We’ve all heard the biblical origins of Christmas, but societies have been celebrating light and birth in the darkest days of winter centuries before Jesus walk the earth.
我们都听说过圣诞节的基督教起源，但早在耶稣降生之前数个世纪，人们已经在冬至日庆祝光明和新生了。
In the North country, this winter celebration was known as Yule, around December 21, the Winter Solstice. Fathers and sons dragged evergreens indoors as reminders of life, and set logs on fire as a promise of good fortune.
在北欧国家，这种冬日庆典被称为耶鲁节，一般在12月21日的冬至日。父亲和孩子们会将常青树布置在室内作为生命的象征，并将一段木头放入火中燃烧，以期待来年的好运。
Ancient Rome had its own December festivals. One week before the Winter Solstice, Romans began celebrating Saturnalia, an orgy of food and drink, in honor of Saturn, the God of Agriculture.
古罗马也有自己的十二月庆典。在冬至前一周，罗马人有农神节，包括大型宴饮狂欢会，以纪念古罗马农神萨图尔。
Some Romans, particularly soldiers and government officials, also worshipped Mithra, the Sun God. It is believed that to this small but powerful sect, the birthday of Mithra (December 25) was the holiest day of the year.
一部分罗马人，特别是士兵和政府官员，也会崇拜太阳神密特拉。对于这个人数不多但影响力巨大的教派而言，密特拉的生日（12月25日）是一年中最神圣的一天。
By the first century AD, pagan traditions were being challenged as Christianity took hold throughout the empire. But Christ’s birthday remained a mystery, since the Bible doesn’t mention exactly when he was born.
到公元1世纪，这些非基督教的传统受到了挑战，因为基督教渐渐控制了整个帝国。但是耶稣的生日仍是个秘密，因为圣经中并未提及他确切的出生时间。
Since pagan Rome already celebrated the birth of Mithra on December 25, it is theorized the church adopted the date as the birth of the Christ child. In the 4th century, the Church made it official, declaring December 25 as the feast day of the Nativity.
由于古罗马已经在12月25日庆祝密特拉的生日，教会就计划将这一天作为耶稣的生日。公元4世纪，教会正式宣布12月25日同样是庆祝耶稣降生的节日。
The church knew it could not outlaw the pagan traditions of Christmas, so it came to accept them. The evergreens traditionally brought indoors were decorated with apples, symbolizing the Garden of Eden.
因为教会知道，他们无法将非基督教的、庆祝冬至日的传统定为非法，所以他们选择了夺舍。传统中要放入室内的常青树被挂上了苹果，象征着伊甸园。
These apples would eventually become Christmas ornaments. The story of Santa Claus also begins in the 4th century, with the death of Nicholas, a beloved Turkish bishop.
这些苹果最终也确实变成了经典的圣诞装饰。圣诞老人的故事同样起源于公元4世纪，原本是为了纪念圣尼古拉，一位备受喜爱的米拉城（今土耳其境内）的主教。
The anniversary of his death became known as Saint Nicholas’ Day. On December 6, good children woke to gifts from the kindly saint, bad children sulked away with nothing.
他祭日的周年纪念日成为了圣尼古拉日。在12月6日，好孩子们会被圣徒赠予礼物，坏孩子则什么都得不到，只能生闷气。
In Holland, he was known as Santa Claus. 1500 years later in America, a seminary professor named Clement Clarke Moore, reimagined the legend of Saint Nicholas.
在荷兰，他被称为圣诞老人。1500年后，在美国，一位名叫克莱门特·克拉克·摩尔的神学院教授重构了圣尼古拉的传说。
In 1822, Moore wrote a poem called the Night Before Christmas, about a good natured saint named Santa Claus who was pulled by a group of reindeer, and came down the chimney on Christmas Eve.
