母亲节 Mother's Day(双语介绍)

母亲节（Mother's Day），作为一个感谢母亲的节日，最早出现在古希腊，时间是每年的一

月八日，而在中国、美国、加拿大和一些其他国家，则是每年5月的第二个星期天，其他一

些国家的日期也并不一样。母亲们在这一天通常会收到礼物。康乃馨被视为献给母亲的花。

而我国的母亲花是萱草花，又叫忘忧草。

The modern Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most

commonly in March, April, or May as a day to honor mothers and motherhood.

节日起源于古希腊。在这一天，古希腊人向希腊众神之母希布莉（Cybele，宙斯、波塞冬、

哈德斯、得墨忒耳、赫拉和赫斯提亚的母亲，故称众神之母）致敬。到古罗马时，这些活动

的规模就变得更大，庆祝盛况往往持续达三天之久。当然，古时人们对女神的崇拜只不过是

一种迷信，它同今天人们对母性的尊敬是大不相同的。在17世纪中叶，母亲节流传到英国，

英国人把封斋期的第四个星期天作为母亲节。在这一天里，出门在外的年轻人将回到家中，

给他们的母亲带上一些小礼物。

There is evidence of mother goddess worship in the ancient world, dating back as far as 6.000 BC,

and many mother goddess shrines could be found in ancient times in Asia minor.

Ancient Greece imported the Mother Goddess cult from Asia Minor, in the form of a festival to

Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. It was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor.

Originally they identified Cybele with Rhea, the mother of gods. The details were not recorded,

and we only know that the goddess was attended by galli.

Ancient Romans appropriated the cult to Cybele/Rhea in order to absorb culturally the Greeks

and the habitants of Asia Minor, honoring Cybele in the Hilaria festivals, from the Ides of March

(15 March) to 18 March. But the Romans were horrified by the Greek celebrations; they quickly

associated the cult to the Roman version of Cybele and they made up their own customs. They

also made a parate festival in April dedicated to Magna Deorum Mater Idaea, a version of

Cybele that was even further parated from Greek customs. The two goddess, Cybele and

Mater Idaea, were eventually merged into a single entity that was completely Romanized,

although they kept using galli.

The festivals of Cybele evolved into the Christian festival of Mothering Sunday, honouring the

Virgin Mary and your mother church (the main church of the area) It's now a long standing

tradition, part of the liturgical calendar in veral Christian denominations, including Anglicans,

and in the Catholic calendar it is marked as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. Children

and young people who were "in rvice" (rvants in richer houholds) were given a day off on

that date so they could visit their families (or, originally, return to their "mother" church). The

children would pick wild flowers along the way to place them in the church or to give them to

their mothers as gifts. Eventually, the religious tradition evolved into a cular tradition of giving

gifts to mothers. This festival survived in the UK and Ireland for longer than in other European

countries, and it was repopularid in the 20th Century. Most people are unaware of its historical

origins, and regard Mothering Sunday and Mother's Day as the one and same festival.

1876年，美国还在悲悼南北战争的死者。安娜·查维斯夫人（Anna Jarvis）在礼拜堂讲授美

国国殇纪念日的课程，讲到战役中捐躯的英雄故事后，她进行祈祷时说：“但愿在某处、某

时，会有人创立一个母亲节，纪念和赞扬美国与全世界的母亲。”

One of the early calls to celebrate a Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day

Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, it was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of

the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's

feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.

International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time in 28 February 1909, in the US, by

which time Anna Jarvis had already begun her national campaign in the US. It is now celebrated

in many countries on March 8.

母亲节是在中国港澳台地区流行起来之后才进入大陆的，名贵的珠宝，象征母爱的康乃馨，

特制的爱心甜点，精致的手工贺卡等，成为人们向母亲敬献爱意的礼物。20世纪80年代，

母亲节逐渐被中国内地的民众所接受。从1988年开始，中国南方的广州等一些城市开始举

办母亲节的庆祝活动，并把评选“好母亲”作为内容之一。20世纪末,随着中国与国际的日

益接轨，母亲节这一节日在中国大陆各地日益推广开来，越来越多的人开始接受母亲节概念，

在每年5月的第二个星期日，中国人和全世界其他国家的人们一道以各种各样的方式表达对

母亲养育之恩的感谢。

当然，中国人的母亲节更有中国味道。中国人以自己特有的方式表达浓浓的亲情，在母亲节

这一天，人们会送给母亲鲜花,蛋糕,亲手烹制的饭菜等等礼物。从小就孝敬父母的中国儿童

会尝试着为母亲做饭，洗脸，化妆，演奏音乐，绘制图画，让母亲们快乐地过节。人们在这

一天除了孝敬自己的生身母亲之外，还会以慈善募捐，志愿服务的方式向更多的母亲回报亲

情。

在母亲节这天，中国的母亲们会举行厨艺比赛，时装秀等活动来庆祝自己的节日。各地

会举办各种各样的活动,如组织母亲们旅游，评选优秀母亲等。

敬重母亲，弘扬母爱的母亲节，在中国已成为一个约定俗成的节日，到了现在，每年五

月的第二个星期日的母亲节已经成为一个公众必过的节日。随着母亲节成为公众的节日，国

人也终于可以在这一天里，大大方方地表示对母亲的深厚感情。

2006年11月13日，全国政协委员李汉秋就曾以《创设中国母亲节》为题，提出设立

中国人自己的母亲节，并提出孟母可作为中国母亲节的形象代表。2006年12月，中国民协

节徽文化委员会、邹城市委市政府、北京东方道德研究所、石家庄市中小学生校外综合实践

活动基地等4家“母亲节”核心发起单位正式成立“中华母亲节促进会”，确定将农历的四

月初二，也就是孟母生孟子这一天定为中华母亲节，并决定在首届中华母亲节到来之际举行

一系列庆祝活动。

现在世界流行的母亲节是5月的第二个星期日，是美国最先设立的。

The day is becoming more popular in China, and carnations are a very popular gift and the most

sold type of flower. In 1997 it was t as the day to help poor mothers, specially to remind people

of the poor mothers in rural areas such as China's western region. In the People's Daily, the

Chine government's official newspaper, an article explained that "despite originating in the

United States, people in China take the holiday with no hesitance becau it goes in line with the

country's traditional ethics – respect to the elderly and filial piety to parents."

In recent years the Communist Party member Li Hanqiu began to advocate for the official

adoption of Mother's Day in memory of Meng Mu, the mother of Mèng Z, and formed a

non-governmental organization called Chine Mothers' Festival Promotion Society, with the

support of 100 Confucian scholars and lecturers of ethics. They also ask to replace the Western

gift of carnations with lilies, which, in ancient times, were planted by Chine mothers when

children left home.[39] It remains an unofficial festival, except in a small number of cities.