An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong.
One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the 'four columns' card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it "Singles Day".
第二篇：光棍節的由來英語介紹
每年的11月11日是“光棍節”。節如其名，這個新鮮的節日是專門為那些還過著單身生活的人們設立的。我在GOOGLE上搜索壹下，驚訝地發現中國是世界上壹個專門為光棍們設立節日的國家。來壹起了解壹下這個節日吧~
Singles Day falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one exclusively for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled ’Singles Day’ on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set aside a special day for singles to celebrate their lives. To find out more about this celebration, read on.
Origin of Singles Day 節日起源
Betting 打牌
故事從四個過著單調生活的單身漢說起。他們沒有人結婚，連女朋友都沒有，日子過得無精打采，終日打麻將度過。
An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played Mahjong.
有壹天他們打麻將從早上11點打到了晚上11點。奇妙的是，不管誰贏，都贏在了“四條”上。更加巧合的是，這壹天正是11月11號。為了紀念這壹天，他們給它命名為“光棍節”。
One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the ’four columns’ card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it Singles Day.
University culture 大學傳統
光棍節最先在90年代的江蘇南京各大高校興起。之所以叫“光棍節”是因為這壹天的日子有四個光棍壹樣的“1”。大學生們畢業了，把這個傳統帶到了社會上，光棍節就成了時尚青年們的壹個特殊節日。
Singles Day was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name Singles Day because the date is comprised of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.
主流的慶祝方式就是和光棍朋友們壹起搓壹頓，而且壹定要實行AA制。為了脫離單身，人們也會舉辦相親會，介紹單身男女認識。
The main way to celebrate Singles Day is to have dinner with your single friends, but it’s important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold ’blind date’ parties in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives.
Creative celebration 新奇慶祝
光棍節的早上，單身青年們會吃四根油條，代表11.11的四個“1”，再吃壹個包子，代表11和11之間的那個點。
For breakfast on Singles Day, singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the middle dot.
很多單身朋友選擇在這壹天告別單身，壹些人參加相親會，壹些人則在今天結婚。四個“1”不僅可以代表單身，還可以代表“”，這也成了壹些人的愛情告白日。
Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day. Many attend ’blind date’ parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning ’single’ the four ’ones’ of the date can also mean ’only one’ as in ’the only one for me.’ Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only ’one’ in their heart.
光棍節的意義
光棍節產生之初，多少帶有些調侃的意味，而那時候光棍也只是指單身男性。但隨著社會的發展，光棍的隊伍逐漸壯大。年輕人忙於工作，讓他們無暇交友，但以前的朋友陸續結婚生子，突然的離群感讓他們急於尋求群體的歸屬感，於是單身聚會成了新的社交圈子，在同類人群中，他們的情感得以抒發。這個人群收入水平高、消費力強，對生活品質有要求。光棍群體的擴大必定吸引了商家的註意力。於是，在商家的助推之下，單身經濟就驟然興起，光棍節的各種促銷活動、廣告宣傳也將這個小眾活動，形成了社會化的節日。
光棍增多並非是壞事，相反是人們追求高質量婚姻生活的結果。光棍節從網絡走向社會，從小眾活動變成公眾活動，也是社會開放度、包容度提升的壹種表現。20歲到30歲之間的單身人士往往是承受社會壓力的人群，除了工作、競爭之外，還有來自家庭催婚的壓力。光棍節無非是讓光棍們在調侃中輕松面對，有壹個機會互相交流，不失為壹個解壓的方法。同時，在這種輿論下，社會給予光棍們的尖銳度也在下降，讓單身人士能夠有更大的空間選擇自己的真愛