The origin of the name of New Year's Day

People call June 65438+1 October1of the Gregorian calendar "New Year's Day". Why?

It turns out that in Chinese, "yuan" is the beginning, that is, the first; "Dan" means a day or morning. Together, these two words mean the first day of the New Year. But this is not fixed from the beginning.

In the calendar, people are used to calling the 1 period of the earth around the sun 1 year. However, because the earth's orbit around the sun has no fixed starting point and ending point, the starting point and ending point of a year are artificially stipulated, which leads to the inconsistency of various calendars. According to legend, the word "New Year's Day" comes from Zhuan Xu, one of the earliest emperors in China. He defined the first month of the lunar calendar as "Yuan" and the first day as "Dan". Later, some dynasties changed the date of New Year's Day, but in principle, the first day of each year is still regarded as New Year's Day. For example, the Xia Dynasty regarded the first day of the first month as New Year's Day, but the Shang Dynasty regarded it as New Year's Day. The Zhou Dynasty was 1 1, and the Qin Dynasty was 1. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty that the great historian Sima Qian and others reformulated the calendar, stipulating that the first day of the first month of the first month of each year was New Year's Day, and it has not changed since then.

19 1 1 After the success of the Revolution of 1911, it was decided to adopt the international Gregorian calendar, so the New Year's Day of the lunar calendar was changed to "Spring Festival" and 1 day of the Gregorian calendar was called New Year's Day. When New China was founded, the "AD Chronology Law" was officially used, and the annual Gregorian calendar 1 was designated as New Year's Day.

At present, most countries in the world take 65438+ 10 1 as New Year's Day, because most of them adopt the international Gregorian calendar. However, some countries and nationalities have different New Year's Day dates because of their local calendar traditions, religious beliefs, customs and seasonal climate, which makes the world more colorful and ethnic.

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The Origin of New Year's Day (I)

Around 50,000 BC, the ancient Egyptians had changed from nomadism to farming and settled on both sides of the Nile, and their agricultural harvest was closely related to whether there was a flood in the Nile. Through long-term observation, the ancient Egyptians found that the time of Nile flooding was regular, so they recorded this time on bamboo poles every time, and learned that the time interval between two floods was about 3.65 days. At the same time, it was found that when the Nile came near Cairo at high tide today, the sun and Sirius rose from the horizon at the same time. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians set this day as the beginning of the year. This is the earliest origin of New Year's Day.

New Year's Day is a compound word in Chinese, and "yuan" means beginning or first. "Dan" is a hieroglyph, which means that the sun rises from the horizon. The pictograph "Dan" appeared on bronzes in China during the Yin and Shang Dynasties.

2 Reply: The origin of New Year's Day

The origin of New Year's Day

New Year's Day is the first day of the year. The name "New Year's Day" is said to originate from Zhuan Xu, one of the legendary three emperors and five emperors. He regards the first month of the lunar calendar as Yuan and the first day as Dan. "Yuan" means beginning, while "Dan" means a red sun rising from the ground. The harmony between "Yuan" and "Dan" means that people should greet the new year with vigor. On this day, cities and rural areas in China are decorated with lanterns and festive costumes, and many units hang up huge slogans of "Celebrating New Year's Day" to celebrate the New Year.

1On September 27th, 949, the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference resolved: "The people of China and the national calendar adopt the method of the year." This is what we call the solar calendar. In order to distinguish between the two New Years, and in view of the fact that the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar is just around the Lunar New Year, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was renamed as "Spring Festival", and the beginning of January of the solar calendar must be "New Year's Day". At this point, New Year's Day has become a happy festival for the people of the whole country.

65438+ 10 1 Every New Year's Day is the beginning of the New Year. "Yuanri" is a compound word. According to a single word, "yuan" means the first or beginning, and the original meaning of "Dan" is dawn or morning. During the cultural relics excavation in Dawenkou, China found a picture of the sun rising from the top of the mountain with clouds in the middle. According to textual research, this is the oldest writing method of the word "Dan" in China. Later, the simplified word "Dan" appeared on the bronze inscriptions in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The word "Dan" is represented by a round sun. The word "one" under "Sun" indicates the horizon, which means that the sun rises from the horizon in Ran Ran. Xiao Ziyun, a literary historian in the Southern Dynasties, recorded in his "Jieya" that "the four spirits live a long life on New Year's Day". It seems that Dan is the beginning of a day and lasts until the first day of the year.

However, the New Year's Day mentioned by the ancients in China is not 1 day in the Gregorian calendar, but the first day of the first month, which is also commonly known as January. The year number in the history of China is not the year of A.D., but every emperor and every dynasty has a separate year, that is, the Lunar Year. The current calendar year is the embodiment of the western calendar. Based on the birth of Christ in 1 year. It was not until after the Republic of China that China gradually changed its calendar to AD. Therefore, the Spring Festival on the first day of the first lunar month in China is more festive than New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar.

