How was the Spring Festival born?

Introduction to the Spring Festival The Spring Festival is coming, which means that spring is coming, Vientiane is recovering, vegetation is renewing, and a new round of sowing and harvesting season is about to begin. People have just spent the long winter when flowers and trees are dying in the ice and snow, and have long been looking forward to the day when spring blooms. When the new year comes, it is natural to greet this festival with joy and singing. Spring Festival is also called Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year and Lunar New Year, commonly known as "Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year". The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the beginning and end of the Shang Dynasty. In ancient times, the Spring Festival once referred to beginning of spring in the 24 solar terms, and later it was changed to the first day of the first lunar month (that is, the first day of the first lunar month), which was regarded as the beginning of the lunar year, that is, the beginning of a year. According to the China lunar calendar, the first day of the first month is called Yuanri, Chen Yuan, Jacky, Yuanshuo and New Year's Day, commonly known as the first day of the first month. This is the biggest and most lively traditional festival in China. In the traditional sense, the Spring Festival, from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in La Worship, or the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month, to the end of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, and even in some places, the whole first lunar month reaches its climax on New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month. The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han nationality. More than a dozen ethnic minorities, such as Manchu, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong and Li, have also had the custom of Spring Festival, but the festival forms have their own national characteristics. The Spring Festival is a traditional festival, and the Han nationality and most ethnic minorities in our country will hold various celebrations, most of which are mainly to offer sacrifices to gods and buddhas, ancestors, bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, and pray for a bumper harvest. The Spring Festival is the main festival to celebrate the New Year in many countries and regions in East Asia. Vietnamese is called "t? t Nguyên？ N "(New Year's Day) is called" the first month "in Japanese (renamed the old first month after the Meiji Restoration) and" "in Korean (this is an inherent word meaning New Year). Now, besides China, Korean Peninsula, Viet Nam and Japan, Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in Mongolia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other places. Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are also called the four traditional festivals of the Han nationality in China. The word "Spring Festival" has been selected as the largest festival in China, and world record association and China rank first among the four traditional festivals in China. On May 20th, 2006, the folk custom of "Spring Festival" was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. It is unknown when the Spring Festival originated, but it is generally believed that it originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties (La Worship) in China. According to legend, there was a custom of Spring Festival as early as Yao and Shun times. The first month of the lunar calendar is the beginning of a year. In most cases, beginning of spring is in the first month or the middle of the first month (in a few cases, beginning of spring is in the late twelfth month). The time of the festival is considered to be related to the influence of agricultural labor; Oracle Bone Inscriptions's "Nian" and both have mature images of ears of grain. The spelling of "Nian" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is "He" at the top and "Ren" at the bottom. The word "year" in the bronze inscription is the same as the word "year" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and it is also related to food and people. Xiao Zhuan's "Nian" writing, "Up to five grains, down to a thousand years", "Explaining He Zi's Supplement": What about the word "people" below the word "Nian"? From Oracle Bone Inscriptions's point of view, the word "nian" seems to be a line on a person's head. There is also a legend that there was a wild animal named "Xi" in ancient China, which had long tentacles and was fierce and unusual. "Xi" lived on the bottom of the sea for many years, only climbed ashore on a certain day (New Year's Eve), devouring livestock and hurting people's lives. So every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "evening" beast. One year on New Year's Eve, an old beggar came from outside the village. The villagers were in a hurry and panic. Only an old woman in the village east gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid wild animals at night. The old man lifted his beard and smiled: "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive away the nocturnal animals." The old woman continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. At midnight, the "Twilight" beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. At dusk, the beast trembled and let out a long whistle. Near the door, there was a sudden sound of "bang, bang, bang" in the hospital, and "Xi" trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that "Xi" is most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Evening" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew the way to drive away the "night" beasts. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom is widely circulated and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China. There is another saying: in ancient times, there was a beast named Xi, which was several times bigger than the current elephant and dozens of times fiercer than the tiger. It eats people, eating dozens of people in one bite, and countless people are eaten by it. The people have suffered. One day, "Xi" came again. A young man hated it very much and said, "It's better to have a fight with it than to let it eat. They are all dead anyway. " He rushed up with an axe and many young people followed him. But they are no match for Xi. Young people are eaten by Xi. Since then, "Xi" has become more vicious, and all people are angry and hate. The resentment in the sky shocked the white Venus in the sky, and the hatred in the earthquake shocked the king and bodhisattva in the underground. As soon as Venus Taibai and Bodhisattva Wang Di discussed it, they sent the ancestor Shennong to the earth to collect the "evening". Shennong holds the animal whip in his hand, aiming at "Xi"' s ass is a whip. The fierce "evening" actually obediently fell motionless. Shennong ran a few steps, stepped on Xi's head and roared, "beast, you have eaten countless people and done terrible things." Today is your end. " Say that finish, I took out two melon bowls from my waist and aimed them at "night". "Xi", which is bigger than an elephant, suddenly merged into a melon bowl. Shennong buried the "Xi" bowl underground. When he left, he repeatedly said, "This bowl will grow into a melon if it is buried in the ground. This melon can't be broken, so be sure to say it's not broken. " Later, a melon really grew in the place where the bowl was buried, and the people called it "North Melon" according to Shennong's "No" voice. The day when Shennong removed "Xi" happened to be December 30 of the lunar calendar, so people called this day "New Year's Eve", which means removing "Xi". On this day, the class consecrated the North Melon to show the suppression of evil, and beat gongs and drums and lanterns with bamboo poles to commemorate the merits of Shennong's ancestors. Probably it was added by later generations according to the old customs and traditions. It is unlikely to be the origin of "Year". In ancient times, the Spring Festival especially referred to beginning of spring in the twenty-four solar terms, and was also regarded as the beginning of a year. Later, it was changed to the first day of the first month of the summer calendar (the first day of the first lunar month). Since the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese New Year generally didn't end until after the 15th day of the first month (Lantern Festival), and in some places the New Year celebrations didn't even end until the whole first month. World record association, China has chosen the Spring Festival as the biggest festival in China. It ranks first among the three traditional festivals in China: Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. After the founding of the Republic of China, the government of the Republic of China abolished the traditional lunar calendar and adopted the European Gregorian calendar. It tried to ban people from celebrating the Lunar New Year, but failed because of the people's insistence. During Yuan Shikai's reign, 65438+ 1 in Gregorian calendar was designated as New Year's Day, and the first day of the first lunar month was designated as "Spring Festival", but people still celebrated the New Year, and writers still called it "New Year's Day". The word "Spring Festival" really became popular after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The Lunar New Year is now also called the Lunar New Year and the Old Calendar. In the sixth year of Meiji Restoration (1873), 1 stopped using the Japanese lunar calendar and used the solar calendar to measure the days. The original lunar calendar was called the old calendar, and people's celebrations began in the solar calendar only in the Three Kingdoms period. Even so, the Japanese still celebrate the New Year according to traditional customs, but in South Korea and Viet Nam, which are also influenced by China culture, even if the official calendar is changed to the western calendar, there are still official and folk activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year.