什么是八仙八仙法器

风俗习惯Traditional Customs

1什么是麒麟?

What is Chinese unicorn?

In ancient China，the unicorn，phoenix，tortoise，and dragon were regarded as“the Four Spiritual Animals(四灵)”that symbolized auspicious signs．The unicorn，phoenix，and dragon are all mythical animals in Chinese legends．

The Chinese unicorn has the body of a deer，the tail of an ox，and the hooves of a horse．His body is covered with scales，and a single horn stands out on his head．The unicorn personifies all that is good，pure，and peaceful．Legendary stories say that the unicorn always desires to do good for others．In the ancient dynasties，emperors all regarded the unicorn as the symbol of times of peace and prosperity．Stone or bronze unicorns are found in the Imperial Palace，the Summer Palace，and other imperial residences and gardens．

Common people also love the Chinese unicorn．During the Spring Festival，people along the southern side of the Yangtze River have a custom of carrying a paper-made unicorn while visiting each family．They give a performance in front of each entrance door to extend good wishes．In addition，some legends say that the unicorn even has the power to blesswomen with children．Couples often use the unicorn to pray to have children as soon as possible aftermarriage．

Notes:①tortoise乌龟②spiritual超自然的③unicorn独角兽④personify使拟人化⑤legendary传奇的⑥prosperity繁荣⑦bless祝福

2什么是凤凰?

What is phoenix?

The phoenix has a beautiful crest on its head，and her body is covered with colored feathers．She appears noble like the queen of birds．In Chinese legends，the phoenix symbolizes auspiciousness and peace．Emperors in the ancient dynasties regarded the phoenix and dragon as symbols of power and dignity．The phoenix later became an auspicious animal among common people whose presence is supposed to bring good luck．Especially on Chinas traditionalwedding，the phoenix image serves as a happy ornament on a brides wedding gown and coronet．In traditional designs，the phoenix appears with other mythical animals like the dragon and unicorn，further illustrating the symbol of auspiciousness．“Prosperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix(龙凤呈祥)”is one popular saying．

Notes:①crest(鸟的)冠;冠毛②auspiciousness吉祥③dignity尊严④ornament装饰⑤illustrate说明

3什么是龙?

What is dragon?

People in China are all familiarwith the image of the dragon，but few know the story behind the mythical animal．The dragon has the head of an ox，the horn of a deer，the eyes of a shrimp，the claws of a hawk，the body of a snake，and the tail of a lion．Scales and shell cover the whole body．The dragon can walk on land，swim in water，and fly among the clouds．Because the dragon symbolizes infinite supernatural power，ancient emperors regarded him as the symbolsof power and dignitywhile com-mon people respect him as the incarnation of virtue and strength．The image of the dragon can be seen carved or drawn on roof ridges of imperial palaces，temples，and on the utensils used by imperial families．During some traditional festivals，common people show their reverence to thismythical animal by hanging pictures of the dragon，displaying a variety of dragon lanterns，performing the dragon dance，or rowing dragon boats．

Notes:①shrimp虾②infinite无限的;无边的③incarnation化身④utensil器皿⑤reverence崇敬;敬畏

4什么是龟?

What is tortoise?

Tortoisesmay be found in the ocean，rivers and zoos．Tortoises usually havemuch longer life-span compared with other animals，so people regard him as the symbol of longevity and good health．In addition，the tortoise is thought to have the power to see the future．In ancient times，prior to an important event，a soothsayer would burn tortoise-shells and predict an event according to the lines that appear on the burnt tortoise-shell．Huge stone or bronze tortoises were placed in ancient imperial palaces，residences，and mausoleums，which shows the early dynasties'desire to continue forever．

Notes:①life-span寿命②soothsayer算命者③predict预言④mausoleum陵墓

5“紫气东来”有什么含义?

What does“the purple cloud com ing from the east”mean?

