Why did the ancients call it a birthday?

Birthday, that is, the birthday of an individual or the date of establishment of an organization, is called "birthday" for short. It has been recorded since the mythical times of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. The ancients called birthdays "Dan", and some people called them "Shengdan".

It originated from Xia Dynasty myth, and people prayed to Peng Zu (who lived 767 years) on his birthday, hoping that he could live a long life. This is a myth, of course, but it seems that Peng Zu really existed in history. Chu Ci and Qu Yuan's long poem Tian Wen both record that he is the grandson of Zhuan Xu, one of the five emperors. After Qin Shihuang unified the world, the "birthday star" among the three stars of "Fu Lushou" was dedicated to bless the Qin Dynasty. According to Sima Qian's Historical Records and Official History, Qin Shihuang built the Shouxing Temple in Xianyang, the capital, and offered sacrifices to the Shouxing every year. It is said that it is possible to predict whether there will be a war by checking whether the birthday girl's face is dim, so as to ensure world peace. By the Han Dynasty, this majestic star official had evolved into a birthday girl with a strong political color. According to the Book of Rites, Emperor Han Ming of the East once held a banquet in honor of the birthday boy, and gathered people over 70 years old from all over the world as guests. This kind of banquet bears the important ethical value of "respecting the elderly and filial piety", which not only gave birth to a social virtue, but also was the foundation of the feudal dynasty. The core of filial piety is obedience to patriarchy, and the relationship between monarch and minister is equal to that between father and son. In fact, advocating filial piety is to carry forward the character of loyal ministers and strengthen the rights of emperors. After the Ming Dynasty, the government ordered the cancellation of the national system of offering "longevity stars" since the Qin and Han Dynasties. Since then, the birthday girl has completely removed the political color and strode into the folk, and the old people celebrated their birthdays (the custom of celebrating birthdays was not popular at first, and only respectable people or wealthy families could hold a banquet to celebrate their birthdays). At the age of 74, Gan Long hosted the most luxurious birthday party in history-the Thousand Banquets. He invited more than 6000 elderly people over 60 to the Forbidden City for dinner to celebrate their birthdays. This scene makes everyone feel the influence of filial piety and affection, and the portrait of the birthday girl is of course essential. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of birthday banquet rose all over the country. In modern history, with the continuous infiltration of western culture, birthday parties have become more spiritual, bringing together "affection, friendship, kindness and love" and pushing it to a new human social phenomenon in the historical transformation period.