中国新年穿红内衣的传统

Sara Naumann 景一

There are all kinds of fun traditions around the celebration of Chinese New Year. Aside from the usual buying of new clothes， giving of red envelopes and eating a lot （I mean a lot） with your family and friends， I think I like the more contemporary2 red underwear tradition the best.

关于庆祝中国的新年有很多有趣的传统。除了常见的买新衣服，送红包，和家人及朋友一起吃很多东西（是真的很多），我想我最喜欢的是更现代的穿红色内衣的传统。

Red Underwear for Sale！

If youve been inside a department store in China from December to February， you might be wondering what the strange winter fashion surrounding red underwear is.

In fact， youre not spying some cool Asian fashion trend for this year. Every winter， red underwear decorated3 with gold embroidery4， usually illustrating the pertinent5 zodiac6 animal for that particular year， goes on sale in Chinas stores.

红色内衣待售！

如果你在十二月到二月期间在中国的一家百货公司里购物，你可能会纳闷，满是红色内衣的奇怪的冬季时尚究竟是什么名堂。

实际上，你并不是窥见了今年的一些亚洲时尚的流行趋势。每年冬天，金线刺绣的，通常是当年相关生肖图样的红色内衣，都会在中国的商店里出售。

Whos Wearing Red？

As you may be well aware， the Chinese Zodiac employs a cycle of 12. There are 12 animals in the zodiac and each year welcomes a new animal. In China， the animal cycle goes like this： rat， ox， tiger， rabbit， dragon， snake， horse， sheep， monkey， rooster， dog and boar. People are born under one sign and will run into their sign again every 12 years. So it is important to be aware of the meeting of ones zodiac year7.

谁穿红色衣服？

如你所知，十二生肖的周期是12。在十二生肖中有12种动物，每年都对应一种动物。在中国，十二生肖的顺序是：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗和猪。人们出生的生肖，每隔12年就会再次轮到。所以注意本命年是很重要的。

Why Wear Red？

One would think that your year would be a good one. But on the contrary， Chinese traditional belief is that the meeting of your zodiac year is going to be full of bad luck. So if its your year， you need to take a few precautions8 to ensure that your year is not a bad one.

To ward off any dangers that might befall you in your zodiac year， it is traditionally believed that it helps to wear the color red. Red is one of the luckiest colors in Chinese traditions， standing for loyalty， success and happiness. Youll see red all over the place during traditional Chinese festivals and particularly Chinese New Year： red lanterns， red envelopes and red paper hangings. When it comes to decorations， just about everything is red and ornamented9 in gold.

為什么穿红色的衣服？

可能有人会认为自己的本命年会是幸运的一年。但恰恰相反，中国的传统观念是，本命年会充满厄运。所以，如果是你的本命年，你需要采取一些预防措施，以确保顺利度过你的本命年。

传统上认为穿红色衣服可以帮助你避免本命年的霉运。红色是中国传统中最幸运的颜色之一，它代表忠诚、成功和幸福。在中国传统节日，尤其是农历新年期间，你会发现到处都是红色的——红灯笼、红信封、红色的墙纸。至于装饰，几乎所有的东西都是红色的，并用金色装饰。

How to Wear Red？

If you believe in this stuff and youre really traditional， you should wear red every day， all year long.

You can go big： add red accessories to every outfit. Or you can play it simple， wear a cute bracelet made of red interwoven10 Chinese knots11 around your wrist to ward off the bad luck.

But maybe youre not a big fan of the color red in your outer wardrobe and you dont want everyone to know your age. So how do you ward off the bad luck but maintain your own sense of style？ Red underwear is， of course， the answer.

红色怎么穿？

如果你相信这种东西，而且你真的很传统，你应该全年每天都穿红色。

你可以大干一场：在每件衣服上都添加红色的配饰。或者你可以简单点，在手腕上戴一串可爱的红色中国结手链来驱走霉运。

但也许你不太喜欢外衣柜里的红色，也不想让每个人都知道你的年龄。那么，你该如何既避免厄运，又保持你自己的风格呢？当然，答案是红色内衣。