how to make friends英语作文(经典20篇)

Last weekend, I wanted to swim in the river that I usually wen in the

childhood. When I went there, I was shock. The river is no longer like before.

It was full of rubbish. It seemed that the rubbish is from the villagers

themselves. In order to put the rubbish nearer, they put all of them into the

river. Not only the water is not clean any more, the river also smelt bad. I

real touched. Why human and the environment couldn’t live harmonious? Long time

ago, they could get along with each other. Why not now? People have to stop

their behavior to harm the environment. Otherwise, it would cause destruction to

both sides.

今天，我以一个志愿者的身份来到了乡下，到了陈爷爷家。

陈爷爷家房子不大，走进门，映入眼前的却是，阴暗狭窄的大堂，我敲了敲门，礼貌地问了一句：“陈爷爷在家吗?”

一个房间里走出来一位老奶奶,她热情地招待我，问我：“小朋友，你是谁，是来干什么的?”“我是志愿者，来帮助陈爷爷的。”“哦，陈爷爷在那个小房间里呢!”说着，她便向一个小房间指去。

我向奶奶指的地方走去，看见的却是在厨房忙东忙西的陈爷爷，我叫了一声：“陈爷爷。”陈爷爷回过头笑咪咪到看了我一眼，我发现陈爷爷既是一个残疾人，真是不可思议，赶紧走上前说：“陈爷爷，你歇会吧!我来帮你吧!”“小朋友你真懂事，谢谢，不过我的身子还硬朗的很。”看着，我真为陈爷爷心痛。

我趁陈爷爷在厨房里，我拿起拖把、扫把、撮箕，开始打扫卫生，爷爷看见直夸我棒。

我从这次志愿者活动中感受到了，人不管贫穷富贵，不管健康，还是残疾，只要帮助别人，自己会快乐，别人也会快乐。帮助别人就在一念之间，说起来容易，做起来有点难，要有帮助别人的勇气和力量,要有坚韧不拔的毅力，持之以恒的决心，才能真正做好一个合格的志愿者!

Today, I came to the countryside as a volunteer and went to Grandpa Chens

house.

Grandpa Chens house is not big. When I walked in the door, I saw a dark

and narrow lobby. I knocked on the door and asked politely, "Is Grandpa Chen at

home?"

An old grandmother came out of a room. She greeted me warmly and asked me:

"Little boy, who are you and what are you doing here?" "I am a volunteer to help

Grandpa Chen." "Oh, Grandpa Chen is here. In that small room!" As she spoke, she

pointed to a small room.

I walked to the place where my grandmother pointed, but what I saw was

Grandpa Chen busy in the kitchen, I called out, "Grandpa Chen." Grandpa Chen

turned around and smiled and glanced at me, I found Grandpa Chen As a disabled

person, it was incredible, so he quickly stepped forward and said, "Grandpa

Chen, take a break! Ill help you!" "Youre so sensible, my little one, thank

you, but my body is still very strong." , I am really heartbroken for Grandpa

Chen.

When Grandpa Chen was in the kitchen, I picked up the mop, broom, and

dustpan and started cleaning. Grandpa saw that I was great.

I have felt from this volunteer activity that no matter whether people are

poor or rich, healthy or disabled, as long as they help others, they will be

happy and others will be happy too. Helping others is just a thought. Its

easier said than done. It takes courage and strength to help others,

perseverance and perseverance to be a truly qualified volunteer!

It’s beyond reproach that we will come across all kinds of difficulties and

challenges in our life time .Some will be subjected to frequent sadness .Some

will lose their way to move on .Thus,only when we equip ourselves with hope and

courage can we finally succeed in the uncertain future.

Forrest Gump showed so great courage in the movie that he touched me a lot

. For one thing,no matter when and where Jenny got into trouble ,Forrest Gump

would bring her out of it without thinking how dangerous the situation would be

.Maybe we should all fell ashamed that we love ourselves more than we love love

,but Forrest showed great courage in love .For another,Forrest gump risked his

life to save Bubba in the war.It’s courage that helped Forrest gain a series of

honor after war .Forrest Gump is beautiful for his perseverance and touches

others with his courage.

