）
月饼口味Sweet bean paste（豆沙）Date paste（枣泥）Mung bean （绿豆）Black sesame paste （黑芝麻)Lotus seed paste （莲蓉）Durian （榴莲）Five kernel（五仁）五仁是指花生（peanut），核桃（walnut seed），瓜子（watermelon seed），杏仁（almond），松子（pine nut）。