Why do so many Chinese people love foreign festivals and have no interest in traditional ones?

New Year's Eve is celebrated on the third day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar

(The night of New Year's Eve is called New Year's Eve. The original meaning of the word "除" is "to go", which is derived from "易"[交替]; the original meaning of the word "夕" is "sunset", which means "the end of the day". The original meaning of the character "夕" is "sunset", which is derived from "night". Therefore, the night of New Year's Eve contains the meaning of "the old year will be removed here, and the new year will be replaced tomorrow". The word "New Year's Eve" means to get rid of the old and bring in the new. New Year's Eve first originated in the pre-Qin period of the "by removing". According to "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals - The Record of the Seasonal Winter", the ancients used to beat drums on the day before New Year's Eve to get rid of "epidemics and plague ghosts", so that the coming year would be free from diseases and calamities. This is the origin of the "New Year's Eve" festival. "New Year's Eve" in ancient times there are many other names, such as in addition to the night, in addition to the year, in addition to the year, in addition to the big, big end and so on. Although there are many names, they are always the same as the meaning of sending off the old and welcoming the new, getting rid of diseases and eliminating disasters.)

[edit]Spring Festival

The first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar

(is the first year of the Lunar Calendar, commonly known as the "big year".) The origin of the Spring Festival in China. The origin of the Spring Festival has a history of more than four thousand years in China. It is one of the most lively and grandest traditional festivals in China. Ancient Spring Festival, refers to the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, "spring" season, after the North and South Dynasties will be the Spring Festival at the end of the year, and refers to the entire spring, when the earth back to spring, everything is renewed, people will take it as the beginning of a new year. In the early years of the Republic of China after the Xinhai Revolution, the first day of the first month of the year was designated as the Spring Festival after the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian [solar] calendar. It was not until September 27, 1949, that the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference officially designated the first day of the first month of the New Year as the "Spring Festival", and many people still call the Spring Festival the "New Year's Day").

Year: (People often refer to the Spring Festival as the "New Year", but the original meaning of "year" is not the same as today's. It is said that in the very ancient times, people used to call the Spring Festival as the "New Year". It is said that in ancient times, there was the most vicious beast in the world called "Nian". It grew bigger than a camel. It ran faster than the wind and roared louder than thunder. When it came out, it ate people and hurt animals, and people's lives were seriously threatened. In order to punish the "year", the gods locked it into the mountains, only allowed it to come out once a year. People in the long-term practice, found that the "year" has "three fears" - afraid of red color, afraid of loud noise, afraid of fire. So, one year, on the night of the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, people put red paper on the door, and constantly beat the gongs and drums, firecrackers, and light up the house all night long. "Year" came at night to see, bright lights in every house; listen, everywhere the sound of firecrackers, scared it did not dare to enter the village. During the day, it sneaked down the mountain, see still red on the door of every house, all over the thud, scared it scared, turned around and ran back. Since then, the "year" has not dared to come back, it is said to starve to death in the mountains and old forests. Later on, people turned the prevention of "Nian" and "Nianxuan" into a peaceful and stable New Year. There is no more "Nian", but the custom of celebrating the New Year still remains. The bright red spring couplets, brilliant lights, crisp firecrackers, and loud gongs and drums are still celebrated year after year.)

The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han Chinese people, but Manchu, Mongolia, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Daur, Dong, Li and other dozens of ethnic minorities also have the custom of the Spring Festival, but the form of the festival is more of their own national characteristics, more flavorful.

Evolution

The concept of Spring Festival and the New Year, the original meaning from the agricultural, the ancient people of the grain growth cycle called "year", "said the text. Wo Department": "year, the grain is also ripe:. In the Xia and Shang dynasties produced the summer calendar, the cycle of the moon for the month, a year divided into twelve months, each month to not see the moon for the day for the first day of the first month of the first day of the month of the son of the time is called the head of the year, that is, the beginning of the year, also known as the year, the year's name is from the Zhou Dynasty, to the Western Han Dynasty to formally fixed, and has been continued to the present day. But the first day of the first month in ancient times was known as "New Year's Day", until the victory of China's modern Xinhai Revolution, the Nanjing Provisional Government in order to comply with the agricultural and statistical convenience, the provisions of the civil use of the summer calendar, the implementation of the Gregorian calendar in the government agencies, factories, mines, schools and organizations to the Gregorian calendar for the first of the first day of the new year for the New Year's Day, the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, known as the Spring Festival.

