Once upon a time, there was a rich Emperor. He lived in a big castle and had many servants. The emperor loved good music and good food. But most of all, he loved good clothes. He had different clothes for every day of the week, and different clothes for every hour of the day.
On his birthday, he always asked for new shirts, new pants and new shoes. And that’s what he always got.
One day, two poor men named Buster and Clyde came to the emperor’s city. They wanted to make money in the city, but they didn’t want to work hard. They heard some townspeople talking about the emperor. The Emperor will hold another parade tomorrow.
Oh really? I wonder what he will be wearing. Excuse me. What did you say about a parade?
Our emperor loves new clothes. When he gets a new suit, he has a parade. Then everyone in the city can see his nice, new clothes. I see. Thank you. Hey Clyde, did you hear that? Hear what?
The emperor loves new clothes. I have a great idea. We can make lots of money. What’s your idea? We will pretend to betailors. We will tell the emperor that we can make magic clothes.
Only smart and hard working people can see the magic clothes. If someone can’t see them, then they must be stupid or lazy.
But Buster, we don’t know how to make clothes. That’s the best part. We only pretend to make clothes. No one will be able to see them, but everyone will be afraid to say anything. If they say they can’t see the clothes, all their friends will think they are stupid. Even the emperor will say he can see the clothes. He doesn’t want people to think he is stupid.
We’ll be rich! Wow! That’s a great idea.
Chapter 2
The next day, they went to see the emperor. Good morning, your majesty. I am Buster, and this is my partner, Clyde.
We are the greatest tailors in the world. We use the best silks and jewels to make the most beautiful clothes. But our clothes are also very special. The cloth is magic. Only smart, talented people can see it. People who are stupid or lazy cannot see the clothes at all.
Is this true? Are your clothes really magical? Oh yes, your majesty. We made a suit for the king of France. Ten of his advisors could not see the suit. So he found ten new advisors who could see it.
Amazing! I must have a magic suit, too. You may begin today. But your majesty, we need money. We must buy the silk for your new clothes. And we need a big loom to weave the cloth and sewing tools to sew the clothes. You may have as much as you need. Here are two bags of gold. If you need more, please tell me.
The emperor gave buster and Clyde a sewing room in his castle. He gave them a big loom to weave the cloth and sewing tools to sew the clothes.
Buster and Clyde took the emperor’s gold and hid it in their bags. Then they pretended to buy silk for the emperor’s new clothes. The next morning, they pretended to set up the loom and weave cloth.
Whenever anyone looked into their room, they saw the tailors busy at the loom. No one could see the clothes, but everyone was afraid to look stupid. So they all pretended to see the beautiful clothes.
Soon, everyone in the castle was talking about the tailors and their wonderful clothes. A few days later, the emperor wanted to know how the new tailors were doing. So he sent one of his advisors to check on them.
Good morning, gentlemen. How is everything? Good morning, sir. Everything is very well. We have started weaving already. Would you like to see?
Yes, I would. Um, is this the loom you are working with? Yes, it is.
Isn’t the color wonderful? We were lucky to find such good silk.
The advisor was very confused. He looked all over the loom for the cloth. But of course, he couldn’t see anything at all. He didn’t want anyone to think he was stupid or lazy, so he pretended to see the cloth.
Oh yes!Very nice, very nice. Indeed. The emperor will be very happy when he sees it. This will make a wonderful suit.
Would you please tell the emperor that we need more money? We need to buy gold thread for his new clothes. Yes, I will. I’ll tell him today.
That afternoon, the advisor went to see the emperor. He was afraid to say he couldn’t see the cloth. So he made something up. Advisor, how do my new clothes look? They are beautiful, your majesty. I have never seen such wonderful cloth before.
What color is it? Um, color? Well, it’s, um, … blue, your majesty. Blue! I love blue. This will be my most beautiful suit. One more thing, the tailors said they need more money. They need to buy gold thread for your new clothes. Here are two more bags of gold. Please give them to the tailors right away.
The advisor gave the gold to buster and Clyde. They hid the gold in their bags and pretended to buy gold thread. Then they pretended to buy gold thread. Then they pretended to weave cloth and sew clothes with the gold thread.
A few more days passed, and the emperor sent another advisor to check on the tailors. Good morning, gentlemen. How is the new suit coming along? Good morning, ma’am. We have been working very hard. We are almost done weaving the cloth.
