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Buddha’s Birthday
佛誕日
Buddha’s Birthday，the birthday of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama traditionally celebrated in East Asia on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, is an official holiday in Hong Kong, Macao, and South Korea. The date varies from year to year in the Western calendar.
佛誕日是喬達摩悉達多王子的生日，東亞傳統(tǒng)上是在中國農歷4月初八慶祝。佛誕日是香港、澳門和韓國的法定假日。西歷上,每年佛誕日的日子都不一樣。
The birth of the Buddha is often celebrated by Buddhists in India for an entire month in the Buddhist calendar. The actual day is called Buddha Poomima, also traditionally known as Vaishakh Poomima. The day marks not only the birth of Shaky amuni Gautam Buddha, but also the day of Enlightenment, and Mahaparinirvana. But as a gentle effect of West, the event of Birth is given paramount importance.
印度的佛教徒通常按佛歷慶祝佛誕日，為期整整一個月。佛誕的那天叫Buddha Poomima,習慣上也叫Vaishakh Poomima。那天不僅是釋迦牟尼佛的生日，而且還是點化和大般涅的日子。但是，受到西方的一些影響，佛誕日成為最重要的紀念活動。
The event is celebrated by gentle and serene fervor, keeping in mind the very nature of Buddhism. People, especially women, go to common Viharas to observe a rather longer-than-usxial, full-length Buddhist sutra, as something like a service. The usual dress is pure white. Non-vegetarian food is normally avoided.
佛教徒在心里用溫和又文雅的感情慶祝佛誕日。人們，尤其是婦女，到普通的Vihams誦讀比平時長的佛經(jīng)全文作為服務。他們所穿的衣服通常是純白色的，一般只吃素食。
Kheer, sweet rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata, a maiden who in Gautama Buddha’s life, offered the Buddha a bowl of milk porridge after he had given up the path of asceticism following six years of extreme austerity. This event was one major link in his enlightenment
Kheer是一種甜粥，通常用來懷念蘇婭達。她是在釋迦牟尼修行時給佛祖提供了一碗奶粥的未婚少女。釋迦牟尼當時放棄了6年的禁欲苦行。這個事件是他修成正果的一個重要環(huán)節(jié)。
It is said that the Buddha originally followed the way of asceticism to attain enlightenment sooner, as was thought by many at that time. He sat for a prolonged time with inadequate food and water, which caused his body to shrivel so as to be indistinguishable from the bark of the tree that he was sitting under. Seeing the weak Siddhartha Gautama, a girl named Sujata placed a bowl of milk in front of him as an offering. Realizing that without food one can do nothing, the Buddha refrained from harming his own body.
據(jù)說佛祖原來和當時許多人一樣,遵循了禁欲的方式以求得正果。他長期靜坐，水和食物的供應嚴重不足，這導致他的身體虛弱萎縮到和他所坐的樹的樹皮看起來沒有什么區(qū)別。一位名叫蘇婭達的少女看到虛弱的喬達摩悉達多,在他面前放了碗奶作為施舍。意識到?jīng)]有食物什么也做不了，佛祖放棄了危害自己身體的行為。
In Japan, Buddha’s Birthday is also celebrated according to the Buddhist calendar but is not a national holiday. On this day, all temples do celebratory events/festivals called Kanbutsu-e, Goutan-e, Busshou-e, Yokubutsu-e, Ryuge-e, Hana-eshiki or Hana-matsuri (meaning “Flower Festival**). The first event was held at Asuka-dera in 606. Japanese people pour ama-cha (a beverage prepared from a variety of hydrangea) on small Buddha statues decorated with flowers, as if bathing a newborn baby.
在日本，佛誕日也是按佛歷慶祝，但不是一個全國性的節(jié)日。在 這一天，所有的寺廟會舉行灌會、降誕會、生會、浴會、龍華會、花會式或花祭(意思是“花節(jié)”)。第一次佛誕日于公元606年在飛鳥寺舉行。日本人將海士茶(一種用各種繡球花沖的飲料)倒在用鮮花裝飾的小佛像上，猶如在給新生嬰兒洗澡。
In Korea the birthday of Buddha is celebrated according to the Lu-nisolar calendar. This day is called Seokga tansinil, meaning “the day of Buddha’s birthday” or Bucheonim osin nal meaning “the day when Buddha arrived，' Lotus lanterns cover the entire temple throughout the month which is often flooded down the street. On the day of Buddha’s birth, many temples provide free meals and tea to all visitors. The breakfast and lunch provided are often sanchae bibimbap.
韓國按陰陽歷慶祝佛誕日。這一天被稱為tansini(意思是“佛的生日”)或Bucheonim osin nal (意思是“佛祖降臨的日子”)。那一整個月街上的寺廟全部裝飾蓮花燈。在佛誕日那天,不少廟宇為所有游客提供免費的飯菜和茶水。早餐和午餐提供的通常是松茸拌飯。
This is one of the major festivals in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the first full moon day of the month of May. People engage in religious observances and decorate houses and streets with candles and specially made lanterns.
佛誕日是斯里蘭卡的主要節(jié)日之一,于每年5月的第一個滿月慶祝。人們舉辦宗教慶祝活動,用蠟燭和特制的燈籠裝飾房屋和街道。
Some places have a public holiday one week later, on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, to coincide with the full moon. For instance, Visakha Puja in Thailand or LePhatan in Vietnam was such a holiday on May 12 in 2006. Other countries including Singapore and Malaysia also celebrate Vesak Day on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, a public holiday in these two countries.
有些地方在佛誕日后的一周（即農歷4月15日）過公共假期，以配合滿月。例如，2006年5月12日泰國的Visafcha Puja和越南的LePhatan。其他如新加坡和馬來西亞等國家也在農歷4月15日慶祝公共節(jié)日衛(wèi)塞節(jié)（即佛誕日)。