A person can’t do without courage in terms of love and friendship ,let

alone life . A weak person may avoid the difficulties ,but a person with courage

will face up to it head-on. Therefore,let’equip ourselves with great

courage.

Recently, it has been reported that a boy argued with his father and then

he left home and the policed found him, taking him home after half a month. It

sounds so ridiculous for the boy to leave home for such a long time, but

thinking further, the lack of communication between the father and the son makes

this joke. There always some people wonder why we need to get higher education,

because we may not earn money as much as the workers. In my opinion, the purpose

of education is not for the money, but for the better person we will become. If

the father knows how to communicate with his son and his son is considerate,

then things wouldn’t become so bad. We need receive education and become the

wise person, so we can communicate better and create a harmonious

environment.

"Qingming Festival is one of the most important traditional festival China.

It is not only the people pay homage to their ancestors, cherish the memory of

their ancestors Festival, is also the Chinese nations link to find ones

origin, is a hiking outing, close to nature, protecting the new spring

ceremony."

As an important content of the festival Ching Ming Festival sacrifice,

outing custom comes from the cold food festival, Shangsi festival. The cold food

festival and the understanding of the nature of the. In China, cold food after

the rebirth of the new fire is a kind of new transition ceremony, said the

seasonal alternation information, a symbol of starting the new season, new hope,

new life, new cycle. Then there is the "thanksgiving" means, more emphasis on

the "past" Remembrance and gratitude. Cold food observance ban fire cold food

festival tomb sweeping outing travel, take new fire. Before the Tang Dynasty,

cold and clarity is the two successive but the theme of different festivals, the

former Qiu Xin Memorial nostalgia, the nursing students; Yin and Yang, a breath

of life, the two have close relationship with the. Fire ban is for fire,

sacrifice to the Archilife dead, it is cold and clear the inherent cultural

association. Tang Xuanzong, the court had to order in the form of folk customs

in the Ching Ming Festival fixed sweep the tombs of the cold food festival,

Hanshi and Qingming is closely connected with in time, cold food festival and

Qingming associated with early, sweep the tombs from the extended to the

Qingming cold food.

In my hometown, the air is polluted seriously. However, in recent years,

the pollution gets from bad to worse, because of the increasing number of

private cars. Especially during the rush hours, too many private vehicles move

slowly on narrow roads, emitting a large amount of waste gas. Moreover, the

poisonous gas sent by the nearby factories is also one of the main causes of

pollution. Therefore, it’s demanded that immediate and effective measures must

be taken to restrict private cars and public transportation must be developed to

the largest extent. Besides, we should use renewable and clean energy

recourses.

一、指导思想

目前初三的英语教学中，因种种因素，造就了相当一部分英语学习比较困难，并伴有的差生。因此对这部分学生加强心理指导，培养培养的心理素质，帮助他们尽快走出困境，成为学习的主人，就显得十分必要。学科教学是学校教育的主渠道、主阵地，学科学习是学生的主导活动，学生大量的心理困惑都产生于学习过程中，各种人格品质也在学科的学习中得到发展。英语作为语言学科，在教学中加强德育及心理方面渗透工作，坚持以人为本，坚持教育创新，坚持______，坚持内涵发展，以行为习惯养成教育为重点，以加强细节教育。

二、工作要点

对于向学生进行思想教育、品德教育、科学文化教育和心理素质教育，在本学期的教学中加强德育工作如下：

(一)有敬业精神，热爱学生。

要用自己的爱来唤起和培养学生对学习的爱，从而引伸到对生活的爱。其实，英语课堂教学不只是语言知识的学习和操练，而是一种温馨的情感交流、智慧潜能的开发，社会__交际能力的早期培养，是师生共同创造精神生活的活动。因此教师在教学中，要尊重学生的人格，建立平等、互相尊重的和谐师生关系，使学生在宽松、融洽、愉快的氛围中进行学习的同时，品德得到培养，性格得到完善。

(二)创新教育让学困生自主学习

传统的英语教学模式中，学生自使自终是被动者，即使是一些很有天赋的好学生。久而久之，也缺乏了创造力。不少学生的学习参与意识差，不愿主动思考和提出问题，更不主动解决问题。依赖于教师现成的说教答案，因此，教师必须更新教学观念，树立心的学生观和教学观。我认为，新的学生观最本质的内容就是在教学中真正能够树立合作教学的观念新的学生观念作根本的出发点就是尊重学生，在英语教学汇总充分发挥每个学生的主体作用，使他们真正成为学习的主人。