Then we can begin to cut out the pieces. Would you like to see? Yes, I would. Buster pretended to hold up p piece of cloth. The advisor looked at buster’s hands.
But of course, she could not see any cloth. She didn’t want anyone to think she was stupid or lazy, so she pretended to see the cloth.
Oh, my. This is very nice. The emperor will be so happy with his new suit. Would you please tell the emperor that we need more money? We need to buy silver trim for his new clothes. Yes, I will. I’ll tell him today. That afternoon, the advisor went to see the emperor.
She was afraid to say she couldn’t see the cloth. So she made something up. Advisor, how do my new clothes look? You will be very happy, your majesty. Red is your best color. Red? I thought the suit was blue. Oh, I mean, the lining is red.
They were weaving the lining when a saw them. Blue with a red lining. This truly will be my most beautiful suit. One more thing, the tailors said they need more money. They need to buy silver trim for your new clothes.
Here are two more bags of gold. Please give them to the tailors right away.
The advisor gave the gold to buster and Clyde. They hid the gold in their bags and pretended to buy silver trim. Then they pretended to cut the silk cloth and sew silver trim onto the clothes.
没有不会枯萎的花，但有不会绽放的花，兔子先生牵着爱丽丝的手，两人一起朝向仙境跑去，世间就是如此彻底的不公平，梦永远不会醒来也是件很快乐的事。下面是一些童话故事英语的手抄报内容，欢迎大家阅读与了解。
中英文双语童话：The Latecomers Surpass the Old-timers
This set phrase is derived from the complaints Ji An made to the emperor.
Ji Anlived at the time of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.24). He was respected for being upright and just and for daring to speak the truth. He did not bother about amall matters in personal behaviour and in being an official. He was particular about actual effects and ,although he did not cause a stir ,he could keep the prefecture he governed in perfect order. Because of this. the imperial court transferred him to the central government from being the perfect of the Donghai Prefecture to being a commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officals.
Once,Emperor Wudi said that he would implement the policy of benevolence and justice of Confucianism and would do good turns to the people.Emperor Wudi Had hardly finished his remards when Ji An said that there was no need for the emperor to say so.Why should the emperor bother,Ji An said, about pretending to implement the policy of benevolence and justice since he was so greedy and avaricious within himself? This choked the emperor off. The emperor suddenly Changed his countenance and declared the meeting over. All the civilian and military officers at court were breathless with anxiety for fear that Ji An might bring disaster upon himself because of this. After returning, Emperor Wudi said to the people around him that Ji An was a little too rude and too straightforward.
For this reason ,Ji An was never promoted again. When he was the commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officials, both Gongsun Hong and Zhang Tang were low -ranking lfficials of little importance. Later ,they were promoted continuously. Gongsun Hong became the prime minister and Zhang Tang became the imperial censor. However, JiAn's post remained thesame. One day, Ji An said to Emperor Wudi that the way the emperor used his ministers was just like piling up firewood, which meant that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers. Of course, Emperor Wudi could see that Ji An was complaining. So,turning to his ministers, Emperor Wudi said, "It is true that no one can stop learning.You see, Ji An is making more and more indiscreet remarks."
This story comes from The Historical Records. Later generations use the set phrase "the latecomers surpass the old-timers " to indicate that successors can cxcel the predecessors, which is quite different from the original idea when Ji An said that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers.
汲黯是西汉武帝时代人,以刚直正义、敢讲真话而受人尊重。他为人和做官都不拘小节,讲求实效。虽然表面上不那么轰轰烈烈,却能把一个郡治理得井井有条,因此,朝廷把他从东海太守调到朝廷当主爵都尉——一种主管地方吏任免的官职。
有一次,汉武帝说要实行儒家的仁义之政,为老百姓办好事了。没等皇帝把话说完,汲黯就说:“陛下内心里那么贪婪多欲,表面上却要装得实行仁政,这是何苦呢?”一句话把皇帝噎了回去。汉武帝登时脸色大变,宣布罢朝,满朝文武都为汲黯捏着一把汗,担心他会因此招来大祸。武帝回到宫里以后,对身边的人说,汲黯这个人也未免太粗太直了。
从此以后,汲黯的官职再也没有提升。他当主爵都尉的时候,公孙弘、张汤都还是不起眼的小官,后来,他们一个劲儿住上升,公孙弘当上了丞相,张汤做上了御史大夫,可他汲黯还蹲在原地没动窝。有一天,汲黯对武帝说,陛下使用群臣,跟码劈柴一样,是“后来者居上”啊!汉武帝当然听得出这是发牢骚。于是,转脸对臣下们说:“人真是不能不学习啊!你们听汲黯说话,越来越离谱了!”
