Staying up late to ring in the New Year, giving red envelopes and eating New Year's Eve dinner are all essential traditions for Chinese people during their New Year reunions. But the customs and habits of people all over the world during New Year's -- including when they celebrate New Year's -- are not necessarily the same. For example, Muslim countries follow a religious calendar, and the holiday could fall during any of the four seasons. Then there are some Catholic countries that have a tradition of eating grapes at the New Year. We interviewed a Turkish professor from National ChengChi University named Alimcan, as well as a Honduran student studying at the International Trade Department at NCCU named Edwin, to see how their customs during New Year's celebrations are different from ours.
中國人過年團圓的禮俗免不了守歲、送紅包及吃年夜飯?等，但是世界各地新年團圓的風俗習慣和時間都不盡相同。回教國家受到宗教曆法的影響，四季都可能是假期，而有些天主教國家則有在跨年夜吃葡萄的習俗，我們訪問了來自土耳其，目前在政治大學任教的阿里木，和來自宏都拉斯，目前就讀政大國貿系的愛德文，看看他們團圓的風俗與我們有何不同。
Can you imagine having New Year's Eve dinner and receiving red envelopes on a hot summer day?
你能想像在炎炎夏日跟家人圍爐拿紅包嗎？
In most Islamic countries, there are two main holidays on which families gather together: Id-al-Fitr and Corban. Take Turkey, for example. According to the Muslim calendar, the holiday of family reunion for Turkish families is celebrated 11 days earlier every year. The holiday could fall in any season, unlike Chinese New Year,which is always celebrated during the winter.
回教與家人相聚主要在兩大宗教節慶：開齋節和古爾幫節。以土耳其為例，根據回曆，回教國家闔家團圓的時間每年都比去年提前十一天，一年四季都有可能是家人團圓之日，不若中國新年總為寒冬。
PHOTO: CHENG HSIANG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Even Turkish people get confused by the schedule," says Kerim, who has been in Taiwan for around three years and now studies at the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at National Chengchi University. Corban has been his favorite holiday ever since he was a child. He first remembers Corban taking place in August. According to custom, the elders of the family give the children a little money to spend on Corban. Young as he was, he thought that every August he would receive money from his mother, and was wondering why nothing happened during the following two Augusts. Only after three years did his mother finally explain how the calendar works.
目前就讀政治大學東亞所，來台三年多的土耳其人龍克禮說：「這種曆法有時候連土耳其人都搞不太清楚。」他憶起兒時最喜歡古爾幫節。一年古爾幫節落在八月，按禮俗，長輩會給晚輩一些零用錢，年紀小的他以為從此每年八月都可以領錢，還納悶為何接下來兩年的八月都平淡無奇，三年後母親才告訴他，原來每年都會提前十一天。
Celebrating Corban involves other traditions as well. "Butchering a lamb is a must-do ritual during Corban because lambs symbolize man's passing of the trial set by God," says Alimcan INAYET, an Uyghur-born Turkish man with a PhD from Ege University in Turkey, who now teaches at National Chengchi University as an exchange professor.
A story in the Quran describes how Allah ordered his servant Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering to him. Just when Abraham was about to slay his son, Allah stopped him and gave him a ram as a substitute offering. Ever since then, Muslims have kept the tradition of serving their guest mutton on this special occasion and sharing the meat with the poor.
宰羊也是慶祝古爾幫節的傳統禮俗之一。在政大任教的維吾爾裔土耳其文教授阿里木說：「宰羊是古爾幫節必行的傳統禮俗。羊象徵著真主對人的考驗」，可蘭經上記載，真主命令祂的使者伊布拉衣木將最寶貴的孩子司馬義獻給祂作為考驗，但就在伊布拉衣木要取司馬義性命前，神阻止了他，賜下一隻羊代替司馬義，從此穆斯林便有宰羊宴客的傳統，而且部份羊肉也必須分給窮人食用。
Even the slaughter itself is a ritual.
"When butchering a lamb, if the blood of the lamb does not go directly into the ground, or the knife you use is not sharp enough to take the lamb's life with one clean stroke, it is considered a sin," adds Kerim.
連宰羊本身也是一種儀式。龍克禮補充說明：「宰羊時，若羊血沒有直接流進土地，或刀不夠鋒利，羊沒有一斬斃命，均會被視為罪。」
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