(三)渗透情感与学生建立良好的师生关系

情感具有迁移作用。亲其师，则信其道。学生对老师的情感能改善学生对所学学科的倾向性。只要师生建立起相互信赖的感情，学生对老师所提出的要求就容易接受。我们的教学活动能就比较顺利地开展。学困生并非自然固有。学困生渴求得到尊重与关心，信任与理解。教师只有用真诚的爱才能使他们感到温暖，消除自卑，树立信心，才能使他们自尊、自爱、奋发进取。我认为，对于学困生，只要我们真诚地给予关心和帮助，他们也会以爱和敬意来回报我们。他们是不会让老师失望的。

(四)赏识教育让学困生树立自信心

自尊心是一个人对自身的评价，对自身存在的价值和态度的体现。任何学生都有自尊心和荣誉感，每当自己在学习上取得点滴成绩时，总希望得到老师的表扬，学困生更是如此。差生由于羞怯心理，往往在课堂上不敢开口，因此，我对学困生从不大声呵斥，而是具体深入地分析他们之所以差的原因，然后对症下药，循循善诱，在加强辅导的同时，根据学生的发展情况进行有弹性的鼓励。实践证明：利用语言表扬、神情暗示、肢体示意等多种方法，给予学困生以的鼓励是行之有效的，能使他们对自己充满自信，树立学好英语的信心。

2022初中英语教师个人工作计划【篇六】 2022 junior high school English teacher personal work plan [Chapter 6]

一、指导思想

在本学期的英语教学中，坚持以下面的教学理念为指导：第一，切实地了解学生的真实水平，注意衔接，尽快使学生适应我的英语教学;第二，教学要面向全体学生，关注学生的情感，激发他们学习英语的兴趣;第三，以学生为主体，尊重个体差异，因材施教;第四，在新课标的指导下，倡导学生体验参与学习，完成设计目标;第五，注重过程性评价，建立能鼓励学生自主学习能力发展提高的综合评价体系。

二、学生情况分析

本届学生在英语基础方面很薄弱，由于在以前学习英语的过程中，没有很详细全面地学习音标，基本的音标和字母拼读都没有掌握好。在词汇，语法规则等方面存在很多缺漏。所以，在听、说、读、写这四项技能上，学生水平存在很大差异。

另外，学生在学习策略和情感态度方面也存在诸多需要进一步解决的问题。例如：许多学生不能明确学习英语的目的，学习缺乏主动性、自觉性;大多数同学没有养成良好的学习习惯，不能做好课前预习和课后复习工作，学习没有计划性和策略性，也不注意知识的积累和巩固。

最后，学生对新教材缺乏一定程度上的了解，还不适应新课改指导下的一些教学方法。在课堂上，习惯像以往被动地接受所传授的知识，不善于发现和总结语言规律，学习的主体性不突出。

三、教材与教辅的分析

1、内容与结构

每一单元除了关注阅读、写作、听力、视听说等语言实践活动，还关注语言知识、情感态度、文化意识和学习策略等。其中，教材加强了文化意识的提高和学生学习策略的培养，是相较于以前教材很大的不同。

2、教材的特点

首先突出学习者的发展，包括注重学习策略的培养和使用;注重提高学生的语言认知能力;为教师和学生提供个性化的选择;其次努力提高学生用英语进行思维和表达的能力。具体为：为学生提供更多的体验真实语言的机会;精心设计教学活动，使学生看到明确的目标和明确的成果;为学生发展语言运用能力提供详尽的语言支持;重视复现。

3、教材的重难点

该套教材强调学生综合语言运用能力的培养和提高，所以重点在于培养学生用英语获取信息、处理信息的能力;用英语分析问题、解决问题的能力;用英语进行思维和表达的能力。难点在于学生在情感态度和学习策略上的改变，达到用英语思维和表达的目标。

4、教学目标

⑴总体目标：激发学生学习英语的兴趣，树立自信心。在整个教学过程中，让学生有丰富的生活常识、多文化背景的积累，并形成正确人生观、价值观，有积极的情感态度和跨文化的交际能力。同时培养自主学习能力，积累学习方法。