“The purple cloud comes from the east”means that something auspicious is approaching．Because of its bright sign，Chinese people like towrite it on paper and paste iton top of a door of a house or an apartment．The written sign functions as the horizontal wall inscription，joining in a couplet to welcome the traditional Spring Festival．

According to one legend，Lao Zi(老子)worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou court．As the Zhou Dynasty(1046 BC－256 BC) declined，dukesof the Zhou Dynasty frequently declared war in order to gain power and position．Lao Zi anticipated that greater chaos caused by warwould take place in near future．He resigned from his post，and upon a purple buffalo traveled west．

One earlymorning，a guard in charge of the western-most gate saw a huge purple cloud approaching from the east．He walked out of the gate to seemore clearly．He soon saw an old man with long snow-white bread arrive leisurely on a purple buffalo．He looked like an immortal．As he passed through the gate，the guard said to him，“Since you are about to leave the world behind，can you write a book formy sake?”

Lao Zidid so．Lao Zi complied and wrote a book in two parts: the Way(道) and Virtue(德)．The whole book has some 5，000 characters and is called Dao De Jing(《道德经》)．After he finished his writing，he continued to travel on the buffalo and disappeared．

In the early Western Han Dynasty(206 BC－25 AD)，the ruling class believed in Huang Di and Lao Zi'sway to seek a peaceful life and hoped that thisbelief would dominate the whole country．At the beginning，Daoistsworshiped both Huang Di and Lao Zi，but later emphasis shifted only to Lao Ziwho was generally seen as the founder of Daoism．

Liu Xiang(刘向)of the Han Dynasty wrote a book called The Biography of Immortals(《列仙传》)．He said in this biography，“Lao Zi traveled to the west．Yi Xi，a gate guard，saw that a purple cloud drifted over the gate．Then Lao Zi passed by，riding on a purple buffalo(老子西游，关令尹喜望见有紫气浮关，而老子乘青牛而过也)．”

Notes:①approach靠近②horizontal水平的;横的③inscription碑文④duke君主⑤anticipate预期⑥for one's sake为了……缘故

6为什么人们常常倒贴“福”?

Why is the Chinese character“happiness”often pasted upside down on a door or a wall?

During the Spring Festival，each household pastes a big or small Chinese character“fu(福)”on its entrance door or on walls inside houses as part of the Spring Festival celebration．

The character's present meaning is happiness and in the past referred more to good fortune．Throughout the course of Chinese history，people have kept the custom of pasting the character during the Spring Festival，yearning for good fortune and a bright future．

How did this custom start? Legend has it thatwhen Jiang Ziya(姜子牙) granted titles to deities，his wife came and asked him to offer her a title．Jiang said to her，“You are a spendthrift．All the families suffer from misfortune and become poor after you visit them，so I am going to offer you the title of Poverty Deity．”Upon hearing this，hiswife asked，“Where am Igoing to stay as the Poverty Deity?”Jiang answered，“You are welcome to stay anywhere except places where fortune exists．”Jiang'swords spread far and wide among the common people，and they quickly pasted the Chinese character“good fortune(福)”in the hope that the Poverty Deity might not enter their houses．This practice was passed on from generation to generation until it became a custom during the festival celebration．

Sometimes the fu character is pasted upside-down．Why? The word“reverse or upside down”is“dao(倒)”in Chinese．This“dao(倒)”and another“dao (arrive，到)”are pronounced exactly the same although the former one has a radical on the left，and the latter has none．People use the same pronunciation simply to demonstrate that“the happiness or good fortune has arrived．”

There is a folktale that explains the origin of why the character is put upside-down．One time during the Spring Festival，ZhuYuanzhang(朱元璋)，the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty(1368－1644) arrived in a small town．He took off his emperor's dress，decided to put on common clothes，and then left the guesthouse．As he toured the town，he saw a group of people staring at a drawing of a bare-footed woman who carried a huge watermelon in her arms．The caricaturemade fun of big-feetwomen．At that time，many women had bound-feet as the style was considered lovely and alluring．Incidentally the empress happened to have big feet，so this drawing irritated the emperor．He returned to the guesthouse and ordered his palace men to find out who was involved in themischief．Hismen then pasted the character“fu”on the doors of houses to indicate the families that were not involved．Next morning the palace men would arrest the people whose doors did not have any character．