1822年，摩尔写了一首名为《圣诞节前夜》的诗，里面有个名叫圣诞老人的善良的圣徒，乘坐驯鹿拉的雪橇，会在平安夜从烟囱下来。
Like Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus spread good cheer and gave gifts to children. Less clear was exactly what the Santa Claus looked like. Then in 1863, Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, settled the matter once and for all with his version of the Christmas Saint.
与圣尼古拉一样，圣诞老人散播快乐并给孩子们送礼物。圣诞老人具体长什么样则不太明确。直到1863年，哈珀周刊的漫画家托马斯·纳斯特用他的圣诞老人形象一劳永逸地解决了这个问题。
Nast’s Santa was rotund and jolly, with a full white beard and a sack full of toys, and an American icon was born.
纳斯特笔下的圣诞老人圆润而喜庆，有满脸的白胡子和满是玩具的大袋子，后来这成为了美国的一个标志。
我国今年已痛别48位两院院士，而在12月23日一天之内，已有4位两院院士离世，最年轻的仅57岁。
Lu was born in Wuwei County, Anhui, on 19 May 1936. He received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Tsinghua University in 1959 and 1964, respectively. After graduating in 1964, he stayed at the university and worked there.In 1984, Lu became a visiting professor of the Colorado State University.
1936年5月19日，卢强出生于安徽省无为县。他分别于1959年和1964年在清华大学获得学士学位和硕士学位。1964年毕业后，他留在大学工作。1984年，卢强成为卡罗拉多州大学的客座教授。
He returned to China in July 1987 and continued to teach at the Tsinghua University. On 23 December 2022, Lu died in Beijing, at the age of 86.
他于1987年7月回国，继续在清华大学任教。2022年12月23日，卢强在北京去世，享年86岁。
Zhang was born on 2 November 1925 in Changsha, Hunan Province. His father, Zhang Xiaoqian, was a founder of gastroenterology in China and a professor at Peking Union Medical College.
张友尚于1925年11月2日出生于湖南省长沙市。他的父亲张孝骞是中国胃肠病学的创始人，也是北京协和医学院的教授。
When the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, he moved with his family to Changsha, where he studied at Yali School run by Yale-in-China. On 23 December 2022, Zhang died in Shanghai, at the age of 97.
1937年第二次中日战争爆发时，张友尚与家人搬到长沙，在那里他就读于耶鲁大学在中国开办的雅礼学校。2022年12月23日，张友尚在上海去世，享年97岁。
Li was born in Guangrao County, Shandong, on 15 January 1932.After high school in 1949, he studied, then taught, at what is now Beijing Forestry University. In September 1957, he pursued advanced studies in the Soviet Union, studying botany under biologist Sukachev.
李文华于1932年1月15日出生于山东广饶县。1949年高中毕业后，他在现在的北京林业大学学习并任教。1957年9月，他在苏联进修，师从生物学家苏卡切夫学习植物学。
Li returned to China in 1961 and continued to teach at Beijing Forestry University. In 1973, he became a member of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau Scientific Research Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in 1992 attained his role as a researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources. On 23 December 2022, Li died in Beijing, at the age of 90.
1961年，李文华回到中国，继续在北京林业大学任教。1973年，他成为中国科学院青藏高原科学研究团队的成员，1992年，他在地理科学与资源研究所担任研究员。2022年12月23日，李文华在北京去世，享年90岁。
Dr. Hualiang Jiang is the current director of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also serves as the director of State Key Laboratory of Drug Research.
蒋华良博士是中国科学院上海药物研究所（SIMM）原所长。他还担任药物研究国家重点实验室主任。
He developed a series of new methods for drug target discovery and drug design, which have been widely used and drawn a great deal of attention from the research community. On 23 December 2022, Jiang died in Shanghai, at the age of 57.
他开发了一系列用于药物靶点发现和药物设计的新方法，这些方法得到了广泛应用，并引起了研究界的极大关注。2022年12月23日，蒋华良在上海去世，享年57岁。
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