⑵具体目标：结合学生基础知识过于薄弱的实际，在教学刚开始的阶段，注意高一和初中知识的衔接，例如复习音标和字母拼读规律，积累基础词汇、词语搭配、句型，熟悉不同单元呈现的语法规则，掌握实际用法。希望第一学期后，学生能培养学习的兴趣，养成较好的学习习惯，对基础知识有一定的掌握。

5、教学措施

⑴让学生每天积累几个单词，利用“互测及教师抽查”及时检查，保证效果并坚持下去。

⑵认真贯彻晨读制度：规定晨读内容，加强监督，保证晨读效果。

⑶实行过程性评价，调动学生积极性，通过不同方式的检测，让进步的同学体会到成就感，让落后的同学找出差距，感受压力。由此在班里形成浓厚的学习氛围，培养学生健康向上的人格和竞争意识。

⑷关注学生的情感，营造宽松、民主、和谐的教学氛围。

⑸在教学中根据目标并结合教学内容，创造性地设计贴近学生实际的教学活动，吸引和组织他们积极参与。学生通过思考、调查、讨论、交流和合作等方式，学习和使用英语，完成学习任务。

⑹经常进行教学反思，适时调整教学方法，符合学生的真实情况，利于学生的有效性学习。

从所任课班级实际情况和本身条件出发，认真进行思考和改正。多关注学科教研的发展，多多听课向有经验的老师虚心学习，取之所长，多和同事交流探讨，交换教学思想和方法，避己所短，不断进步。积极参与学科的相关课题研究，撰写论文，参加教研组，备课组的教研活动。

Tourism in China

Recent years have seen a tendency in China that tourism is growing faster. According to a recent survey made by some experts, about 47% urban residents travel regularly, and 28% rural residents also make their tour across the country. The survey also shows that more people are interested in tourism, and will join the army in the future.

Facing this tendency, we can’t help exploring some underlying factors that are responsible. In the very first place, with the policy of reform and opening up, Chinese people’s living standard has been greatly improved, and therefore, most of them can afford to travel around. What’s more, it is believed that people now take a more positive attitude to tourism, and regard it as a life style. In addition, tourism facilities are becoming better and better. For example, transportation develops fast, and many scenic spots are available now.

中国旅游

最近几年，在中国的趋势，旅游业增长较快。根据最近的一项调查显示一些专家认为，约47%城镇居民定期作出旅行，28%的农村居民，也使他们的全国巡演。该调查还显示，更多的人在旅游有兴趣，并会在将来加入。

面对这一趋势，我们不能不说是负责任的开发一些潜在因素。在第一个地方，随着改革开放政策，对中国人民的生活水平有了很大提高，因此，他们大多数都不能周游。更重要的是，它相信，人们现在更积极的态度，旅游业，把它作为一种生活方式。此外，旅游设施正在变得越来越好。例如，交通运输发展迅速，许多景点都已经上市。

Seasons have colors. What are the four seasons colors like?

Spring is green. When spring comes, trees begin to bud and grass begin to

grow. It is really a green world, and it is also the color of hope.What about

summer? When I look at flowers of almost all kinds in blossom, I know that the

color of summer is red.Compared with summer, autumn is totally different color,

especially in the north of our country. The rice in the fields and fruits on the

branches are the signals of autumn. It is the color filled with ripeness. Gold

is the symbol of harvest.Winter is the world of snow. Therefore, white is the

color of winter.

Seasons have colors and the changing of the four seasons makes the land

colorful and energetic.

Since we were born, we are meant to face the stage of study and work until

we retire, which seems everybody does the same thing in their life. They start

to wonder about the meaning of life. In my opinion, the meaning of life lies in

study and finding the right place.

Study comes first for human being. Since we learn the knowledge, we get to

know about the world. The more we learn, the more we want to search for the

unknown knowledge. The world is beautiful because of diversity, and there are so

many amazing scenery waiting for us to discover. At the process of searching the

knowledge, we also become mature and have our own thinking.

Finding the place in the world is the basic task for us. The purpose of

knowledge is to master some skills, so as to get accustomed to the world and

know what we want to do and what we can bring to the world. The value we create

can bring happiness to people we love and make a contribution to the world.

