We all know that new year's Day is a traditional festival in China, but many people only know that it is a legal holiday. The reason for expecting him is just a few days off. The reason why the state decided to take this holiday is to prevent these traditional festivals from being forgotten and disappearing in the long history. So what do you know about new year's day? Follow the editor to make up the lessons.
Meaning of new year's Day
New year's day's' Yuan 'is the beginning, the initial meaning; and' Dan 'means the beginning of the day when the sun just rises above the horizon. Therefore, 'New Year's Day' refers to the beginning of a year and the first day of a year.
The origin of new year's Day
The new year's day in ancient China is not the first day of the Gregorian calendar. From the first day of the first lunar month in the Yin Dynasty to the first day of the first lunar month in the Han Dynasty, there have been many repeated changes. During the period of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen took office in Nanjing in early January 1912 as "Shun Nong Shi" when he was the temporary president of the people's Republic of China. He designated the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival, and called the first day of the year as "new year", but still called "New Year's Day". On September 27, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) decided: "the calendar of the people's Republic of China adopts the method of ad chronology", which is what we call the Gregorian calendar. In order to distinguish the two new years of the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar, and in view of the fact that the "spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar is just around the lunar new year, the lunar calendar is corrected The first day of the first month is renamed as "Spring Festival", and the first day of the Gregorian calendar is designated as "New Year's Day".
The origin of new year's Day
New year's Day is a compound word in Chinese. Yuan is the beginning or the first meaning. Dan is a hieroglyph indicating that the sun rises from the horizon. There are pictographs of Dan on the bronzes of the Yin and Shang Dynasties in China. On January 1 of the Gregorian calendar every year, people call it "New Year's Day". Why is that? In Chinese, yuan is the beginning, that is, the first day; Dan is the meaning of a day or a morning, which means the first day of the new year. But that's not fixed from the beginning.
1、 Emperor Shun commemorates heaven and earth and Emperor Yao
There is a legend that when Emperor Yao and Shun were in their prime more than 4000 years ago, he worked diligently for the people and did a lot of good things for the people, which was very popular among the people. But because his son had no talent, he did not pass the throne of Emperor 'son' to his son, but to shun, who had both moral and ability. Yao said to shun: 'in the future, you must hand over the throne. When I die, I can also rest in peace. Later, Shun passed the throne to Yu, who had made great contributions to flood control. Yu, like Shun, loved the people and did a lot of good things for the people, and was very loved. Later, people regarded the day when Emperor Shun offered sacrifices to heaven and earth and Yao as the beginning of the year, and called the first day of the first lunar month as' New Year's Day ', or' New Year's Day ', which was the ancient New Year's day. The emperors of all dynasties held activities on New Year's day, such as sacrificing gods to ancestors, writing couplets for door-to-door hanging, writing blessing characters and dancing dragon lanterns. People also gradually formed such entertainment activities as sacrificing gods and Buddha, sacrificing ancestors, pasting couplets, setting off firecrackers, guarding the year, eating reunion dinner and many "social fires". Xin Lan, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Yuanzheng": "Yuanzheng Herald day, Jiaqing started from here.". Xianzhuo ten thousand years, small Datong Yue Xi. 'describe the celebration of new year's day.
After the Republic of China, although January 1 was set as the new year's day, at that time, only government agencies, schools and foreign businesses had a day off. The common people didn't admit that they still continued the old custom of taking the first day of the lunar new year as the new year, so there was no celebration activity in the streets of old Beijing and among the people. After the first day of January 1 was renamed as "New Year's Day" after the liberation, the government still used the lunar calendar for thousands of years to celebrate the three-day holiday of "Spring Festival" and "temple fair" in the winter leisure period around the beginning of spring, inheriting the wishes of the people and the folk customs of thousands of years.
2、 Originated in Zhuanxu
It is said that Zhuanxu, one of the three emperors and five emperors, has a history of more than 3000 years. The word "New Year's Day" first appeared in the book of Jin: "Zhuan Di took the first month of Mengxia as the yuan, in fact, the spring of new year's day in zhengshuo". In the southern and Northern Dynasties, there were also records of "four seasons, new year's day, Wanshou and early spring Dynasty" in Xiao Ziyun's "Jieya" poems. In the Song Dynasty, Wu Zimu's "dream of Liang records" Volume I "first month" entry: "New Year's day, which is commonly called New Year's day. This is the first one-year Festival. It is called "Yuanzheng" in Cui yuan's three son Chai Ming in the Han Dynasty; it is called "Yuanchen" in Yu Xuan '.
In the excavation of Dawenkou cultural relics, we found a picture of the sun rising from the top of the mountain, surrounded by clouds. This is the oldest "Dan" writing method in China. Later, the simplified pictograph of "Dan" appeared in the bronze inscription of yin and Shang Dynasties. The word "Dan" is represented by a round sun. The word "below" sun "means horizon, which means that the sun is rising from the horizon.
