How did the New Year come about?

Analysis:

The origin of new year

The New Year is a special festival. In the west, its festival activities are not as grand as Christmas (some countries are combined with Christmas), but in the east, especially in Southeast Asia, it is obviously not as important as the Spring Festival. So what are the characteristics of the New Year in various countries? Let's take a look at how Romania, Russia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, Italy and the United States spend the New Year.

Romania

1 month 1 day is an annual traditional festival in Romania, but it coincides with Orthodox Christmas and Epiphany, so several festivals are merged, so the Romanian New Year actually begins on 1 February 24th and ends on1month 6th of the following year. 1On the night of February 24th, Christians will go to church and then, led by a child holding a five-star red light, sing hymns along the street until late at night. Armed with knives and swords, little angry people perform Bible stories in the square or downtown. 3 1 is an auspicious day for marriage, and many people are used to asking fortune tellers on this day.

In the days after New Year's Day, people will hold many New Year activities with unique ethnic customs. On New Year's Eve, the bride and groom will take the "Holy Plow" and "Holy Bull" to visit relatives and friends' neighbors. Children will be in groups of three and five, patting their parents and elders with Hua Gun, singing Hua Gun songs to wish their loved ones good luck, boys will hold Hua Gun, pull iron plows to celebrate the New Year, and dance with goats during the period, and the host will entertain them with all kinds of delicious food. There is also a kind of clothing. Very interesting. One wears a goat mask with a mirror symbolizing the sun between the two corners. Other "animals" still jump after hibernation. After a while, other "animals" gradually woke up and danced with goats, symbolizing the revival of everything. There is also a doctor in the team, spraying "holy water" and "Santa Claus" to passers-by with a large syringe.

Russia

In history, the Russian New Year has changed several times. In ancient times, people held a ceremony to welcome the spring and send the winter, with March 1 day as the New Year, 1 5th century was influenced by Byzantine culture, and May1day as the New Year. During the reign of Peter the Great in 1 7th century, 1 month1day was the New Year; The post-Orthodox Church changed it to 1 7th of the month, and it was not until the end of this century that the New Year was designated as 1 month 1 day.

Before the festival, artists and loggers cut down fir trees in the tower and held a New Year's party for the facilities of the Kremlin and Dagong. Shops are full of beautiful things, children are led by their parents to buy presents, and young people send greeting cards to each other. On New Year's Eve, the facilities of the Grand Duke were brightly lit, and cold old people in white hair and red robes walked in the crowd, giving people holiday blessings and gifts. Places of entertainment organize masked balls. At midnight, the Kremlin bell rang. When people hear the bell, they will set off fireworks and shout at each other to celebrate the arrival of the New Year until the early hours of the morning. The picture above shows the corner of the Kremlin palace wall and Red Square, with the Kremlin bell tower in the foreground. )

Hungary

The New Year is a traditional festival in Hungary. People who have left home before, try to go home and reunite with their relatives. The festival begins on New Year's Eve, when men, women and children go out of their homes, making city horns with paper in their hands and playing music without tunes. Soon, the corner game began, and people blew and grabbed. This custom has a long history. Paper corners are sold every New Year, and buyers are eager to try.

On New Year's Day, schools have a holiday, and families decorate Christmas trees, which are made of plastic. Some families cut down pine trees in the forest to build Christmas trees before the festival. The Christmas tree on the street is more beautiful, with ribbons, colored balls and various toys hanging on it, which is two stories high.

In addition, on New Year's Day, relatives and friends will visit each other and give gifts. Gifts are usually gold-plated nickel coins and glassware. Nickel coins are beautifully made, with the words "Happy New Year in the East" printed on the front and "Happy New Year to you" printed on the back. The glassware is printed with an embarrassing pig, wearing a vest, with his front hoof upturned, and also printed with "Happy New Year to you" (the picture above is a Hungarian silver commemorative coin).

