What day did the ancient people in China call "New Year's Day"?

From ancient times to the late Qing Dynasty, it refers to the first day of the first month.

The word "New Year's Day" originated from the elegant music song written by Liang people in the Southern Dynasties: "Four Qi New Year's Day, long life at the beginning of this year". Yuan means the first or beginning, Dan is the morning, and when Yuan and Dan are combined, it is a metaphor for the beginning of a year, that is, the day when a year begins. But which day will be the beginning of the year, China has different choices throughout the ages.

"Historical Records" contains: Xia Dynasty, the first day of the first month is New Year's Day; The Shang Dynasty took the first day of December as New Year's Day; In the Zhou Dynasty, the first day of November was New Year's Day. The first day of October is the New Year's Day of the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty restored the first day of the first month to New Year's Day. It has continued since then.

Extended data

Custom culture

Lan Xin, a poet in the Jin Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Jacky": "Jiaqing was born here in Jacky. Fairy plays for thousands of years, and small and big have fun. " Describe the celebration of New Year's Day.

New Year's Day in modern China was listed as a legal holiday by the China government and became a national holiday. After a day's rest, we often adjust the weekend before or after that day, and usually have a three-day rest. In modern China, the celebration of New Year's Day is far less important than the Spring Festival. General organs and enterprises will hold year-end collective celebrations, and there are few folk activities.