Thanksgiving is an ancient festival created by the American people, and it is also a festival for Americans to get together. At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving Day, which was decided temporarily by American states. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. 194 1 year, the US Congress officially designated the fourth Thursday in June of 1 1 year as Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving holiday usually lasts from Thursday to Sunday.
In addition to the United States and Canada, Egypt, Greece and other countries in the world have their own unique Thanksgiving Day. However, European countries such as Britain and France are isolated from Thanksgiving Day, and some scholars have proposed to establish "China Thanksgiving Day" to promote traditional culture.
Festival source
United States of America
The origin of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the beginning of American history. 1620, the famous "Mayflower" arrived in America with 102 Puritans who could not bear the persecution of English religion. In the winter at the turn of 1620 and 162 1, they encountered unimaginable difficulties and were hungry and cold. After winter passed, only 50 immigrants survived. At this time, the kind Indians brought necessities to the immigrants, and specially sent people to teach them how to hunt, fish and grow corn and pumpkins. With the help of Indians, the immigrants finally got a bumper harvest. On the day of celebrating the harvest, according to religious traditions and customs, immigrants set a day to thank God and decided to invite them to celebrate the festival together to thank the Indians for their sincere help.
On the first Thanksgiving, Indians and immigrants gathered together. They fired a salute at dawn, marched into a room used as a church, expressed sincere gratitude to God, lit a bonfire, held a grand banquet, and made the hunted turkey into a delicious Indian dish. On the second and third days, wrestling, running, singing and dancing were held. The first Thanksgiving was a great success. Many of these celebrations have been circulated for more than 300 years and have been preserved to this day. ?
Europeans who immigrated to the United States basically followed the form of the first Thanksgiving celebration on the North American continent. 1789, Washington, the first president of the United States, officially stipulated that165438+1October 26th was the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the whole country. However, for a long time, each state has set a holiday date according to its own situation. It was not until 1863 that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday again.
194 1 year, with the approval of President Roosevelt, the U.S. Congress passed a bill declaring the fourth Thursday of June as the national Thanksgiving Day every year. Thanksgiving holiday usually lasts from Thursday to Sunday.
Festival custom
Collective celebration
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.
The most famous celebration in the United States is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which started at 1924.
On Thanksgiving Day, 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 as required. 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.
Although living in the diaspora, hospitable Americans can't forget this day to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home for a holiday. 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!" Family members from 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.
Holiday shopping
Thanksgiving shopping has become an American custom. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the total retail sales in the United States 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. There is a very vivid saying about this kind of behavior, which is called the early bird. Thanksgiving in foreign countries is as important as Spring Festival in China!
go on an outing
In addition to these activities, some families will drive to the countryside for an outing or travel by plane on Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Plymouth Port, where immigrants originally settled, is a place that tourists yearn for. There, you can see the boats and Plymouth stones copied from may flower, and you can also visit the immigrant village built in imitation of that year.
Thanksgiving turkey
origin
Why do you eat turkey on Thanksgiving? This starts with the origin of Thanksgiving. 1620, a group of Puritans who advocated reform in Britain withdrew from the state religion and became independent Protestants because their ideals and ambitions could not be realized, which aroused the hatred of British politicians. Unable to bear the persecution and discrimination of the rulers, these Puritans fled to the Netherlands first. In early September, they crossed the ocean and prepared to go into exile in the United States. The ship drifted in the rough sea for 65 days, and finally arrived at the east coast of the United States in 5438+065438+ 10, and landed in Provis Town, Rhode Island. At that time, it was still a desolate virgin land, and wild animals such as turkeys could be seen everywhere. It's cold winter now, and they come to a strange place, lacking clothes and food, and the harsh environment threatens their lives. At this critical moment, the local Indians brought them food, daily necessities and production tools to help them build their new homes.
After settling down in their new home, these British people thanked the Indians who helped and supported them in times of crisis, and also thanked God for giving them "gifts". On the fourth Thursday of June 165438+ 10 this year, they cooked the hunted turkey into delicious food, treated the Indians warmly and held a party with them. The celebration lasted for three days. Since then, such a celebration will be held every year on the fourth Thursday of June165438+1October. In addition to holding roast turkeys for Indians, sports competitions such as archery, running and wrestling will be held together, and at night, we will sing and dance around the bonfire and have fun.
In addition, there is a saying that at a harvest festival in the16th century, Queen Elizabeth was eating a roasted goose. Then came the news that Spanishhalma had sunk on the way to attack her beloved England. The queen was very happy. She asked for a goose to celebrate the good news. Therefore, geese have become the most popular birds in the British harvest season. When Puritans came to America from England, roast turkey became the main course instead of roast goose, because turkeys were more abundant in North America and easier to find than geese.
Thanksgiving food
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.
Traditional turkey
When Americans eat turkey, they usually stew it. Usually, turkeys are stuffed with various seasonings and mixed foods, then wrapped in barbecue bags and roasted whole.
Traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes roast turkey, and some families use roast goose instead of turkey. Turkey has stuffing. It is made of shredded corn bread, white bread and celery. In addition, there is thick gravy cooked with turkey offal. There is also a special sauce-CranberrySauce, which is rich in cranberries every September and 10.
Other side dishes include baked mashed potatoes, baked mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, and Bessie. Of course, the last dessert is pumpkin pie, walnut pie or apple pie.
Presidential turkey release ceremony
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, George W. Bush pardoned a turkey named "Bird" at the Thanksgiving release ceremony held in the White House Rose Garden.
Thanksgiving in 2009. Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama pardoned the turkey, which was supposed to be a Chinese dish. 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).
On 20 14 Thanksgiving, US President Barack Obama pardoned two Thanksgiving turkeys "Cheese" and "Mark", so that they were no longer the main course of Thanksgiving dinner and could "die of natural causes" on the farm. [2]
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.