France:

Before the Middle Ages, the French New Year was April 1 day, and it was not until 1564 that Charles IX changed it to 1 month 1 day. On New Year's Eve, the family get together, have dinner and drink together. According to the ancient custom, everyone gets as drunk as a fiddler at night. The French believe that if you don't drink all the wine at home on New Year's Eve, there will be bad luck in the coming year. Therefore, binge drinking is one of the characteristics of French New Year. This is very similar to the "lucky money" of the Spring Festival in China. Many people also use the weather on New Year's Day to predict the weather in the coming year. They think that if the south wind blows on New Year's Day, the weather will get better. The west wind is a good year to fish for milk, and the fruit blown by the east wind can be harvested. (The picture shows the two most famous champagnes in France. )

Britain:

In Britain, every year 1 month 1 day is New Year's Day, but because it falls within 12 days of Christmas, the festival activities are not prominent. But in Scotland, people think that Christmas is a day for family reunion, and New Year's Day is a festival to celebrate the whole world, so it is more important than Christmas.

In Scotland, on New Year's Eve, friends and relatives get together and drink whisky to celebrate the festival. At midnight, all the church bells rang to celebrate the arrival of the new year. While drinking, people sang Auld Lang Syne and danced with the music. Just after midnight, people began to celebrate the New Year. You are welcome to go at that time. Entertain guests with pre-baked brown bread, and predict their fortune with the first guest who comes to visit. Rich people mean good luck, poor people mean suffering, and strangers with dark hair and skin think that such people will bring them rich years. Otherwise, tourists must bring a piece of black coal instead of black hair and skin, and bring bread and salt as a sign of goodwill. After entering the door, put the coal in the fireplace of the main house and put the bread on it.

Portugal

The annual 1 month 1 day is a traditional festival in Portugal, and ten days before and after New Year's Day is the "bullfighting season" in Portugal, so watching bullfighting is a major event on New Year's Day. Unlike Spanish bullfighting, Portuguese bullfighting is very safe. In order not to hurt the bull, the horn of the bull should be sawed off and wrapped in sponge and cotton cloth. In order not to hurt the cattle, the depth of the thorn should not exceed 5 cm. This life-threatening bullfight is very suitable for the Portuguese.

In the bullfight, the matador wears a black velvet hat, a red tie, a white ancestral shirt and black trousers. There are two ways to fight. One is to outsmart the bull, that is, one person, one horse and one shot, and the matador will anger the bull and deal with it for dozens of weeks before stabbing it; 1. Storm: A group of people went into battle with their bare hands and tried their best to knock the cow to the ground. At this time, the audience got excited and cheered. (The picture above shows the bullfighting scene in Spain. )

Italy:

The annual 1 month 1 day is a traditional festival in Italy. On New Year's Eve, an old woman in white from the "mountain" went door to door to bring people holiday gifts. People set off firecrackers and fireworks all night, and they can break anything that can be broken at will, from plates to jars, and throw it into the street. Many people have deliberately accumulated a lot of bottles and cans for this moment, and they have broken their addiction at this time. It can ward off evil spirits and get a happy New Year. During the Spring Festival, people are used to lighting a fire at home, which will not go out all day long. People think that fire comes from the sun. If you turn off the fire at home during the New Year, you won't see the sun next year, and it will be bad luck.

United States of America

The United States is an immigrant country, and the folk activities to celebrate the New Year are far less than those in countries with a long history, and their festivals are relatively dull. On New Year's Eve, the church held a grand ceremony and people blessed each other. At midnight, people hold all kinds of strange clothes, dance and revel, and entertain until two or three in the morning. As for New Year's Day, the atmosphere is relatively calm, people get up very late, and most people watch TV and sports games at home.

However, California's Rose Festival will be unique. By then, the streets and alleys of the city will be full of blooming flowers, and fifty or sixty floats decorated with flowers will slowly pass by. During the festival, people will elect a rose queen, wearing a pearl crown and a white dress. Sitting in the new car, followed by six "Princess Roses" on both sides of the "Queen", they are wearing green dresses and smiling. The "Queen" and "Princess" frequently greet people with roses, and the happy scene spread all over the country on live TV.

Making New Year's resolutions is an American custom, that is, making a wish and setting a goal in the new year. This goal is not necessarily ambitious, but it should be close to your own life, such as: "I must give up smoking;" I must get rid of my bad temper and so on. "

Yuan Dan's life experience

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.