How old is the Spring Festival in China?

The Spring Festival has a long history, which originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the beginning and end of the Yu Shun period.

Spring Festival is the Spring Festival, which is the most grand and important traditional festival among the people in China. The first day of the first month in the summer calendar, also known as the Lunar New Year, is commonly known as "Chinese New Year" and "Chinese New Year". It originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors in the early and late period of Yu Shun.

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. It was changed to Gregorian calendar in the Republic of China. The first day of the Gregorian calendar is called New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar is called Spring Festival.

The historical development of the Spring Festival

As the biggest festival in China, the traditional Lunar New Year has a history of more than 4,000 years, while the current Spring Festival is only 100 years. Lunar New Year has a long history. In ancient times, it was called the first year of the year, New Year's Day, January 1st, Xinzheng, Spring Festival and so on. Legend has it that it originated from Yu Shun's activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors or "La Worship" at the end of the year. However, it was formally formed in the Han Dynasty to take the first day of the first month as the beginning of the New Year.

Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the specific date of the beginning of the New Year was not uniform. The summer calendar of Xia Dynasty begins with January, the lunar calendar of Shang Dynasty begins with December, and the weekly calendar begins with November. It was not until the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, 104 BC, that the beginning of the New Year was set at 1 month 1 day in the summer calendar, and generations followed. But at this time, the custom of the Lunar New Year is mainly to worship the gods and ancestors.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the customs and functions of the Lunar New Year changed greatly. From this period on, the focus of Chinese New Year began to change from offering sacrifices to gods with a strong sense of mystery to "entertaining people" with entertainment and secularity. In other words, it was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that the Chinese New Year really became the "Chinese First Festival" for the whole people to celebrate and revel.