China's New Year's Day is said to have started in Zhuan Xu, one of the three emperors and five emperors, with a history of more than 3,000 years. The word "New Year's Day" first appeared in the Book of Jin: "It is actually the spring of New Year's Day when the emperor was transferred to the first month." In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xiao Ziyun's poem "Elegance in the Southern Dynasties" also recorded "New Year's Day in four seasons, long life in early spring".

China first called the first day of the first lunar month "New Year's Day". Meta means "early" and "beginning" and refers to "day". Together, New Year's Day is the first day of the year. The date of the first day of the first month was also very different before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the New Year's Day of the past dynasties is not consistent. Meng Xiyue (1 month) is the first month of the Xia calendar, the twelfth month of the Shang lunar calendar (1February) and the winter month of the week calendar (1 1 month). After Qin Shihuang unified China, Yangchun month (October) was the first month, that is, the first day of October was New Year's Day. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it has been stipulated that Meng Xiyue (January) is the first month, and Meng Xiyue (the first day of the first month in the summer calendar) is called New Year's Day, which has been used until the end of the Qing Dynasty. But this is the summer calendar, that is, the lunar calendar or lunar calendar, and it is not what we call New Year's Day today.

In A.D. 19 1 1, the Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China. In order to "follow the agricultural season, the western calendar and the statistics", the first year of the Republic of China decided to use the Gregorian calendar (actually used as 19 12), and stipulated that Gregorian calendar 1 was called "New Year's Day", but it was not called "New Year's Day".

Today's "New Year's Day" is the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference on September 27th, A.D. 1949. When we decided to establish the Republic of China, we also decided to adopt the universal calendar, officially designated the Gregorian calendar 1 as "New Year's Day" and changed the first day of the first lunar month to "Spring Festival".

The origin of New Year's Day:

In modern times, New Year's Day refers to the first day of the first year of the year. Since the Gregorian calendar was introduced into China, the word New Year's Day has been dedicated to the New Year, and the traditional old calendar year is called the Spring Festival.

Before that, New Year's Day always refers to the first day of the Chinese New Year. Yuan means "early" and "beginning", but it means "day". New Year's Day is called "the first day" and is the first day of the year.

1On September 27th, 949, the first plenary session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference decided that "the people of China and the national calendar should adopt the AD calendar method", which is what we call the solar calendar. In order to distinguish between the two New Years, and in view of the fact that the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar is just around the Lunar New Year, the first day of the first lunar month is changed to "Spring Festival" and the solar calendar is January.

New Year's Day customs in various countries:

The New Year always brings good wishes to people. On this New Year's Day, people all over the world welcome the New Year in their unique and distinctive ways.

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" in the New Year is also very popular in Britain. 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 obtained from it is auspicious. On New Year's Eve, English people often go out to visit with cakes and wine. They went straight to their relatives and friends' houses without knocking. According to British custom, after the 1001 night of New Year's Eve, the first person who steps into the house indicates the luck of the new year. If the first guest is a man with dark hair, or a happy, happy and rich person, the host will be very lucky all the year round. If the first guest is a woman with light yellow hair, or a sad, poor and unfortunate person, then the host will be unlucky and will encounter difficulties and disasters in the new year. People who visit relatives and friends' homes on New Year's Eve should first stir the fire in the fireplace and wish the host "open the door" before speaking. In some parts of central England, when people go out on New Year's morning, whether they are familiar or unfamiliar, they will give each other copper coins. They think that this will not only make each other rich for a year, but also bring them good luck.

India: New Year's Day in India is called "Crying New Year's Day" and "Fasting New Year's Day". On the first day of the new year, no one is allowed to be angry with others, let alone lose his temper. In some places, instead of celebrating China New Year, they hugged each other and cried. They think that at the beginning of New Year's Day, the years fly by-life is too short, and they cry to express their sighs. In some areas, people welcome the New Year by fasting for one day and one night, from the early morning of New Year's Day to midnight.

Mongolia: When the New Year comes, Mongolian old people will dress up as shepherds, wear fur coats and fur hats, and whip in their hands to show their good wishes of exorcism.

Brazil: Brazilians hold torches high on New Year's Day and go climbing in groups. People are scrambling to find the golden birch tree that symbolizes happiness. Only those who are fearless can find this rare fruit. They call it "seeking happiness". There is a unique custom in rural Brazil-pulling each other's ears. When people meet in the New Year, they must grab each other's ears to express their blessings.

Pakistan: On New Year's Day, people in Pakistan ran out with red powder in their hands, met their relatives and friends, thanked them for their new happiness, and painted red powder on their foreheads to show their good luck in celebrating the New Year.

Afghanistan: Residents in northern Afghanistan hold fierce sheep-grabbing competitions every New Year's Day to celebrate. The two teams of riders competed for their prey, and the game was fierce and festive.

Argentina: Argentines believe that water is the most sacred. Every New Year's Day, every family, old and young, flock to the river for a "New Year bath" to wash away all the filth on their bodies.