Life is short, but we keep searching all the time.

The protection of the border is not a new problem for us, and our

government has long proposed clear targets for governance. As every ordinary

person in real life, although it is impossible to work directly in environmental

protection, we can start from small things and start from me. Can you raise your

hand when you see the tap in the bathroom? When the battery runs out, can you

classify it instead of throwing it away? How about when shopping doesnt use

ultra-thin plastic bags? ...... Small things are small, but they reflect how

much environmental awareness we have.

Recycling one ton of waste paper can regenerate 800 kg of paper, can save

17 tree. 20 waste recycling boxes can create a beautiful pen container.

Recycling one glass bottle to save the energy, can make the bulb light for four

hours. Recycling one aluminum can is to save the half oil cans. So we should

place the garbage classification, reproduction by the relevant department after

recycling reuse!

As long as we start from oneself, starts from the minor matter, everybody

joint efforts, perseverance, we will be for the society, also a piece of clear

water, blue sky for yourself, I hope everybody can voluntarily protect the

environment, to make our environment more beautiful life.

When I see the cartoon, I like to watch the cat machine very much, he has a

Timemachine, he always helps his friend to fine something with time machine.

The cartoon makes me think of what would I do if I have a time machine. If I

have a time machine, the first thing I want to do is go back to the time when I

play with my friend, he now moves to another place, I never say goodbye to him,

I want to make it up and say goodbye to him. The second thing is I want to go

back to the time when I shout at my mother, I regret about this all the time, I

wish I had a chance to say sorry at that time. Now I have to face the truth that

I will never have time machine, I should cherish the time and thing I own now,

be nice to my mother.

Unlike Martin Luther King’s, my dreams are fair and plain, and there are

many of them. I have a dream from the first time I sit in a car—I want to

drive.

Driving is like running without foot, racing without strength. It’s the

most meaningful way to meet human being’s desire of “faster”. When driving, I

have to put all my spirit to. Operating a car at ease will cost years of

experience.

Driving will take me to my wanting destination, no matter it rains or snows

or winds. I never am afraid of shoes wet, umbrella broken or ears frozen. A car

is rather like a moving house, which protects me completely and helps me rush

directly to the aim hanging ahead. That suits my nature perfectly: love to take

risks conservatively. A smooth ride in a good car is an enjoyable satisfaction.

Seeing rows of trees moving backward rapidly, a feeling of stepping forward will

fill fully in my mind. With music hovering, breeze blowing, my soul flies in the

air.

I was always sick when took a ride of a car, especially when I was young.

Father told me that a driver would never have carsick. That may be one of the

important reasons for me to desire driving.

This summer I am going to learn driving and get my car license. The dream

with all my heart will follow the promise it had made.

The Hollywood culture is favored by the world. Every year, the movies

produced by Hollywood always win both money and fame. In recent years, the US TV

series are also popular and catch more fans. The English language shows become

the winners all the time. But non-English language shows are starting to

arise.

The most famous non-English language movies are Indian movies. Because of

the Bollywood, which came before Hollywood, Indian movies are produced well and

have its own feature. Besides, more TV series of non-English language are

popular around the world. The Swedish show Skam is the hottest, and a lot of

Chinese young fans are so crazy about it.

Watching the show is a good way to learn the language and culture. It is a

good trend for people to pay attention to various cultures. Today, as the world

gets globalized, it is important to know more about the world and broaden our

vision. Though what we learn from the non-English language shows is limited, it

is better than not to watch.

Today is Dragon Boat Festival. My mother let me watch the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival from the computer. In fact, it was a memorial to Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a patriot. He wanted to make his country strong and often give advice to the king, but the king did not like to listen and he drove him out of the country.

Once the Qin state came to the state of Chu, the state of Chu was quickly defeated, the country was soon lost, and Qu Yuan was more sad. In the early May of this year, five, he moved a big stone and threw himself into the river. People know, very sad, in order not to let the fish eat Qu Yuan, put the dumplings inside the bamboo tube, throw it into the river, hope that the fish will not eat Qu Yuan, the dumplings are like this.

This story tells us to love our country. I also know, now eat dumplings, but is bamboo, replaced by a kind of broad leaves. Eating zongzi is also a memorial to Qu Yuan.