3、 Legend of new year beast
It is said that there was a monster called Nian in ancient China, with a long head and ferocious tentacles. Years of living deep in the sea, every new year's Eve to climb on the shore to devour livestock damage human life. So on New Year's Eve, people in villages and villages help the old and the young escape to the mountains to avoid the harm of the animals. On the new year's eve of this year, people in Taohua village are helping the old and the young to take refuge in the mountain. An old beggar comes from the village. He looks like a star on crutches. Some of the villagers closed the windows and locked the doors, some packed their bags, some led the cows and the sheep, and there were people shouting everywhere. No one cared for the old beggar. Only the old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to go up the mountain to avoid the beast. The old man smiled and said, "if my mother-in-law wants me to stay at home overnight, I will drive the beast away.". The old mother-in-law was shocked to see that he was hairy, childish, and hale and hearty. The old beggar laughed and said nothing. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains. In the middle of the night, Nian beast rushes into the village and finds that the atmosphere in the village is different from that in previous years: the wife's wife's family in the east of the village, the door is pasted with red paper, and the house is bright with candles. The beast shivers and screams. In, he glared at his mother-in-law's house for a moment, then jumped at her with a wild cry. Near the door, suddenly there was a bang bang bang explosion in the courtyard. Nian shuddered and dared not move forward. He was afraid of red fire and explosion.
At this time, my mother-in-law's door opened wide. I saw an old man in a red robe in the hospital laughing, and he ran away in a panic. The next day was the first day of the first month. People who took refuge were surprised to see that the village was safe. At this time, my wife suddenly realized that she had told the villagers the promise of begging for the old man. The villagers swarmed to the wife and mother-in-law's house. They saw red paper pasted on the mother-in-law's door, a pile of unfinished bamboo in the yard was still popping, and several red wax candles in the house were still glowing. The overjoyed villagers changed their clothes and wore new hats to celebrate the coming of auspiciousness and said hello to their relatives and friends. The story spread quickly in the surrounding villages, and people all knew how to drive away the beast. From then on, every new year's Eve, every family pasted red couplets to set off firecrackers; every household kept a candle lit and waited for the year to come. In the early morning of the first day of the new year, I still need to go out and say hello to friends. This custom has become the most solemn traditional festival among Chinese people. It is said that Chinese people have the habit of guarding the year on New Year's Eve. ShouSui starts from the new year's Eve meal, which needs to be eaten slowly. Some people have to eat it until midnight. According to the record of Jingchu's age, there was a custom of eating New Year's Eve at least in the southern and Northern Dynasties.
The custom of keeping the year is not only to cherish the passing years like water, but also to hope for the coming new year. In addition, it is said that the new year's Eve should be kept, which is also known as "boil the new year". Why boil the year? It turns out that the law of the ferocious year of monsters, which is popular among the people, goes to the place where people live every 365 days to have a taste of fresh food. Moreover, they come and go after dark and return to the mountain forest when the crow of chickens breaks at dawn. Men and women regard this terrible night as the new year's pass, and come up with a whole set of ways to pass the new year's pass: every night, every family makes dinner in advance, turns off the fire and cleans the stove, ties up all the chicken pens and cattle pens, and then seals the gate of the house, hides in the house to eat the new year's Eve meal. Because this dinner has the meaning of auspiciousness and auspiciousness, so it's very rich In addition to the family members eating together to express peace and reunion, they must offer sacrifices to their ancestors before eating, and pray for the gods of their ancestors to protect them to spend the night in peace. After supper, no one dare to sleep, and sit together to chat bravely. In, he came out of the forest and felt the village where people lived.
I saw that every house was closed and there were sesame sticks in front of the door, but there was no one in the street, so I had to eat some sesame sticks to satisfy my hunger. Some time later, when the rooster crowed, these cruel and stupid monsters had to return. People who have survived the new year are very happy. They need to thank the ancestors of heaven and earth for their protection. They need to congratulate each other that they have not been eaten by the new year. They also need to open the gate and set off firecrackers to meet with their neighbors and relatives and friends. However, in some places, villagers don't know that Nian Shou is afraid of red, and they are often eaten by Nian Shou. Later, it spread to Ziwei in the sky. In order to save people, he was determined to kill the beast. One year, when the beast came out, he knocked it down with a fireball and locked it on a stone pillar with a thick iron chain. Since then, every new year, people always want to burn incense, please ZIWEIXING lower boundary to protect peace. This phenomenon has gradually become a continuous custom of new year's Eve and new year's Eve. The custom of new year's Eve is rich in content. The usual order is: first worship heaven and earth, second worship ancestors, then worship the high hall, and then go out to visit friends and relatives. There are also all kinds of stresses, such as first worship home, second worship Yuejia, third worship relatives, etc., until the 15th day of the first month, which is the so-called old age.