Information about Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday in the United States and Canada. It was originally created by the American people to thank God for his bumper harvest and the help of Indians. In the United States, Thanksgiving Day falls on the fourth Thursday of June 1 1 because of194/,and there will be a two-day holiday from this day. Thanksgiving in Canada begins on 1879 and falls on the second Monday of June 10 every year, which is the same as Columbus Day in the United States.

The Origin and Development of 1

United States of America

Thanksgiving originated from early settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts. These immigrants were called Puritans in England. Dissatisfied with the incomplete religious reform of the Church of England and the political repression and religious persecution of the king and the Church of England, these Puritans left the Church of England and went to Holland. Later, they decided to move to a desolate place on the other side of the Atlantic, hoping to live freely according to their own wishes.

162 1 In September, the ship Mayflower left England for North America with 102 Puritans and their families. After more than two months of hard sailing, it landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and settled down from then on. In the first winter, more than half of these Puritans died at once because of lack of food, cold weather, epidemic disease and overwork. The following spring, Masasuode, the chief of the local Indian tribe, led the kind Indians, gave grain seeds to the Puritans and taught them to hunt, grow crops and fish. With the help of Indians, the Puritans had a bumper harvest that year. William bradford, the first governor, suggested setting up a festival to celebrate the harvest and thank God for his gift. At the same time, I also want to use this festival to strengthen the harmonious relationship between whites and Indians. 1621165438+1On a Thursday in late October, the Puritans brought by Massasod and 90 Indians got together to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in American history. Male Puritans go out hunting and catch turkeys, while women cook delicious food with corn, pumpkin, sweet potato and fruit at home. In this way, whites and Indians ate, chatted, sang and danced around the bonfire, and the whole celebration lasted for three days.

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. [ 1]

This custom has been handed down. When thirteen states in North America were unified, the first President George Washington made Thanksgiving a national holiday, but each state decided its own celebration time. It was not until 1863 that President Lincoln decided to take the fourth Thursday in June as the fixed celebration day of Thanksgiving.

Canada

Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of commemorating the settlement of Puritan ancestors in the New World, Canadians mainly thank God for giving them a successful harvest. Thanksgiving in Canada is earlier than in America. It is a simple fact that the harvest season in Canada is earlier than that in the United States, because Canada is closer to the north. Thanksgiving in Canada is usually thought to be influenced by three traditional habits.

One is the influence from European tradition. Since the earliest harvest about 2000 years ago, people have celebrated the harvest and thanked nature for its kindness and good luck. When Europeans came to Canada, they also brought this tradition to Canada and influenced the Thanksgiving tradition in Canada.

The second is that British explorers celebrate the influence of survival. Canada held its first official Thanksgiving 40 years before the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts. 1578, an English explorer named Martin Frobisher tried to find a passage connecting the east, but he failed. But he established a settlement in Newfoundland, Canada, and held a banquet to celebrate survival and harvest. Other later settlers continued these "thanksgiving" ceremonies. This time is considered to be the first Thanksgiving in Canada.

The third influence came from later America. 162 1 In the autumn of, British immigrants who came across the ocean to the new American continent held a three-day carnival, thanking God for the bumper harvest. Since then, this custom has continued and gradually became popular in various places. During the American War of Independence, a group of royalists loyal to the British royal family moved to Canada, which also brought the habits and methods of American Thanksgiving to Canada. 1750 Harvest Festival was brought to Nova Scotia by immigrants from the southern United States. At the same time, French immigrants arrived and held a "Thanksgiving" banquet. All these have had a profound impact on Thanksgiving in Canada.

1879 The Canadian Parliament declared165438+10.6 as Thanksgiving Day and a national holiday. In the following years, the date of Thanksgiving was changed many times until June1957 65438+1October 3 1 day, and the Canadian Parliament declared the second Monday of1October as Thanksgiving Day, on which we thanked Almighty God for blessing Canada and giving it a rich harvest. [2]

2 Festival customs

Collective celebration

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until the United States became independent that Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday.

On Thanksgiving Day, the whole country in America is very lively. Christians go to church to pray for gratitude according to custom, and there are costume parades, theatrical performances or sports competitions everywhere in the town. Relatives who have been separated for a year will also come back from all over the world, get together as a family, and taste Thanksgiving food with "turkey" as the main food. [3]

The most famous celebration in the United States is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which started at 1924.

Thanksgiving every year.

Thanksgiving day celebrations

Today, the whole country in America is very busy. According to custom, people go to church to pray for gratitude. Dress parades, theatrical performances and sports competitions are held everywhere in urban and rural towns, and schools and shops are also on holiday according to regulations. Children also imitate the Indians in those days, wearing strange costumes, painting faces or wearing masks to sing and play the trumpet in the street. Families living in other places will also go home for the New Year. The whole family will sit around and munch on the delicious turkey and say "thank you!" " After Thanksgiving, the school will ask students to draw a picture of Thanksgiving. Most students draw turkeys.