Upon hearing this plan，the kind-hearted empress immediately ordered all the people in the town to paste the“fu”character on the doors of their houses，emphasizing that this task had to be done before daybreak．One illiterate local man pasted the character upsidedown by accident．The nextmorning the emperor and empress went out into the street and found that each household had the character on their doors．The overturned character caught their eyes，and the emperor stopped to view it for amoment．He became angry again and ordered his palace men to arrest the man and his whole family and to put them in jail．

The empress quickly came to the illiterate man's defense and said，“This family pasted the character upside-down on purpose because they were told that you would pass by their house today．The overturned charac-ter actually means‘arrival of the fortune．’”The empress'explanation convinced the emperor to set the man and his family free．From then on people began to follow this custom．

Notes:①household户②spendthrift挥霍无度的③misfortune不幸;厄运④reverse颠倒，翻转⑤bare-footed赤脚的⑥caricature漫画⑦incidentally偶然地⑧irritate激怒⑨illiterate文盲⑩overturn翻倒 convince使确信

7红、黄颜色有什么特点?

What are the im plications of red and yellow colors?

In China the color red refers to auspiciousness．The walls ofmonasteries and royal buildings are painted red．In addition，people usually paste red couplets during Spring festival or joyous occasions; the bride and groom are traditionally dressed in red during the wedding ceremony; red-painted eggs are offered to awoman who has given birth to a child; themoney given to children at New Year iswrapped in red paper(压岁钱)．

In remote ancient times，however，Chinese used yellow to represent auspicious signs．In addition，black or white were also colors associated with good fortune． During the Han Dynasty(206 BC－220 AD) Liu Bang(刘邦)，the first emperor of the Han Dynasty，proclaimed himself the son of the Red Emperor(赤帝之子)．Since then，the color red came to be an auspicious color and enjoyed the growing esteem among people across the country．People continued to use the color red for festivals or joyous occasions even after the Han Dynasty．

Since ancient times，yellow has been considered an imperial color．When you visit the Imperial Palace，the Summer Palace，and Beihai Park，you will find that the tiles on the top of the royal buildings are usually yellow．The Five Elements(五行)assign earth the color yellow in the central position．During the Tang Dynasty (618－907)，laws were passed that only allowed the imperial family to use yellow．In the Song Dynasty，the yellow glazed tileswere used for imperial building，and this custom continued throughout the following dynasties．In addition，many things used by emperors appear yellow in color like imperial robes，imperial edicts，and interior ornaments in the emperor's rooms．

Notes:①joyous充满快乐的②given birth to生(孩子) ③assign分配④edict法令

8祝寿送寿桃的由来是什么?

Why do people often give longevity peaches to express birthday good w ishes?

When someone holds a birthday celebration，his/ her relatives and friends may give peaches to express good wishes．We call these peaches“longevity peach(寿桃)．”When did this tradition start? According to legend，the practice started with Sun Bin(孙膑)．

During Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period(770 BC－256 BC)，Sun Bin left his hometown and traveled a thousand-li(里) to visit a famous scholar named Gui Guzi(鬼谷子)．Sun Bin decided to study the artofwar from this respected scholar，and thus began his lessons upon arrival．Twelve years passed and Sun Bin still had no desire to go back home．

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month Sun Bin remembered that it was his mother's birthday．He thought that hismothermight be expecting him to return home as soon as possible since he had notbeen home for 12 years，and hismother was 80 years old．He did not even know if hismotherwas still in good health．

On the same day all the familymembersgathered to celebrate Sun Binsmother'sbirthday at Sun's home．The aged mother felt so sad and wept because everyone was at home except Sun Bin．The whole family tried hard to console the old woman，but their attempt did not lessen her grief．

