The Origin and Customs of New Year's Day

The name of "New Year's Day" began 1500 years ago. Judy took March in Meng Chun as the yuan, which was the spring of New Year's Day.

In China, the word "New Year's Day" first appeared in the poem "Jieya" written by Lan Xiao Ziyun, a historian and writer in the Northern and Southern Dynasties: "Four Qi New Year's Day, long life." Later, the Book of Jin written by Fang, a historian and writer in the Tang Dynasty, also said: "March is the spring of New Year's Day." Zhuan Xu, one of the earliest emperors in China, stipulated that the first month of the summer calendar was Yuan and the first day of the first month was Dan.

The "yuan" of "New Year's Day" refers to the beginning, which means the first. The beginning of each number is called "yuan"; "Dan" is a hieroglyph, with the upper "sun" representing the sun and the lower "one" representing the horizon. "Dan" means that the sun rises from the horizon of Ran Ran, symbolizing the beginning of a day. People put "Yuan" and "Dan" together, which means the first day of the New Year.

From the beginning of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, January of the lunar calendar was designated as the "first month", and the first day of January was called New Year's Day, which was used until the end of the Qing Dynasty. After the Revolution of 1911, it was decided to use the Gregorian calendar (actually used 19 12) in the first year of the Republic of China, and it was stipulated that Gregorian calendar 65438+ 10/0 was called "New Year's Day", but it was not called "New Year's Day".

1949, People's Republic of China (PRC) took 65438+ 10 1 as New Year's Day, so New Year's Day is also called "solar year", "new calendar year" or "Gregorian year" in China.

Customs of New Year's Day:

1, Nuo Opera and Exorcism

In order to drive away the epidemic, Han officials held a large-scale Nuo opera on the twelfth day before New Year's Day.

2. A big gathering on New Year's Day in the Han Dynasty.

On New Year's Day of the Han Dynasty, Hanting held a large-scale meeting in the imperial court, which was called Zheng Dan Meeting. At the meeting, all the officials congratulated the emperor.

Step 3 set off firecrackers

In the Han Dynasty, people set off firecrackers in the yard as soon as they got up on New Year's Day, in order to scare away a ghost named "Shan Sao".

4. Party banquet and pepper and cypress wine

Generally speaking, the feast is based on the family or clan, starting from the day before the Lantern Festival and then staying until the next day. This is actually the early form of our New Year's Eve dinner, New Year's Eve dinner and other customs.

Extended data:

Human life, production and social activities need to be determined every year, every month, every day and every moment, and they must have their own unique names. Therefore, the ancients invented the method of chronology, date and time.

Celebrating the beginning of a year is about the consent of all human beings. No matter when and where, the first day of the new year is considered as an important festival. In order to determine the beginning and end of a year and determine the time coordinates, human beings invented the calendar.

Britain: On the day before New Year's Day, every household should have wine in the bottle and meat in the cupboard. The British believe that if there is no wine and meat left over, they will be poor in the coming year. In addition, the custom of "digging wells" is also popular in Britain in the New Year. People strive to be the first person to draw water, thinking that the first person to draw water is a happy person and the water called is auspicious.

Belgium: In Belgium, on the morning of New Year's Day, the first thing in the countryside is to pay New Year greetings to livestock. People go to cattle, horses, sheep, dogs, cats and other animals and tell these creatures very seriously: "Happy New Year!" " "

Germany: During the New Year's Day in Germany, every household should erect a fir tree and a horizontal tree, and the leaves are covered with silk flower, indicating that all flowers are blooming and spring is full. At midnight on New Year's Eve, just before the arrival of the New Year, they climbed into the chair. As soon as the bell rang, they jumped up from their chairs and threw a heavy object behind the back of the chair to show that they had abandoned the disaster and entered the new year. In the rural areas of Germany, there is also a custom of "tree climbing competition" to celebrate the New Year, in order to show the promotion step by step.

France: Celebrating the New Year with wine, people began to revel on New Year's Eve and didn't stop until 65438+10.3. The French believe that the weather on New Year's Day indicates a new year. On the morning of New Year's Day, they went to the streets to see the wind direction for divination: the south wind blows, which indicates that the weather will be good and the year will be safe and hot; When the west wind blows, there is a bumper harvest year for fishing and milking; If the east wind blows, the fruit will be rich; When the north wind blows, it is a poor harvest year.

Italy: New Year's Eve in Italy is a carnival night. When night began to fall, thousands of people flocked to the streets, lit firecrackers and fireworks, and even fired live ammunition. Men and women danced until midnight. Every household collects old things, breaks some fragile things at home and throws old pots, bottles and cans out of the door, which means getting rid of bad luck and troubles. This is their traditional way of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.

Switzerland: Swiss people have the habit of keeping fit on New Year's Day. Some of them go climbing in groups, standing on the top of the mountain facing the ice and snow, singing loudly about a better life. Some ski along the long snowy road in the mountains, as if looking for the road to happiness; Some hold stilt walking competitions, in which men, women and children go into battle together and wish each other good health. They greet the New Year with health.

Romania: On New Year's Eve, people will put up a tall Christmas tree and set up a stage in the square. The citizens sang and danced while setting off fireworks. Rural people celebrate the New Year with wooden plows decorated with colorful flowers.

Bulgaria: Whoever sneezes at New Year's Day dinner will surely bring happiness to the whole family. The master promised to give him his first sheep, cow or pony, wishing his family happiness.

Greece: On New Year's Day, every family will make a big cake and put a silver coin in it. The host cut the cake into several pieces and distributed it to family members or visiting relatives and friends. Whoever eats the cake with silver coins will become the luckiest person in the new year, and everyone congratulates him.

Spain: On New Year's Eve, all family members get together and celebrate with music and games. At midnight, the first bell rang at twelve o'clock, and everyone scrambled to eat grapes. If you can ring the bell to eat 12, it means that everything goes well every month in the new year.

References:

The origin of New Year's Day and Spring Festival: The first day of the lunar new year was officially renamed as "Spring Festival"-Zhongxin.com.

New Year's Day _ Baidu Encyclopedia