At the same time, hospitable Americans can't forget to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home for a holiday on this day. Since18th century, the United States has had the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose a certain day of the year to do good deeds and thought Thanksgiving was the most suitable day. So as soon as Thanksgiving comes, they put a basket full of food and send it to the poor families. It was widely known, and soon many people followed their example. No matter who you meet, you will say, "Thank you!"

Holiday shopping

Thanksgiving shopping has become an American custom. In the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the American retail industry

Obama pardons Turkey for "Courage"

The total sales can account for 1/3 of the whole year, which is the traditional discount promotion season for various businesses. Shopping spree month begins on Friday after Thanksgiving, which is called Black Friday. It is said that it is called this name because in the early hours of Friday, everyone has to rush to the mall to buy cheap goods in the dark. This behavior has a very vivid saying, called the early bird [4]. Thanksgiving in foreign countries is as important as Spring Festival in China!

President's annual ceremony of releasing turkeys began during Truman's administration 1947, but in fact this traditional ceremony can be traced back to President Lincoln's administration during the American Civil War. /kloc-one day in 0/863, Lincoln's son Ted suddenly broke into the cabinet meeting and demanded pardon for a pet turkey named Jack, because the turkey sent to the White House was about to become a Thanksgiving dinner.

On June 22, 2006, Bush pardoned a name at the Thanksgiving release ceremony held in the White House Rose Garden.

Bush pardons "bird" turkey

A turkey named "Bird".

US President Barack Obama pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey on the 25th and named it "Courage". This is also the first time he has pardoned turkeys since he took office. Obama also thanked the brave soldiers who protected the safety of the American people.

The fourth Thursday in June is Thanksgiving Day in America. Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama pardoned the turkey, which was supposed to be Chinese food. Obama said, I want to eat this turkey. Thanks to Sasha and Maria's intervention, I forgave my courage. This turkey will be sent to Disneyland. To prevent accidents, the authorities also prepared a spare turkey named Carolina.

3 Festival food

The pattern of Thanksgiving celebration has not changed for many years. The sumptuous family dinner started months ago.

Thanksgiving food turkey

Get ready. People can eat apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes on the dining table, as well as raisin pudding, minced meat pie, various other foods, cranberry sauce and fresh fruit juice, among which the most wonderful and attractive dishes are roast turkey and pumpkin pie, which have always been the most traditional and popular food for Thanksgiving.

Everyone agrees that roast turkey must be the main course of Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey should be baked with bread as stuffing to absorb the delicious juice in the middle reaches, but cooking techniques often vary from family to family and region, so it is difficult to agree on what stuffing to use.

Holiday menu

Including:

Corn bread-corn bread is a favorite food for both British and Indians. English cheese

Thanksgiving Food (10)

Pie-English cheese pie, cheese is very important to the British. Venison-venison, the Indians brought five deer. Ducks and geese-ducks and geese-were caught by the British. Wild turkey.-wild turkey. Garlic and onions.-garlic and onions. Pumpkin pudding-pumpkin pudding Indian pudding-Indian pudding salad-salad.

Thanksgiving food is very traditional. Every Thanksgiving, Americans eat a fat turkey. Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving. It used to be a wild bird living in North America, which became delicious poultry after being raised in large quantities, each of which could weigh 40 to 50 kilograms. Some places still have hunting grounds for people to hunt before Thanksgiving. Interested people can go to the hunting ground and spend some money to shoot some wild turkeys themselves and go home. Make the festival more interesting.

According to the recipe, a turkey weighing about 20 kg should be roasted for 4 hours until it is completely cooked. It needs to be roasted whole, the chicken skin is roasted to dark brown, and its stomach is stuffed with a lot of miscellaneous food such as broken bread. The juice of roast turkey will be used to make thick meat sauce with sweet cranberry jam as the seasoning of turkey.

Thanksgiving party

There is also a certain emphasis on how to eat turkey. After serving, the host cut it with a knife and distributed it to everyone. Then everyone poured marinade and sprinkled with salt, which was very delicious. Besides turkey, there are cranberry jam, sweet potato, corn, pumpkin pie, bread baked in salad and various fruits and vegetables. These things are traditional food for Thanksgiving.

Dining table arrangement

Housewives don't put flowers as usual, but fruits and vegetables. There is often a big pumpkin in the middle, and some apples, corn and dried fruits are piled around. Sometimes, people empty apples or pumpkins, put dried fruits with shells in them or light candles. Usually, the hostess can invite guests to the living room after dinner, but she doesn't do this on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving dinner is sweet. Everyone is willing to stay at the table for a while. They happily recalled the past while eating, and they didn't leave the lovely table until the last candle burned out.

4 holiday games

Cranberry contest

After Thanksgiving dinner, some families often play some traditional games. On the first Thanksgiving, people jumped up.