At thatmoment Sun Bin walked into the room．Sun Bin met hismother and felt extremely sad as he saw his mother had withered so much with age and grief．He quickly took a peach out of his pocket and gently presented it to her，saying，“I asked my teacher to letme come home today，and somy teacher offered this peach，askingme to present it as a best wish for your happy birthday．”

Sun Bin'smother ate the peach，which soon made her look much healthier and younger．Since then，many families follow Sun Bin's example by presenting peaches to their parents，relatives，and even friends on their birthdays．

Notes:①express a good wish表达美好的愿望②upon arrival当到达时③as soon as possible尽快④console安慰⑤wither枯萎

9民间四大传说讲的是什么?

What are the four great legends about?

The Buffaloboy and the Weaving Girl(牛郎织女)，Tale of theWhite Snake(白蛇传)，Meng Jiangnü(孟姜女)，and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai(梁山伯和祝英台)are four great legends known by all Chinese．

The Buffaloboy and the W eaving Girl

In ancient China，people believed that deities resided in Heaven，Earth，and Hell，and that the Heavenly royal parents had seven beautiful daughters; the youngestwas the prettiest and brightest of them all．

Once upon a time，there was a boy who was clever，diligent，and honest．He lived with his wicked big brother because his parents had died．The big brother drove him out of his home，giving him nothing but a buffalo．This animal was loyal to the boy，and the two became good friends．Eventually the boy became known as the Buffaloboy．

Meanwhile，the youngest of the seven celestial princesses had grown tired of her life in the Celestial Palace，and longed for a common life like the ones she saw so often down beneath her．To pursue her happiness，she descended onto earth and landed in front of the Buffaloboy．

They married and had a lovely son and a lovely daughter．While the Buffaloboy worked in the fields with his buffalo，the Heavenly princesswove at home to help support the family．Villagers all admired her excel-lentweaving skill and eventually gave her the nickname the Weaving Girl．

The family enjoyed amoderate but happy life until the celestial royal family traced the seventh princess to the village．A day in Heaven amounted to years on Earth，so the years she had spent with the Buffaloboy were but a few days in Heaven．

The Celestial Empress was so angry that she ordered her daughter to go back to Heaven or otherwise see her husband and children be killed．The Weaving Girlwas a good wife and mother，and so decided to return to her celestial home，sadly leaving behind the Buffaloboy and her two children．

The Buffaloboy was at a loss at discovering that his beautifulwife had disappeared when suddenly the buffalo began to speak．The buffalo said that he would be dead very soon and asked the Buffaloboy to use his hide as a vehicle to catch up with his wife．The Buffaloboy did so and soared into the sky，carrying his young son and daughter in a basket on each side of a shoulder pole．When the empress saw the Buffaloboy approaching，she took outher hairpin and drew a line across the sky in front of the Buffaloboy that instantly became a torrential river called the Silvery River(known as “milkyway”in Western culture)．She thought that the couple would never have a chance to get together again．

All the magpies in the world，deeply touched by the devotion of the young couple，flocked to their rescue．Each year，on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar，the birds would manage to gather enough force in number to form a bridge so that the family would have a brief reunion．

Tale of the W hite Snake

Long ago on Mt．Emei(峨眉山) there lived two snakes; one was white and the other green．They had been engaged in ascetic practices for a thousand years，and had gained the ability and desire to become beautiful ladies and thus transformed themselves into Bai Suzhen(白素贞)and Xiao Qing(小青)．They appeared at the West Lake(西湖)and began enjoying the scenery around them．Rain started to pour down as they reached a bridge，and the two ladies took temporary refuge under a willow tree．

Soon an affable youngman named Xu Xian(许仙) passed by who was carrying an umbrella．When he saw the two beautiful ladies sheltering under the tree，Xu Xian lent them his umbrella and helped them take a boat home．

Bai immediately fell in lovewith him，and told him to come to their house the next day so that they could return to him the umbrella．She learned thathewas an or-phan，living with his elder sister，and working in a herbalmedicine shop．