New Year's Day and the Spring Festival

September 27, 1949, the founding of the new China, in the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, adopted the use of the world's common calendar, the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar as New Year's Day, commonly known as the solar year; the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar is usually in the first day of the Spring Festival before or after the start of the first day of the Lunar Calendar, and therefore the first day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar as " Spring Festival", commonly known as the lunar year.

Traditionally, the Spring Festival is celebrated from the Lunar New Year's Day festival or the Lunar New Year's Day festival until the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year, culminating in New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of the lunar year. In the Spring Festival this traditional festival period, China's Han Chinese and most of the ethnic minorities have to hold a variety of celebrations, most of these activities to worship God and Buddha, ancestors, in addition to the old and the new, to welcome the Jubilee to receive the blessing, and pray for a good year as the main content. Activities in the form of colorful, with a strong ethnic characteristics.

One of the legends of the Spring Festival: the year-end vigil

The year-end vigil, that is, in the last night of the old year, do not sleep, stay up to meet the arrival of the new year's custom, also known as the New Year's Eve vigil, commonly known as the "year-end". To explore the origins of this custom, there is an interesting story circulating in folklore:

In ancient times, there was a ferocious beast, scattered in the mountains and dense forests, people called them "year". It is hideous, ferocious nature, specializing in eating birds and beasts, scales and insects, a day to change a flavor, from knocking insects have been eaten to the living, so that people talk about the "year" color change. Later, people slowly mastered the "year" of the law of activities, it is every three hundred and sixty-five days to crowded places to taste a mouthful of food, and the time of the infestation are in the dark, wait until the rooster dawn, they will return to the mountains and forests to go.

Calculating the date of the "year" rampage, the people will be this terrible night as a pass to brake, called the "New Year's Eve", and came up with a set of New Year's Eve approach: every evening of this day, every family is done in advance of the dinner, the fire! Net stove, and then all the chicken coop cattle pen tethered to the front and back doors of the mansion are sealed, hiding in the house to eat "New Year's Eve dinner", because this dinner has the meaning of bad luck and uncertainty, so organized very sumptuous, in addition to the whole family to eat together to express the harmony and reunion, but also have to be in the meal before the sacrifice to the ancestors, praying for the blessing of the gods of the ancestors, and the gods of the ancestors, and the gods of the ancestors. Peacefully through the night, after dinner, who do not dare to sleep, sitting together in a crowded chatting courage. Gradually formed the habit of New Year's Eve to stay up to keep the New Year's Eve.

The custom of year-end vigil rose in the North and South Dynasties, the Liang Dynasty, many literati have a year-end poetry. "One night is even a double year, and the fifth night is divided into two years." People light up candles or oil lamps and keep vigil all night, symbolizing that all evil plagues and epidemics are driven away, looking forward to an auspicious new year. This custom has been passed down to this day.

Spring Festival Legend No. 2: Wannian created the calendar said

Legend has it that, in ancient times, there was a young man named Wannian, saw that the festival was very chaotic, and had the intention of trying to set the festival right. But the bitter can not find a way to calculate the time, one day, he went up the mountain to cut firewood tired, sitting under the shade of the tree to rest, the movement of the tree shadow inspired him, he designed a measurement of the sun and shadow counting the time of day sundial, determine the time of the day, and later, the dripping springs on the cliffs inspired him to do a five-tier funnel pot to calculate the time. Over time, he realized that every 360 days or so, the four seasons would turn once, and the length of the day would repeat itself.

The king of the country at that time was called Zuyi, and he was also often distressed by the unpredictability of the weather winds and clouds. Wannian knew, took the sundial and funnel pot to see the emperor, to Zuyi clear the reason for the operation of the sun and the moon. Zu Yi listened to the dragon's face, felt reasonable. So left Wannian, in front of the Temple of Heaven to build the Sun and Moon Pavilion, built the sundial and funnel kiosk. And hope to measure the law of the sun and the moon, project the accurate morning and evening time, create the calendar, for the benefit of the people of the world.

