英语论文网

Abstract Superstitious thoughts are always in people’s life in spite of scientific and technological advancement. Hungry Ghost Festival in China and Halloween in the western countries are two religious festivals which are observed every year. They reveal people’s idea about the ghosts and spirits after death. They also include doctrines which imprison people’s minds and thoughts. Therefore, people show different religious briefs. This thesis mainly talks about the origin and celebrations of the two festivals, and sums up the kinds of superstitions in China and some western countries, and analyze the influence of superstitions, three religious ideas about death and spirits from Buddhism, Taoism, Christian. The author thinks that people should promote scientific views and remove superstitions. 摘　要尽管科学技术正在进步，但是迷信思想始终存在于人们的生活当中。中国鬼节和西方万圣节是每年都会庆祝的两大宗教节日。它们体现了人们对身死亡后的鬼魂态度，同时也蕴涵了禁锢人们思想活动的教条。因而形成了不同的宗教信仰。本论文主要介绍了这两个节日的起源和庆祝方式，归纳了在中西方国家里存在的各种迷信思想，还分析了迷信思想给人们带来的影响和佛教、道教、基督教这三种宗教对死亡和灵魂的观点及信仰。作者认为人们应该破除迷信、解放思想。 Introduction In China and some western countries, superstitious thoughts affect people’s life all the time. Since China opened its gate to the outside world, many westerners have come to China. They brought with them their own cultures and customs. Halloween, which falls on Nov.1, has already been a familiar holiday to Chinese people. Many Chinese people also start to celebrate Halloween. The Chinese traditional festival — Hungry Ghost Festival happens on the 15th of July in the lunar calendar. It has been one of most important religion holidays in Chinese culture since the sixth century AD. The two festivals reveal people’s superstitious thoughts in China and some western countries. At present, some Chinese people are researching into the two festivals. Some people don’t think that the festivals should be celebrated, because the festivals brought about negative influences on people’s life and society. But other people support such festivals, because the two festivals are religious holidays, and people’s religious beliefs should be respected . So far, studies and discussions of the two festivals are still in march. I Halloween and Hungry Ghost Festival A. The Origin and Celebration of Halloween Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences on many cultures over the centuries, from the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Roman’s Pomona Day, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days. The word “Halloween” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. In the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain, the Celtic New year. The celts worshipped nature and many gods. They believed that on the night the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. Naturally, the living people did not want to be possessed. Therefore, after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess. During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. So, they brought many of