A little monkey picks up a pumpkin and wants to take it home.But the pumpkin is toobig.The monkey cant take it home.

Suddenly he sees a panda riding a bike towards him. He watches the bike. "l have a good idea. I can roll the pumpkin. It likes a wheel."

So he rolls the pumpkin to his home. When his mother sees the big pumpkin, she is surprised and says, "How can you carry it home?" The little monkey answers proudly, "l cant lift it, but l can roll it." His mother smiles and says, " What a clever boy!"

The Duanwu Festival, which is also called the Dragon Boat Festival, is an

ancient Chinese traditional festival, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth

lunar month. For thousands of years, various celebrating activities are held all

around the country. Eating zongzi and racing dragon boats are the most pertinent

ones, which are said to be in memory of Qu Yuan, a great poet. In some places,

people spread realgar wine on the children in the hope of protecting them from

the evil spirits. Many people consider May as an especially dangerous time for

diseases in a year, and therefore they hang moxa and calamus and things like

that around the doors to ward off evil and diseases and pray for good luck.

dear dick,

i am very glad to hear from you. you asked me about the change of school education in china. we are really happy about the changes called on to reduce learning load. before i had to study six days a week and i always went to bed after 11:30. i seldom had free time to do what i like. but now i have more spare time. i can read many interesting books, watch tv or even do some sports. and i never feel tired in the class as before, because i go bed at 10:00. all of my classmates are happy about this new arrangement of things.

Mid-autumn Festival

At this time the people always eat the moon cake, to enjoy looking at the moon, the family member reunite, because that day moon is roundest.There are also many wonderful stories about midautumn festival,too.It comes today! I bought some firecrackers and lanterns.After the big dinner,I hang up the lanterns togerther with my sister and then shoot off firecrackers with my family.It was really funny.We was eating mooncakes as well as watching TV.I had a good time with the big family .I love the festival ,it stand for the tuneful of us.

翻译：

在这个节日人们经常喜欢吃月饼，和家庭的成员一起赏月，因为这一天的月亮是最圆的。因此也流传了许多关于中秋节奇妙的故事。今天终于到了。我买了些鞭炮和灯笼。吃完丰盛的晚餐以后，姐姐陪同我一起去挂灯笼，过后我们全家一起放鞭炮，是在是兴奋极了。我们还边看电视边吃月饼呢!也和家人们度过了美好的时光。我喜欢这个节日，它代表家庭的和谐。

The Ten-minute Break Between Classes Time seems to be so limited for us Senior Three students. As a result, more and more students try to study from early morning till late afternoon, even during the ten-minute breaks. In my view, taking a ten minute break between classes is equally important. Otherwise, we will feel exhausted both physically and mentally,During the ten minute break, we are supposed to do something really relaxing, we need is to have a rest, instead of getting more tired. Besides, studying during the break doesn ’ t necessarily mean that you will achieve more. So doing nothing tiring in that short period is of greater significance. As far as my ten-minute breaks are concerned, sometimes I take some simple exercise, such as having a walk with my classmates, or just a free chat to refresh myself. When the next class begins, I feel energetic again.

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival.

But one thing for sure is that it had something to do with celebrating and

cultivating positive relationship between people, families, nature and the

higher beings they believed were responsible for bringing/returning the light

each year.

One legend tells us that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the God of Heaven

in ancient times. The belief was that the God of Heaven controlled the destiny

of the human world. He had sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided

when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence upon human beings.

Beginning with Qinshihuang, the first emperor to unite the country, all the

emperors ordered splendid ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to

bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people. Emperor Wudi of

the Han Dynasty directed special attention to this event. In 104 BC, he

proclaimed it as one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would

last throughout the night. They clean it all up in the morning.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism. Tianguan is the

Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the 15th day of

the first lunar month. It is said that Tianguan likes all types of

entertainment, so followers prepare various kinds of activities during which

they pray for good fortune.

Yet another common legend dealing with the origins of the Lantern Festival

speaks of a beautiful bird that flew down to earth from heaven, which was hunted

and killed by some villagers. This angered the Jade Emperor in Heaven because

the bird was his favorite one. Therefore, he planned a storm of fire to destroy

the village on the 15th lunar day. The Jade Emperors daughter heard of this

plan, and warned the villagers of her father’s plan to destroy their village.