故事出自《史记·汲郑列传》。成语“后来居上”,往往指后起的可以胜过先前的。和汲黯说这话的原意,大不相同。
关于经典的英语童话故事：丑小鸭
One evening, the sun was just setting in with true splendor when a flock of beautiful largebirds appeared out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen anything so beautiful. Theywere dazzlingly white with long waving necks. They were swans and uttering a peculiar cry. Theyspread out their magnificent broad wings and flew away from the cold regions toward warmerlands and open seas.
一天晚上，太阳正在下山，夕阳辉煌绚烂，一群漂亮的大鸟灌术丛中飞过来。丑小鸭从未看到过如此美丽的.东西，他们长着弯曲的长颈，羽毛自得耀眼。他们是天鹅，发出一种奇特的叫声。他们展开美丽的宽阔的翅膀，离开寒冷的地区，向温暖的陆地和广阔的海洋飞去。
They mounted so high, so very high, and the ugly little duckling became strangely uneasy. Hecircled around and around in the water like a wheel, craning his neck out into the air afterthem. Then he uttered the shriek so piercing and so strange that he was quite frightened byhimself. Oh, he could not forget those beautiful birds, those happy birds.And as soon as theywere out of sight, he ducked right down to the bottom and when he came up again, he wasquite beside himself. He did not know what the birds were or where'd they flew. But all thesame, he was more drawn towards them than he had ever been by any creatures before. He didnot envy them in the least. How could it occur to him even to wish to be such a remarkablebeauty? How thankful he would be if only the ducks would have tolerated him among them,poor ugly creature.
他们飞得那么高，那么高远，丑小鸭变得莫名地不安。他像轮子一样在水面上转着圈，跟他们一样把脖子伸到空中。然后，他发出一声尖叫，声音如此清澈， 如此陌生，他被自己吓了一大跳。哦，他忘不了那些美丽的鸟儿，那些快乐的鸟儿。等他们在视野中消失，他迅速俯冲到水底，当他再探出水面的时候，他感到异常 地激动。他不知道那些是什么鸟，或者他们要飞向哪里。但是，他深深地被他们吸引，这种吸引力超过了他以前见过的任何生物。他一点也不嫉妒他们。他甚至希望 自己变得那样美丽，他怎么莫名其妙地会有这种想法呢?只要鸭子们会容忍他，接受他，他就感激不尽了，可怜的丑东西。
Early in the morning, a peasant came along and saw him. He went out onto the ice andhammered a hole in it with his heavy wooden shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife.There, it soon revived. The children wanted to play with it. But the duckling thought they weregoing to ill use him and rushed in and he frightened to the milk-pan, and the milk spurted outall over the room. The woman shrieked and threw up her hands. Then it flew to the butter-caskand down into the meal-tub and out again. Oh, just imagine what it looked like by this time. Thewoman screamed and tried to hit it with the tongs, and the children tumbled over one anotherin trying to catch it, and they screamed with laughter.
清晨，一个农民走过来看见了他，他走到冰面上，用厚重的木鞋在冰面上砸了一个洞，把小鸭子带回家给他的妻子。在那里，丑小鸭很快苏醒了。孩子们想和 他玩耍，但他以为他们要伤害自己，惶恐不已，冲进了牛奶盘里，牛奶溅得满屋子都是。女主人尖叫着，把她的手高高举起。之后小鸭飞进了黄油罐和面粉桶，又蹿 了出来。噢，想象一下这时他的模样吧。女主人惊叫着，试图用钳子打他，孩子们想捉住他，结果绊倒在一起，他们大笑着，大叫着。
By good luck, the door stood open and the duckling flew out among the bushes and the newfallen snow. And it lay there, extremely exhausted, but it would be too sad to mention all theprivation he had to go through during that hard winter. When the sun began to shine warmlyagain, the duckling was in a marsh, lying among the rushes. The birds were singing, and thebeautiful spring had come. Then all at once, he raised his wings and they flapped with muchgreater strength than before and bore him off. Before he knew where he was, he found himselfin a large garden with the apple trees in full blossom. And the air was scented with lilacs, thelong branches of which overhung the shores. Oh, the spring freshness was so pleasant. Just infront of him, he saw three beautiful white swans advancing towards him from a thicket. Withrustling feathers, they swam lightly over the water. The duckling recognized the majesticbirds, and he was overcome by a strange melancholy.
