圣诞节
Shèng dàn jié · HSK 6
Christmas
🎄🎅 Sheng dan jie = holy + birth + festival — the sacred birthday bash
圣 means holy or sacred, 诞 means birth, and 节 means festival. Together they literally spell out holy-birth-festival, a direct Chinese calque for Christmas.
节 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 即
Originally written 節, depicting a bamboo joint — the segmented node where a stalk divides. The bamboo radical ⺮ gives the meaning, while 即 supplies the sound. From 'bamboo joint' the meaning expanded to any segment, hence 'section,' 'festival' (a marked point in the year), and 'restraint' (knowing where to stop).