The village was in turmoil because nobody knew how should they escape their

imminent destruction.

However, a wise man from another village suggested that every family should

hang red lanterns around their houses, set up bonfires on the streets, and

explode firecrackers on the 14th, 15th, and 16th lunar days. This would give the

village the appearance of being on fire to the Jade Emperor. On the 15th lunar

day, troops sent down from heaven whose mission was to destroy the village saw

that the village was already ablaze, and returned to heaven to report to the

Jade Emperor. Satisfied, the Jade Emperor decided not to burn down the village.

From that day on, people celebrate the anniversary on the 15th lunar day every

year by carrying red lanterns on the streets and exploding firecrackers and

fireworks.

There are many stories on how this festival was created. One other story is

about a maid. In the Han Dynasty, Mr. Eastern was a favorite advisor of the

emperor. One winter day, he went to the garden and heard a little girl crying

and getting ready to jump into a well to commit suicide. Mr. Eastern stopped her

and asked why. She said she was a maid in the emperors palace and her name was

Yuan-Xiao.

She never had the chance to meet her family after she started worked at the

palace. She missed them so much every 12th lunar month. If she couldnt have the

chance to show her filial piety in this life, she would rather die. Mr. Eastern

promised her to find a way so she could reunion with her family. Mr. Eastern

left the palace and set up a fortune-telling stall on the street and disguised

himself as a fortuneteller. Because of his reputation, many people asked for

their fortunes.

But every one got the same prediction - a severe fire accident on the 15th

lunar day. The rumor spread quickly. Everyone was worried about the future and

asked Mr. Eastern for help. Mr. Eastern said, "On the 13th lunar day, the God of

Fire will send a fairy lady in red to burn down the city. If you see a lady in

red wearing green pants riding a black horse on that day, you should ask for her

mercy." On that day, Yuan-Xiao pretended to be the red fairy lady. When people

asked for her help, she said, "Im the messenger of the God of Fire and came to

check on the city and Im going to set up fire on 15th. This is an order from

Jade Emperor. He will watch from the heavens.

I will give you a copy of the imperial decree from the God of Fire. You

should go to ask your emperor to find a way out." After she left, people went to

the palace to show the emperor the decree which reads "The capital city is in

trouble. Fire burns on the palace, and fire from Heaven burns all night long on

the 15th." The emperor of Han Dynasty was very shocked. He called and asked Mr.

Eastern for advice. After pondering for a while, Mr. Eastern said, "I heard that

the God of Fire likes to eat Tang-Yuan (Sweet dumpling). Does Yuan-Xiao often

cook Tang-Yuan for you? On the 15th lunar day, let Yuan-Xiao make Tang-Yuan.

Your Majesty will take charge of the worshipping ceremony and you will give

an order to every house to prepare Tang-Yuan to worship the God of Fire at the

same time. Also, deliver another order to ask every house in the city to hang

red lantern and explode fire crackers. Lastly, everyone in the palace and people

outside the city should carry their lanterns on the street to watch the lantern

decoration and fireworks. If everything goes this way, the Jade Emperor would be

deceived.

Then everyone can avoid the fire accident." The emperor happily followed

the plan. Lanterns were everywhere in the capital city on the night of the 15th

lunar day. People were walking on the street. Fire crackers kept making lots of

noise. It looked like the entire city was on fire. Yuan-Xiaos parents went into

the palace to watch the lantern decorations, and Yuan-Xiao made a big lantern

and wrote her name on the lantern. They happily reunited together after her

parents called her name. Everybody was safe during the night. The emperor of Han

Dynasty had a new order that people should do the same thing every year. Since

Yuan-Xiao cooked the best Tan-Yuan, people called the day Yuan-Xiao

Festival.

Young people were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love.

Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing couples. The brightest lanterns

were symbolic of good luck and hope. As time has passed, the festival no longer

has such implications.

Those who do not carry lanterns often enjoy watching informal lantern

parades. In addition to eating tangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional

Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), another popular activity at this festival is

guessing lantern riddles (which became part of the festival during the Tang

Dynasty), which often contain messages of good fortune, family reunion, abundant

harvest, prosperity and love.