Once, Zu Yi went to find out the progress of the Ten Thousand Years Test Calendar. When he ascended to the Altar of the Sun and the Moon, he saw a poem engraved on the stone wall beside the Altar of Heaven:

The sun rises and the sun sets three hundred and six times, and the cycle begins again and again from the beginning.

The grass and trees are divided into four seasons, and there are twelve rounds in a year.

Knowing that Wannian had created the calendar, he personally climbed up to the Sun and Moon Pavilion to see Wannian. Wannian pointed to the sky and said to Zuyi: "Now it is the fullness of twelve months, the old year is over, and the new spring begins, so I pray that the king of the country will set a festival". Zu Yi said, "Spring is the first day of the year, let's call it Spring Festival". This is said to be the origin of the Spring Festival.

Winter and spring, year after year, Wannian after a long period of observation, careful projection, developed an accurate solar calendar, when he presented the solar calendar to the successor of the state ruler, has been full of silver beard. The king of the country was y touched, in order to commemorate the achievements of Wan Nian, the solar calendar named "Wan Nian Calendar", Wan Nian as the sun and moon life star. Afterwards, people hang up a picture of the star of longevity on New Year's Day, which is said to be in honor of the highly respected Wannian.

Spring Festival Legend No. 3: Posting Spring Festival couplets and door gods

It is said that the custom of posting Spring Festival couplets began about a thousand years ago in the period of the later Shu, which is historically attested. In addition, according to the Jade Candle Canon, the Yanjing Yearly Record and other writings, the original form of the Spring Festival couplets is what people call "peach symbols".

In ancient Chinese mythology, there is a world of ghosts, and in the middle of it there is a mountain with a big peach tree covering 3,000 miles, and on the top of the tree there is a golden chicken. Whenever the golden rooster crows early in the morning, the ghosts wandering at night will be rushed back to the ghost world. The gate of the Ghost Realm was situated in the northeast of the peach tree, and by the gate stood two godmen named Shentan and Yubi. If a ghost did something harmful at night, the gods would immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of mango reeds, and feed it to the tiger. Therefore, all the ghosts in the world were afraid of Shentian and Yubi. So the folk used peach wood to carve into their likeness and put it in front of their house to avoid evil and prevent harm. Later, people simply carve the name of God Tantui and Yubi on the mahogany board, thinking that this can also suppress the evil to go to the evil. This kind of mahogany board was later called "peach charm".

By the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on the mahogany board, one does not lose the significance of the mahogany to suppress evil, the second is to express their own good wishes, and the third is to decorate the portal, in order to be beautiful. And write couplets on red paper to symbolize the joy and good luck, the New Year on both sides of the doors and windows, to express people's prayers for good luck in the coming year.

In order to pray for a family's well-being, people in some places still retain the habit of sticking the door god. It is said that if two door gods are affixed to the front door, all demons and monsters will be afraid. In folklore, the door god is a symbol of righteousness and force, the ancients believe that people with strange looks often have magical endowments and extraordinary skills. They are upright and kind-hearted, to catch ghosts and demons is their nature and responsibility, people look up to the ghost hunter Zhong Kui, that is, this kind of strange looks. So the folk god of the door is always angry eyes, grim-looking, holding a variety of traditional weapons, ready to fight with the ghosts and demons that dare to come to the door. Since the doors of our homes are usually two doors open, the door gods are always in pairs.

After the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the two generals of Shentian and Yubi in the past, people also took Qin Shubao and Yuchigong, two military generals of the Tang Dynasty, as door gods. Legend has it that Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was sick and heard the ghosts and demons outside his door calling out, and he had no peace all night long. So he asked these two generals to stand beside the door with weapons to guard it, and the next night there were no more ghosts to disturb him. Later, Emperor Tang Taizong had the two generals painted and pasted on the door, and this custom began to be widely spread in the folklore.

On the third day, the folk held a "temple fair" and other celebrations, the people's wishes and thousands of years of folklore.