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Why do we have new year's day? New year's day and these interesting Legends

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 January 1 the first of the year "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 of 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.