The fruit of blueberry

Dances, competitions and many other recreational activities, some of which have survived to this day. There is a game called Cranberry Contest, in which a large bowl filled with cranberries is placed on the ground, and 4- 10 contestants sit together and each person gives out a needle and thread.

At the beginning of the game, they threaded the needle first, then strung the cranberries one by one, and it took 3 minutes to arrive; Whoever pulls the longest rope will win the prize. As for the man who strung the string the slowest, everyone jokingly gave him a worst prize.

Corn game

There is also an old corn game. It is said that this is handed down to commemorate the issue of five corn to each immigrant in the case of food shortage. During the game. People hid five corn in the house, and everyone looked for it separately. Five people who found corn took part in the competition, while others watched. At the beginning of the competition, five people quickly peeled corn kernels in a bowl, and whoever peeled them first won the prize. Then people who didn't take part in the competition guessed around the bowl how many corn kernels there were, and the prize with the closest number was a big bag of popcorn.

Pumpkin race

People's favorite game is pumpkin race. The contestants pushed with a small spoon.

Thanksgiving pumpkin

Pumpkin runs, the rule is never to touch the pumpkin with your hands, and the first person to reach the finish line wins the prize. The smaller the spoon used in the game, the more interesting the game is.

In addition to these activities, some families drive to the countryside for an outing or travel by plane during the festival, especially Plymouth Port, where immigrants settled in the past, is a place that tourists yearn for. There, you can see ships and Plymouth stones copied from may flower, and you can spend hours visiting immigrant villages. The immigrant village was built in imitation of that year. During the visit, professionals dressed as Puritans talked with tourists, giving people an immersive feeling.

5 Festival significance

As far as its significance and celebration methods are concerned, Thanksgiving Day has hardly changed since 162 1. On this day, churches of all denominations open their doors to thank God for his generosity. Thanksgiving is a family holiday. All over the country, couples, children and the elderly, from cities to towns, from towns to towns, from towns to villages, all go back to their hometowns for the holidays. People who can't go home also make long-distance calls with their parents and family to share their gratitude. Thanksgiving dinner is actually the same throughout the country. The dining table is always filled with all kinds of delicious food. Naturally, it is mainly Turkey. Eating pumpkin pie is to remind everyone that Indians gave such gifts to the first settlers. In most families, some traditional games are played after meals. Thanksgiving is a happy celebration, a day for family reunion and a time to renew friendship. On that day, even bachelors are always invited to other people's homes to share the joy of gratitude and thank God for his grace. This is also the meaning of Thanksgiving.

6 regional differences

Festivals in America and Canada

Thanksgiving Day is a unique holiday in the United States and Canada. It originated more than 300 years ago. A group of 100 European immigrants immigrated to the United States, and it was difficult to survive because of hunger and cold. Most of them froze to death and starved to death in the first winter. The remaining 50 people learned to fish, hunt and grow corn and pumpkins with the help of local indigenous Indians. These people held a celebration to thank God and invited Indians to participate in next year's festival harvest. This is the origin of Thanksgiving. Later, President Lincoln of the United States declared the fourth Thursday of June 165438+ 10 as Thanksgiving Day, and there was a new public holiday in the United States.

Thanksgiving doesn't exist in Europe.

Europeans have no experience in the American continent, and there is no need to thank Indians from another continent, so there is no Thanksgiving Day. Because this festival has a deep American history and involves religions at that time. Many people think that Thanksgiving Day is a popular holiday in Europe and America, but this is wrong.

Generally speaking, it is impolite to congratulate Europeans on "Happy Thanksgiving" on Thanksgiving Day, which is easy to attract resentment. China, Hongkong and Macau SAR do not have the habit of Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving greetings may also bring confusion and disgust.

Promotion of Thanksgiving Day in China

Some people in China suggest setting up another Thanksgiving Day in China. Although Thanksgiving Day in the West has its religious connotation, it can absorb its positive factors, integrate traditional virtues and give it new meaning, choose a new anniversary and set up a "Thanksgiving Day" with China characteristics. Draw lessons from American festivals and set up China's own Thanksgiving Day so that children can learn empathy and understand their parents. Let adults understand each other and have more harmonious interpersonal relationships.

Some college students proposed to set up their own Thanksgiving Day among college students in China to express their love and gratitude to their friends and teachers on this day, which made him feel very reasonable. In fact, the Chinese nation has been ready to help others since ancient times and repay kindness with kindness. It was once a famous sentence that "the kindness of being dripped by people is rewarded by a spring." Education in China pays more attention to grades and enrollment rate. In addition, many children are only children, and the love of family members leads children to take care of others naturally. Many students don't know how to thank and appreciate, but only know how to take. Even rebellious and bored with family members who care too much about themselves.

Among adults, there are also cases of ingratitude and forgetfulness, and everything is based only on interests. In a civilized society, we should know how to be grateful and have a grateful heart; This is also an important requirement for building a harmonious society, which can promote harmony and coordination among social members, groups, strata and groups, and promote mutual respect, trust and help among people.