Bai proposed that they bemarried．Xu was delighted．Under the direction of Xiao Qing，they worshipped Heaven and Earth and joined inmarriage．They opened their own herbalmedicinal shop，and Bai proved to be excellent at compounding drugs or herbs．Soon more and more local people came to their shop for drugs．

At the Golden Mountain Monastery(金山寺)nearby，there dwelt amonk named Fa Hai(法海)．He recognized Bai as a snake demon(蛇妖)，and he thought that this snake was of great potential danger to humans so he warned Xu Xian．

Xu refused to believe that hiswife was a snake demon so themonk told him to get her drunk at the day of the Dragon Boat Festival(端午节)，and she would revert to her true form．Xu followed his advice，and after Bai became quite ill after drinking，she retired to bed．Soon on the bed appeared an enormouswhite snake．Xu saw what had happened．He was so frightened that he fell down on the ground dead．

When Bai recovered，she was horrified to discover her husband dead，and she appealed to her sister Xiao Qing to help find the herbs to bring him back to life．Bai even made a special trip to steal themagicmedicine and finally succeeded in saving Xu．However，Xu was stillworried a bit about Bai's true form．

The monk was disgruntled and so kidnapped Xu and took him into protective custody at the monastery．Baiwas upset and at the same time her sister Xiaoqing urged her to give up her inappropriate marriage to Xu．Finally Xu managed to escape from the monastery and rejoined Baiwho confessed everything to him．Xu swore his love for her anyway，regardless of her true form．Their son was born shortly afterward．

But the monk remained determined，and managed to capture Bai and imprison her under the Pagoda of the Thunder Peak(雷峰塔)．She was saved once again by her sister Xiao Qing，who journeyed to Mount Emei for further practice ofmartial arts，and then returned for the final defeat of themonk．

Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai

The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai，also known as“Butterfly Lovers，”is deeply rooted in Chinese folk tradition，and has always been close to the hearts of the ordinary people．It tells a tragic love between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai．

Zhu Yingtaiwas a young girl who decided to go to school．Prior to attending school，Zhu disguised herself as a boy．In school，she met a humble but intelligent youngman named Liang Shanbo．They two quickly be-came good friends as they were of similar minds and temperament．

Every day they studied together as delightful companions．Their studies covered poetry，music，and philosophy．As days passed，Zhu fell in love with Liang because of the growing friendship and true affection．During their stay in school，however，Liang never suspected the true feelings of his companion．

One day，Zhu received a letter from her parents asking her to return home，and sowhen she left school，Liang came to see her off．As they walked together along the way，Zhu subtly tried to convey her feelings．Unfortunately Liang failed in catching what she said，so finally Zhu told him a lie，saying that she had a twin sister at home，and she promised to introduce her to Liang．So before they departed，Liang said that he would go and visit Zhu at her home as soon as possible，and at the same time he would confirm the wedding date with her twin sister．

When Zhu arrived home，she found out that her parents had agreed to a marriage proposal from the Ma family，a very wealthy and powerful family in the province．Zhu was distressed．She vehemently disagreed with her parents'arrangement since they had not asked for her opinion，and therefore wished that her parents would break off the engagement．However，her parents had accepted wedding gifts，and they had to force their daughter to accept．Traditionally a bad name would be given to a family if they broke off an engagement after they had accepted the gifts．

In the meantime，Liang came to Zhu's home as scheduled．Upon his arrival，he was surprised to see that Zhu wasa girl．His surprises then quicklymelted into happiness and joy．They were very happy when they met again．Many beautifulmemories that occurred in the past three years still remained fresh in theirminds．Liang took this opportunity to propose a possible marriage with her．Under this circumstance，Zhu told him of her arranged marriage engagementwith a son from the Ma family．The possible marriage between Zhu and Liang vanished into thin air．Lament appeared on their faces，and their eyes were filled with tearswhen Liang and Zhu departed．