很幸运，门是开着的，小鸭飞出去蹿进了灌木丛，又一场雪花飘落。他躺在那里，筋疲力尽，提起这个严冬里他所经历的一切困苦，他伤心不已。当太阳又开 始温暖地照耀，小鸭在一片沼泽中，躺在芦苇里。鸟儿在歌唱，美丽的春天已经来了。忽然，他高举起翅膀，用尽前所未有的力气使劲扇动着，他飞起来了。在他知道身在何处之前，他发现自己正在一个大花园里，苹果树开满了花。空气中弥漫着紫丁花的香味，长长的枝条垂落在湖岸边。哦，春天的气息如此沁人心脾。就在他 的面前，他看到三只美丽的白天鹅从灌木丛中向他游来。他们轻轻地在水中滑行，羽毛沙沙作响。小鸭认出了这些庄严的鸟儿，他被一种奇怪的忧郁所笼罩。
"I will fly to them, the royal birds, and they will hack me to pieces because I who am so uglyventure to approach them. But it won't matter." So he flew into the water and swam towardsthe stately swans. They saw him and darted toward him with ruffled feathers."Kill me,oh, killme." said the poor creature. And bowing his head towards the water, he awaited his death. Butwhat did he see? Reflected in the water, he saw below him his own images, but he was nolonger an ugly clumsy dark gray bird. He was himself, a swan.
"我要向他们飞去，高贵的鸟儿，他们将把我劈成碎片，因为我这么丑，不敢接近他们。但这不要紧。"于是他飞入水中，向庄严的天鹅游去。他们看到他， 竖起羽毛，飞快地朝他游来。"杀了我，哦，杀了我。"可怜的家伙说道。他把头埋向水面，等待着死亡。但是他看见了什么?他看到了水中倒映着的自己的模样， 但是他不再是一只丑陋的、笨拙的灰色的鸟儿。他自己是一只--天鹅。
在日常学习、工作抑或是生活中，大家总免不了要接触或使用
冬至的英语作文带翻译1
Winter is coming, when it comes to the traditional festival is my favorite, I cannot hide the excitement of the heart. Winter solstice can make dumplings, eating dumplings, it makes me feel the winter solstice is the most happy.
Once in the winter solstice, my mother and I are ready to make dumplings materials: some meat, some of the wrappers. I picked up a piece of the wrappers on the left hand, right hand dug a little fresh, use chopsticks to dumplings lining. But fresh meat seems very lively, leap to jump, very not easy sealing top results open again... Making dumplings is really not easy!
Speak of the winter solstice eat dumplings, there is also a custom! In my hometown - the north of henan province, the winter solstice every family tradition is to make dumplings, eating dumplings. As the saying goes: "the winter solstice misconduct dumplings bowl, frozen off ears is nobodys business."
The custom of the northern winter eat dumplings is due to the memory of "the medical sage" zhang zhongjing winter solstice medicine left. Hungry people eat dumplings, to drink the "remove cold soup", and warm, fever, two ears frostbite ears were cured.
No matter you have the habit of eating dumplings, wish everyone happy winter solstice, happily and family spent together the happy holiday!
冬至就要到了，说到这个我最喜欢的传统节日，我就难掩心里的兴奋。冬至可以包饺子，吃饺子啊，这让我觉得冬至是最快乐的。
一到冬至，我和妈妈就准备好包饺子的材料：一些鲜肉，一些饺子皮。我拿起一张饺子皮放在左手上，右手用筷子挖一点鲜肉，放到饺子皮里去。可是鲜肉好像很活泼，蹦蹦跳跳的，好不容易封上口结果又撑开了……包饺子可真不容易啊!
说起冬至吃饺子，这里面还有一个风俗呢!在我的老家——北方的河南省，到了冬至家家户户的传统习俗就是包饺子、吃饺子。俗话说：“冬至不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管。”
北方冬季吃饺子的习俗是因纪念“医圣”张仲景冬至舍药留下的。饥寒交迫的人们吃了饺子，喝了“祛寒汤”，浑身暖和，两耳发热，冻伤的耳朵都治好了。
不管大家有没有吃饺子的习惯，都祝愿所有人冬至快乐，开开心心地和家人一起度过这个愉快的节日吧!