Mexico: People in some parts of Mexico are forbidden to laugh when the New Year comes. They are forbidden to laugh in the last 5 days of a year, 20 days of a month and 18 months of a year.

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.

Paraguay: The Bala people designate the last five days of each year as the "Cold Food Festival". During these five days, from the head of state to the ordinary people, no fireworks can be set off, only cold food can be eaten, and it is not until New Year's Day that a fire can be made to cook and celebrate the festival.

Scotland: Scots put some money in front of every house on New Year's Eve. Nobody's watching. Thieves and beggars didn't move when they saw it that night. Because of the local custom, on New Year's Eve, put money outside the door first and open the door early in the morning, which means "get rich at first sight".

Spain: On the eve of the Spanish New Year, all family members get together to celebrate with music and games. At midnight, the first bell rang at twelve o'clock, and everyone scrambled to eat grapes. According to the bell, Guo Jia can eat 12, which symbolizes that everything goes well every month in the new year. During the Chinese New Year, children are most afraid of swearing, fighting and crying, and think these phenomena are ominous. Therefore, on New Year's Day, adults always try their best to meet all the requirements of children. At the same time, people will carry a gold coin or a copper coin to show good luck.

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!" " "

Turkey: On New Year's Eve, everyone in Turkey takes a bath and then puts on new clothes. They think it can bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and welcome the good luck in the coming year.

Argentina: On the day of 1 month, every family goes to the river for a "New Year bath". Before entering the water, the collected flowers were scattered on the river. Then, everyone laughed and jumped into the water to take a bath and wiped their bodies with petals. In this country, water is regarded as "sacred".

Cuba: The night before New Year's Day, everyone prepared a bowl of water. When they heard the New Year bell ring, everyone quickly threw water into the street, meaning "except New Year".

Colombia: On the eve of New Year's Day, large puppets are made on every street, announcing "the last words of the old year". The last words are very funny, so as to win people's happiness. Puppets were blown up at midnight, and people sang and danced in the explosion that shattered the old puppets and celebrated each other.

Japan: On the morning of New Year's Day, Japanese people take to the streets to meet the rising sun, and then go to the shrine to pay homage or say hello to relatives and friends. They call New Year's Day a "suitable day". On this day, their breakfast is very rich, including sugar, buckwheat noodles and Tu Su wine. After that, I went vegetarian for three days in a row to show my piety and pray for good luck in the coming year.

Thailand: Thailand's traditional New Year, namely Songkran (Sanskrit transliteration), is also called Songkran Festival. In this festival, people throw water at each other, wishing their elders health and longevity, and wishing their relatives and friends good luck in the new year. Unmarried young men and women show their love for each other by splashing water. On the first day of the new year, Thais put a basin of clear water on the windowsill and doorway to pray for a happy New Year and good weather.

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 rural Germany, there is also the custom of celebrating the New Year-"Tree Climbing Competition" to show the promotion step by step.

Egypt: Egyptians regard the day when the Nile rises as the beginning of a new year, which is called "Rising Water New Year". In some parts of Egypt, on New Year's Day, people will offer cereals such as soybeans, lentils, alfalfa and wheat, as well as flower buds of some green plants to symbolize wealth. The more you give to God, the more you will get in the new year.

North Korea: North Korea, like China, has the custom of stick grilles and Fu Tao in the New Year to pray for God's blessing, drive away ghosts and give happiness. At the dawn of New Year's Day, people put some money into the pre-tied scarecrow and throw it at the crossroads to ward off evil spirits and welcome good luck. At dusk, people burn the hair that the whole family has lost for a year and wish their families peace in the four seasons. During the New Year, Koreans must cook glutinous rice with pine nuts, chestnut powder, jujube paste and honey, which is similar to China's eight-treasure rice to show that the family is prosperous and sweet as honey.

Singapore: On the Lunar New Year's Eve, children have the habit of observing the old age until midnight, when parents' activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors are over. They got up early the next morning and happily took the "red envelopes" (lucky money) given by their elders and watched the dragon and lion dances along the street. Men, women and children wear holiday clothes and visit relatives and friends with gifts. Everyone's face is full of festive atmosphere. During the Spring Festival, people like to eat sweet rice cakes made of fried glutinous rice and brown sugar.

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.

Iran: Iran has an Islamic calendar, and the seasons and months are not fixed. In Iran, celebrating the new year means celebrating the arrival of spring, usually in the late March of the solar calendar, and it takes a grand week to celebrate the new year. People poured into the streets to light a "bonfire"-"night fire", and then the whole family jumped down from the night fire in turn, indicating that they would burn "bad luck", usher in the light, drive away evil spirits and eliminate diseases, and be happy forever. We should eat "seven dishes" on New Year's Eve, and the name of each dish should start with the letter "S" to show good luck. From grade one to grade three, people visit relatives and friends and wish each other a happy Spring Festival. On the last day of the new year, the whole family went out for an outing to ward off evil spirits.

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.

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. Welcome the new year with fitness.

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.

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.