Why is the Spring Festival called Chinese New Year?

In ancient times, people thought there were two kinds of monsters, one called "Xi" and the other called "Nian". The former is a bad beast, specializing in doing bad things, while the latter is a good beast, specializing in doing good things. The former likes cold and the latter likes hot, so the former appears in winter and the latter comes out in spring.

Because the Spring Festival is the time when winter and spring alternate, and it is the time to sleep and wake up in the middle of the year, so people drive away bad animals and welcome good animals here. The last day of winter is called "New Year's Eve", which means to drive away the former and welcome the new year is to welcome the latter.

Now the Spring Festival has two meanings, one is to celebrate the Spring Festival itself, and the other is to welcome the New Year. Later, together, it became "Chinese New Year".

Spring Festival refers to the first day of the traditional calendar in China (different from the current Gregorian calendar in China), the first day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lunar New Year, New Year's Day, the beginning of a year, and Zheng Dan, the first lunar month, also known as the Lunar New Year, commonly known as the New Year, New Year's Day, to celebrate the New Year.

The Spring Festival originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the beginning and end of the Shang Dynasty. It is the biggest, most lively and most important ancient traditional festival in China. In China, the traditional Spring Festival refers to the sacrificial ceremony from the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month or the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th of the first lunar month in La Worship, with New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax.

During the Spring Festival, Han people and some ethnic minorities in China will hold various activities to celebrate. The main contents of these activities are offering sacrifices to ancestors, paying homage to ancestors, saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year, and praying for a bumper harvest. The Spring Festival activities are colorful and full of national characteristics. Influenced by China culture, some countries and nationalities belonging to the Chinese character cultural circle also have the custom of Spring Festival.