Lingnan Spring Festival Culture (manuscript)

The date of China New Year is different in different dynasties. Xia Dynasty is January 1st, Shang Dynasty is December 1st, Zhou Dynasty is November 1st and Qin Dynasty is October 1st. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty (BC 104), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty accepted the suggestions of Sima Qian and others, used the taichu calendar to restore the summer calendar, that is, the lunar calendar, and put the 24 solar terms into the calendar with the first month as a year. Although the later calendars were revised from generation to generation, they were still based on taichu calendar, with the first month of Meng Chun in the summer calendar as the beginning of the year, and the first day of the first month was New Year's Day and Yuan Day, that is, the first day of the New Year.

After the Revolution of 1911 (19 1 1), the rule of the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and Sun Yat-sen established the government of the Republic of China in Nanjing. Representatives of provincial governors held a meeting in Nanjing to discuss the schedule. At the meeting, it was reached that "it is a summer calendar, so it is suitable for agriculture; From the Gregorian calendar, so I counted my knowledge and decided to use the Gregorian calendar. Gregorian calendar 1 was customized as "New Year", and the first day of the first lunar month was called "Spring Festival", but it was not officially named and promoted. 1 On September 27th, 949, the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference passed the Gregorian calendar law, which designated the date of Gregorian calendar1as "New Year's Day" and the first day of the first lunar month as "Spring Festival", and stipulated that the Spring Festival would be closed for three days, so that people could warmly celebrate the Lunar New Year.

In the historical process of more than 2,000 years, China's Chinese New Year etiquette and customs have experienced the development process of germination, stereotypes, fission and transformation.

In the pre-Qin period, the custom of Chinese New Year was in its infancy. At this time, the celebration is mainly held at the end of the "La Worship" to repay the gift of God. The Book of Songs in July records the festival customs of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The so-called "friends drink, kill lambs every day, go to court and say that they will live forever" in the poem means that people give wine and lambs to the gods to thank God for his blessing and blessing in the past year. At this time, because the vassal States adopted different calendars, there was no unified day to celebrate. This is the embryonic form of the New Year custom during the slack season in winter.

The custom of Chinese New Year was formed in the Han Dynasty. After the social turmoil at the end of the Warring States Period, the policy of "rest and recuperation" was implemented in the early Western Han Dynasty, social production was restored and developed, social order was relatively stable, people's interest in life was high, and a series of holiday customs were formed. After the implementation of the taichu calendar Law, the calendar was stable for a long time, and the first day of the first month was established as the date of the New Year. In this way, the awards, sacrifices and celebrations held in different regions on different days in late winter and early spring are gradually unified on the first day of the first lunar month. With the development of society, from the Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the custom of greeting the New Year on the first day of the first month became more and more fierce, and activities such as burning firecrackers, changing peach charms, drinking Tu Su wine, observing the old age and enjoying lanterns appeared, making the New Year the first big festival in China.

The custom of the New Year began in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is an era of ideological and cultural prosperity and frequent cultural exchanges at home and abroad. The custom of the New Year is gradually liberated from the mysterious atmosphere of prayer, superstition and noise, and transformed into an entertaining and ceremonial festival. Setting off fireworks on New Year's Day is no longer a means to exorcise ghosts and evil spirits, but a happy and festive way. The focus of Chinese New Year has shifted from offering sacrifices to entertaining people, to people's own entertainment and enjoying life. Therefore, it can be said that only after the Tang Dynasty did the New Year really become a "festival" celebrated by the whole world and hundreds of millions of people.

The custom of the New Year was transformed into the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This change is mainly manifested in two aspects: first, the etiquette and entertainment are strengthened. In the New Year, people pay New Year greetings to each other, dignitaries send famous cards to each other, or pay homage at home. Ordinary people also pay attention to "reciprocity", giving gifts to each other and paying New Year greetings. Second, entertainment has been further strengthened. During the New Year, entertainment activities such as lion playing, dragon dancing, performances, story telling, walking on stilts and roller boating are colorful and dazzling. Beijingers visit factories, Guangzhou people visit flower markets, Suzhou people listen to the bells of Hanshan Temple, and Shanghai people visit Chenghuang Temple ... Entertainment activities in different places have their own characteristics, and all kinds of entertainment activities are endless and dazzling. At this time, the Chinese New Year custom perfectly blended the traditional culture of China, and became a folk market that concentrated on displaying China's customs and culture for thousands of years.

The Chinese New Year custom in China has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is prevalent in Chixian and Shenzhou, permeating everyone's life and casting the soul of every Chinese descendant. During the China New Year, it has become a common habit for China people to go home to reunite with relatives at the end of the Lunar New Year, to worship their ancestors, eat jiaozi, celebrate the New Year and enjoy lanterns.

The custom of New Year in China has also spread to other neighboring countries, such as Japan, Viet Nam, North Korea and South Korea. They celebrate the New Year in a way similar to ours.