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The Origins of Christmas
圣诞节的由来
The origins of Christmas go back to before the time of Christ when many ancient cultures celebrated the changing of the seasons. In the northern hemisphere in Europe, for example, the winter solstice, which was the shortest day of the year, occurs around Dec. 25th. During this time extreme celebration occurred and, for most part, businesses and government shutdown. It was a time of pagan celebration with various forms of sinful behavior. These celebrations were based on the day where the cold winter days became shorter and shorter. Since during winter animals were penned, people stayed indoors, crops didn’t grow, etc.,--to know that winter was half over and on its way out was a time of celebration.
圣诞节的起源可以追溯到基督之前的时代，当时许多古老的文化都会对季节的改变进行庆祝。比如说北半球的欧洲会在每年的12月25日左右庆祝冬至--一年中白昼最短的时候。在这期间会举行一些极端的庆祝活动，大多数地区企业和政府都会闭门歇业。当时这是异教徒举行庆祝活动的日子，他们会做出各种有罪的行为。在寒冷的冬天变得越来越短的那一天，这些庆祝活动就会举行。因为冬天家畜都进圈了、人们待在室内很少外出、庄稼也停止了生长…，当知道冬天已经过半、并且马上就将结束的时候，就应该举行庆祝活动。
In the ancient Roman system of religion, Saturn was the god of agriculture. Each year during the summer, the god Jupiter would force Saturn out of his dominant position in the heavenly realm; and the days would begin to shorten. In the temple to Saturn in Rome, the feet of Saturn were then symbolically bound with chains until the winter solstice when the length of days began to increase. It was this winter solstice, December 25th, that was a time of celebration and exchange of gifts as the hardness of winter began to wane and the days grew longer. So, based on this celestial event, Saturnalia became a week long celebration that began on December 17 and ended on the 25th. In addition, December 25th coincided the day of the birth of the sun-god named Phyrgia a culture in the ancient Balkans.
在古罗马宗教体系中，萨图恩(Saturn)是农神。每年夏天，主神宙斯就会强迫萨图恩离开他在神域所主导的地域，白昼就会开始变短。在罗马萨图恩神庙，萨图恩的脚当时被象征性地绑上了铁链，直到冬至白昼开始变长时才会解开。同时也是在冬至(12月25日)这个时候，人们会举行庆祝活动并且互相交换礼物，因为寒冬的艰辛已经开始减弱、白昼变得越来越长。因此在这一天文事件的基础之上，农神节(Saturnalia)成为了一个为期一周的节日，庆祝活动从12月17日开始，到12月25日结束。此外，12月25日也是一个古巴尔干地区文化中太阳神佛里几亚(Phyrgia)的生日。
In the Roman Empire, by the time of Christ, Saturnalia, winter festival, was well known and established. The Roman Church was unable to get rid of the pagan holiday. So in the early 4th Century, the Roman Catholic Church, which was the dominant church in Europe, adopted the holiday and tried to convert into a Christian celebration by declaring December 25 to be the day of the Lord’s birth. They called it the Feast of the Nativity. This custom has been part of western culture ever since.
等到基督时期，农神节，或者冬节，在罗马帝国已经是众所周知、人人庆祝的了。罗马教会无法摆脱去除这个异教徒的节日。因此在4世纪早期，罗马天主教教会(当时是欧洲占统治地位的教会)就吸收接纳了这一节日，并且通过宣布12月25日为主诞生的日子，从而将这一节日皈依为基督徒的节日。他们将其称为“基督诞生的盛宴(Feast of the Nativity)”。从那以后，这一习俗就成为了西方文化的一部分。