冬至的英语作文带翻译2
The winter solstice, the winter solstice as the "holiday" in han dynasty, the rulers to congratulate ceremony known as "He Dong", official holidays, routine officialdom popular each "winter" worship custom. "Were" has such records: "before and after the winter solstice, the gentleman place static body, baiguan, scenes, and then pick an auspicious day Chen save trouble." So on the court and off to rest, to the army on standby, frontier retreat, business travel out of business, family and all distinctions to food, visit each other, a joyous festival "place static body". When in the six dynasties, the winter solstice is called "the age", people to elders to extend holiday greetings to your parents; After the song dynasty, the winter solstice festival gradually become the sacrifice to ancestors and gods.
Tang and song period, the winter solstice is to worship the day of worship ancestors, the emperor held outside the day to worship, the people in this day to the parents or elders worship. Ming and qing dynasties, the emperor have to worship, of "winter solstice jiao days". There has to be given to a emperor, table officials ritual, but also to each other for congratulations, like New Years day.
Winter festival also called yesterday, hand in winter. It is one of the 24 solar terms, is a traditional festival of China, have "the winter solstice as big as a year". Winter solstice supplements, is Chinas traditional customs, folksay: fill a lump-sum winter, in the coming year without pain. Summer volts, winter lump-sum. The winter solstice mend, nutrients.
冬至到了，汉代以冬至为“冬节”，官府要举行祝贺仪式称为“贺冬”，官方例行放假，官场流行互贺的“拜冬”礼俗。《后汉书》中有这样的记载：“冬至前后，君子安身静体，百官绝事，不听政，择吉辰而后省事。”所以这天朝廷上下要放假休息，军队待命，边塞闭关，商旅停业，亲朋各以美食相赠，相互拜访，欢乐地过一个“安身静体”的节日。魏晋六朝时，冬至称为“亚岁”，民众要向父母长辈拜节;宋朝以后，冬至逐渐成为祭祀祖先和神灵的节庆活动。
唐、宋时期，冬至是祭天祀祖的日子，皇帝在这天要到郊外举行祭天大典，百姓在这一天要向父母尊长祭拜。明、清两代，皇帝均有祭天大典，谓之“冬至郊天”。宫内有百官向皇帝呈递贺表的仪式，而且还要互相投刺祝贺，就像元旦一样。
冬至节亦称冬节、交冬。它既是二十四节气之一，是中国的一个传统节日，曾有“冬至大如年”的说法。冬至进补，是我国传统风俗，俗语云：三九补一冬，来年无病痛。夏养三伏，冬补三九。冬至补一补，一年精气足。
冬至的英语作文带翻译3
On December , 3, the day is the Winter Solstice, it is an important day in China, it becomes a tradition. More than 00years ago, Chinese people had detected this day by measuring the sun. What is special on the day? The answer is that the daytime lasts the shortest while the night lasts the longest of the year. It means the new round of the solar term, the Winter Solstice is the earliest.
As an old tradition, people treat that day a grand day, they celebrate it. In the north, most people eat dumplings, while in the south, people have rice dumpling and boiled dumpling. Though people celebrate in a different way, they share the same happiness, family get together and have a big dinner. Winter Solstice gives family a chance to get reunion, the young come home to have a chat with parents and promote their communication.
12月3日，这一天是冬至，这在中国是一个重要的日子，它成为了一种传统。早在几百年前，中国人就通过测量太阳来发现了这一天。这一天有什么特别的吗?答案是白天是一年中最短的，而夜晚是一年中最长的。它的意思是新一轮的节气，冬至是最早的。
作为一个古老的传统，人们把这一天视为一个盛大的日子，他们庆祝它。在北方，大多数人吃饺子，而在南方，人们吃粽子和水饺。虽然人们庆祝的方式不同，但他们分享同样的快乐，家人聚在一起吃一顿大餐。冬至给家人一个团聚的机会，孩子们回家和父母聊天，促进他们的交流。
冬至的英语作文带翻译4
Winter solstice is a very important solar term in Chinese Lunar calendar.
Being a traditional holiday as well, it is still now celebrated quite often in many regions. Early during the Spring and Autumn period, 2500 odd years from now, Winter solsticewas first determined as the Chinese traditional solar term among the total 24 terms. In Gregorian calendar, it is around Dec 22nd or 23rd.