Liang came back home．He was heart-broken and became sick．Soon he died．Upon hearing this news，Zhu was desperately sad．Liang's death completely took away from her any hope of happiness although she had agreed tomarry into the Ma family．

As the wedding sedan chair and escorts passed by Liang's grave，Zhu asked to stop because she wanted to mourn Liang athis grave．Thewhole team stopped．Zhu got off the chair and walked to the gravewhere she tearfully offered her prayers to thememory of Liang．As she knelt down，amysterious storm appeared and a flash of lightning broke out．The grave opened．Without hesitation，Zhu jumped into the opened grave which immediately closed afterwards．The windstorm stopped and lightning disappeared．There was no sign of the bride except for two butterflies that flew above the grave．

This story spread far and wide so that people began to refer to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtaias the Butterfly Lovers，symbolizing the reunion of their spirits in Heaven．

M eng Jiangnü

This story occurred during the Qin Dynasty(221 BC－206 BC) when Emperor Qin unified the country．The construction of the GreatWallwas underway which required the physical labor of thousands upon thousands of people．Local soldiers across the country rounded up asmany men as possible to send them to the construction sites where they had to do hard physical labor around the clock．The work was exhausting and led to many deaths．

A scholar named Fan Qiliang(范杞良) in Suzhou hid himself wherever possible in order to escape being caught by local soldiers．

One day he arrived ata villagewhere he saw a garden．He quietly walked into the garden and stayed there through the night．The garden happened to belong to Meng Jiangnü's family; Mengwas a beautiful and clever girl．

The nextmorning Meng strolled into the garden．She came across Fan as she enjoyed viewing flowers．Soon after that her parents came，and Fan told his story．Meng and her parents decided to hide Fan in their home．Meng's parents liked the young scholar and thus arranged Fan tomarry their daughter．

They gotmarried but three days after the wedding ceremony，local soldiers broke into Meng's house and took Fan away to the construction site at the GreatWall．Meng wept day and night，and prayed earnestly，wishing her husband to come back．She waited half a year without a sign of him．

Late autumn came．The shrilly wind blew，and the weatherwas getting colder day by day．Meng sewed some winter clothes for her husband towear．Meng left the village and started her thousand-li journey to the construction site where her husband worked．

Meng experienced much hardship and trouble along the way，but finally arrived at the foot of the Great Wall．Workers there immediately recounted how her husband had died and was buried inside the newly built wall．

The heart-breaking news overwhelmed Meng，and she fell unconscious on the ground．Upon regaining consciousness，she started crying so bitterly that the sky，the earth，the sun，and themoon darkened．For a long time，she cried，and suddenly a thunderous noise broke out and shook the earth．One section of the GreatWall collapsed unearthing heaps of bones．

Meng bit her fingers and let blood drop on the bones．She prayed quietly，saying if her blood oozed into the bones，those bones were her husband's; if not，these bones were of others．At last，Meng found her husband's bones and corpse．She cried again while holding up in her arms the pile of bones of her dead husband．

At thatmoment，Emperor Qin passed by．Fascinated by her beauty，the emperor invited her to be his concubine．Meng pretended to accepthisoffer．She required the emperor to do three things for her before they held their wedding ceremony．One of the three things was to invite Buddhistmonks to chant Buddhism scriptures for her husband while hewasburied; the second was to hold amemorial ceremony for her husband that the emperor and all officials had to participate in; the third was that after the funeral services，Meng would take a three-day sightseeing tour．

The emperor agreed to her three requests．After the requests were fulfilled，Meng severely scolded the em-peror，and then threw herself into the sea．

10什么是“八仙”?

Who are the Eight Immortals?

The Eight Immortals(八仙) are Chinese deities．Their portraits are seen everywhere—on porcelain vases，teapots，teacups，fans，scrolls and embroidery．Each immortal's power can be transferred to a tool of power(法器) that can give life or destroy evil．Not only are they worshipped by Daoistsbutalso are popular subjects in general Chinese culture．

Traditionally，“eight”is a lucky number．People often add this number to names in order to give good luck，and therefore the“Eight Immortals”are associated with good fortune．In the Ming Dynasty(1368－1644)，Wu Yuantai(吴元泰)wrote a book called The Origin of the Eight Immortals and their Trips to the East(《八仙出处东游记》)．Hereafter，the legend of the Eight Immortals gradually spread across the country，and the above-mentioned images became popular among Chinese people．Below are some descriptions of each immortal．

Li Tieguai or Iron-crutch Li(铁拐李) is the most ancient of the Eight Immortals．He is depicted as a lame beggar，carrying a crutch．His spirit frequently leaves his body to wander on the Earth and Heaven．

Han Xiangzi(韩湘子) is a happy immortal．He is depicted holding a lotus flower，and sometimes with a sheng(a flute，笙) to accompany him．His lotus flower improvesmental or physical health of people and animals．

Lan Caihe(蓝采和)is the least known of the Eight Immortals．Lan Caihe's age and gender are unknown．Lan is depicted often as a girl or a boy，but sometimes as a woman or a man，she/he carries a flower basket．His/her behavior is out of norm and deemed strange by most people．

LüDongbin(吕洞宾) is the most widely known of the Eight Immortals and hence considered by some to be the de facto leader．Dressed asa scholar，he often holds a sword that dispels evil．The kindness of LüDongbin is demonstrated in the Chinese proverb“dog bites Lü Dongbin(狗咬吕洞宾)，”which means an inability to recognize goodness and repaying kindnesswith vice．

Cao Guojiu(曹国舅)was said to be the uncle of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty．He is shown in the official's court dresswith a jade tabletwhich can purify the environment．

He Xiangu(何仙姑)was born with six golden hairs on her head，and she spent her life as a hermit in the mountains．In a dream，she was instructed how to achieve immortality by the other Immortals．

Zhong Liquan(钟离权)is one of the most ancient of the Eight Immortalsand the leader of the group．In Daoism，he is known asOriginalMaster Truly-yang(正阳祖师)．His fan can revive the dead．

Zhang Guolao(张果老)is the last of the Eight Immortals．Known as Master Comprehension-of-Profundity(通玄先生)，he claims to be several hundred years old．

Notes:①transfer转移②above-mentioned上述的③description描述④de facto实际上⑤dispel驱逐⑥hermit隐士⑦comprehension理解⑧profundity渊博

11灶神的由来是什么?

What is the origin of the Kitchen god?

There once was a fatmighty lord who loved to eat．His palace was full of all kinds of delicious food，and sometimes he went out to find new food．

One day he came to the house of a simple peasant woman．Themighty lord begged to taste her food so she gave him some sugar cakes(糖饼)，and soon he ate them all．He was still hungry and wanted more cakes，and he even threatened the woman to take her back to his palace to continue tomake cakes for him．

The woman became angry and slapped the mighty lord across the face．Her sharp blow was so strong that themighty lord fell back and became embedded into the wall．Hewas completely stuck and could do nothing but watch other people eat food．

When the Jade Emperor(玉皇大帝)heard this story，he appointed themighty lord to be the Kitchen god(灶神)．Since then，his altar has been set up some-where near every family's kitchen stove．As the Kitchen god，his responsibility is to report to Heaven what the family has done the whole year．For this reason，each family carefully minds their conduct and behavior because they are afraid that a bad reportwould be given to the Jade Emperor．

In order tomake the Kitchen god happy，each family renews the Kitchen god's picture each year．On the 23rd day of the12th lunarmonth，people usually offer the god some melon-shaped candies called“candy melons(糖瓜)．”This candy tastes sweet．The kitchen god's mouth will be so full with sugar thatwhen hemakes his report，everything will sound good．Others believe that the candy is so sticky that it will keep his mouth shut when he gives his report．

Notes:①mighty强大的②slap掴;拍击③responsibility责任④candy糖果⑤be fullwith充满……的