Midwinter day is the very day in North hemisphere with the shortest day and longest night year-round. After it, daytime will become increasingly longer and the coldest clime will invade all the places on the Northern part of the globe. We Chinese always call it "JinJiu", which means once Winter solstice comes, we will meet the coldest time ahead.
That conclusion is proved well founded. According to scientific results, on Winter solstice, a right angle is formed by the sun and the tropic of carpricorn. Thus, the North hemisphere receives the least sunlight and the shortest day and longest night occur.
Ancient china did pay great attention to this holiday, regarding it as a big event. There was the saying that "Winter solstice holiday is greater than the spring festival". Nowadays, many regions still celebrate it as a big holiday. Northerners may have dumplings and raviolis that day while southerners may have dumplings made by rice and long noodles. Some places even have the tradition to offer sacrifices to the heaven and earth.
冬至是中国农历中一个非常重要的节气。
作为一个传统节日，它仍然在许多地区经常被庆祝。早在2500多年前的春秋时期，冬至就在24节气中被首次确定为中国的传统节气。在公历中，它在12月22日或23日左右。
冬至日是北半球全年白天最短、夜晚最长的一天。之后，白天将变得越来越长，最冷的气候将侵入地球北部的所有地方。我们中国人叫它“进九”，意思是一旦冬至到来，我们将面临最冷的'时刻。
那个结论被证明是有充分根据的。根据科学结果，在冬至日，太阳和北回归线形成一个直角。因此，北半球接收到的阳光最少，白天最短，夜晚最长。古代中国确实很重视这个节日，把它当作一个大事件。有一种说法叫“冬至比春节大”。如今，许多地区仍然把它作为一个大节日来庆祝。北方人会在那一天吃饺子和馄饨，而南方人则会在那一天吃米饭做的饺子和长条面。有些地方甚至有祭天祭地的传统。
冬至的英语作文带翻译5
As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar.
The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.
The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Solstice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize celebrating activities. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest. The army was stationed in, frontier fortresses closed and business and traveling stopped. Relatives and friends presented to each other delicious food. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven; while common people offered sacrifices to their deceased parents or other relatives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even had the record that "Winter Solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival," showing the great importance attached to this day.
In some parts of Northern China, people eat dumpling soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat dumplings, saying doing so will keep them from frost in the upcoming winter. But in parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings could be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors.
They make cakes in the shape of chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand banquet.
早在2500年前的春秋时期(公元前770-476年)，中国就已经通过用日晷观测太阳确定了冬至。它是24个季节划分点中最早的一个。时间为每年公历12月22日或23日。
北半球在这一天经历了最短的白天和最长的夜晚。冬至过后，白天会变得越来越长。中国古人认为，阳，或肌肉，积极的东西会变得越来越强，因此这一天应该庆祝。
冬至在汉代(公元前206年-公元220年)成为一个节日，繁荣在唐宋(618-1279年)。汉人将冬至视为“冬至”，所以官员们会组织庆祝活动。这一天，官府和百姓都要休息。军队进驻，边境要塞关闭，商业和旅行停止。亲戚朋友们互相赠送美味的食物。在唐宋时期，冬至是祭天祭祖的日子。皇帝会去郊区祭天;而普通人则会祭奠他们死去的父母或其他亲属。清朝(1644-1911)甚至有记录说“冬至和春节一样正式”，显示出对这一天的高度重视。
在中国北方的一些地区，人们在这一天吃饺子汤;而其他一些地方的居民则会吃饺子，他们说这样做可以在即将到来的冬天抵御霜冻。但在中国南方的部分地区，全家人会聚在一起吃一顿红豆糯米饭，以驱赶鬼魂和其他邪恶的东西。在其他地方，人们还吃汤圆，一种用糯米粉做成的小饺子。冬至粽子可以用来祭祀祖先，也可以作为馈赠亲友的礼物。台湾人甚至还保留着向祖先供奉九层饼的习俗。
他们用糯米粉做鸡、鸭、龟、猪、牛或羊的形状的蛋糕，然后蒸在锅的不同层上。这些动物在中国传统中都象征着吉祥。同姓同族的人聚集在祖庙，按年龄顺序祭拜祖先。在祭祀仪式之后，总会有盛大的宴会。
