On the origin of new year's day

New Year's Day, namely 1 on the Gregorian calendar, is commonly known as "Chinese New Year" in most countries in the world. "Yuan" and "Dan" together represent the first morning of the New Year.

The name of New Year's Day began with ancient timing and agricultural production. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, in order to grasp the time, festivals and facilitate farming, the "astronomers" at that time knew how to use the activities of the moon to measure the time, and set the full moon as a month, with the first day as the new moon and the fifteenth day as the sun. The moon is full and short twelve times, that is, twelve months, that is, one year.

There are only three theories about the origin of New Year's Day, but there are many customs on New Year's Day. Let's take a look:

First,? What is the origin of New Year's Day?

? One of the origins of New Year's Day: Does Zhuan Xu set New Year's Day?

China's New Year's Day is said to have started in Zhuan Xu, one of the three emperors and five emperors, with a history of more than 3,000 years. The word "Chinese New Year" in China comes from zhuān xū, the leader of ancient tribal alliance and one of the "Five Emperors". He defined the first month of the lunar calendar as "Yuan" and the first day as "Dan". The calendar in the early Han Dynasty basically followed the Zhuan Xu calendar since the Qin Dynasty. Zhuan Xu Calendar was completed in the 19th year of Qin Xiangong (the first 366 years).

The word "New Year's Day" first appeared in the Book of Jin: "It is actually the spring of New Year's Day when the emperor was transferred to the first month." In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xiao Ziyun's poem "Elegance in the Southern Dynasties" also recorded "New Year's Day in four seasons, long life in early spring". Meng Xiyue (1 month) is the first month of the Xia calendar, the twelfth month of the Shang lunar calendar (1February) and the winter month of the week calendar (1 1 month). After Qin Shihuang unified China, Yangchun month (October) was the first month, that is, the first day of October was New Year's Day.

? The second origin of New Year's Day: Yao Shun passed the throne?

Legend has it that during the prosperous period of Yao and Shun in ancient times more than 4,000 years ago, when Emperor Yao was in power, he worked diligently for the people and did many good things for the people, which was deeply loved by the people. However, due to his son's incompetence, he did not pass on the throne of "emperor" to his son, but passed it on to Shun, who has both ability and political integrity. Yao said to Shun, "You must pass on the throne in the future, and you will be relieved when I die." Later, Shun passed the throne to Yu, who made great contributions to flood control. Yu also loves the people and has done many good things for the people like Shun, and is deeply loved by the people. Later, after Yao's death, people took the day of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth and the first emperor Yao as the beginning of the year, and called the first day of the first month "New Year's Day" or "Jacky", which was the ancient New Year's Day.

New Year's Day in ancient China is not the current Gregorian calendar-Gregorian calendar 65438+ 1. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month in Yin to the first day of the first lunar month in Han, there have been many repeated changes. During the period of the Republic of China, 19 12 and 1 When Sun Yat-sen took office as interim president in Nanjing at the beginning of the year, it was "timely farming" and "convenient statistics". The first day of the first lunar month is designated as the Spring Festival, and the first day of the solar calendar is changed to 1 as "New Year's Day", but it is still called "New Year's Day".

? The Third Origin of New Year's Day: From the Theory of Ancient Egypt?

"New Year's Day" first came from the west. Around 50,000 BC, the ancient Egyptians had changed from nomadism to farming and settled on both sides of the Nile, and their agricultural harvest was closely related to whether there was a flood in the Nile. Through long-term observation, the ancient Egyptians found that the time of Nile flooding was regular, so they recorded this time on bamboo poles every time, and learned that the time between two floods was about 365 days, that is, one year. At the same time, the ancient Egyptians also found that when the Nile came near Cairo today, the sun and Sirius just rose from the horizon at the same time. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians set this day as the beginning of the year. This is the earliest origin of New Year's Day.

New Year's Day is the beginning of celebrating New Year's Day. Celebrating New Year's Day is a common custom in all countries and regions in the world. At present, most countries in the world take 1 Gregorian calendar as New Year's Day. Because different countries have different longitude and time, the date of "New Year's Day" is also different.

Second,? The custom of New Year's Day?

? One of New Year's Day customs: soup cake?

Eat soup cake in the New Year, and soup cake is noodle soup. Southern rice, northern rice. Friends in the north have the habit of eating pasta during the Spring Festival and holidays. "The weather is cold in the middle of winter, and there is a meeting in the early morning. Soup cakes are the best." People are shivering with cold in such cold weather. How about a bowl of hot soup cakes to warm your stomach?

There is a story about eating soup cakes. It is said that Yanhe, a famous writer in the Three Kingdoms period, was a famous handsome man. He was born with extremely fair skin. Wei Mingdi has always suspected that Yan and his face were smeared with white powder, so he thought about the way to make peace and eat soup cakes on New Year's Day, and tried to make up for it. Talking and eating soup cakes, sweating profusely, constantly wiping sweat with a towel, but his face is still pale. Wei Mingdi smiled, only to believe that peace is not powdered, but the skin is naturally fair.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, "Miscellaneous Notes on Years Old" said: "On the first day of the New Year, people in Beijing eat more soup cakes, so-called years old, or the like." (Volume 5 of Guang Ji at the Age of Years) Soup cake is a long quotation of the previous generation. Long lead refers to something that is elongated, and soup cake refers to a cake as slender as a rope. Both names are about slender food. As can be seen from the above, it is very popular to eat soup cakes and other foods on New Year's Day in Song Dynasty.

? The second custom of New Year's Day: Eating rice cakes?

It is a good wish to eat rice cakes every New Year. Eating rice cakes on New Year's Day prevailed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the south. Rice cakes can be fried, roasted, fried, steamed and ready to eat.

During New Year's Day, many areas in China pay attention to eating rice cakes. The rice cake, also known as "rice cake", is homophonic with "high year by year", which means that people's work and life are improving year by year. A poem by predecessors said: "The rice cake has a little meaning, as white as silver and as yellow as gold. I hope that when I get old, I will be profitable, and I sincerely hope that my wealth will come. " There is also a saying that if you don't drink rice cake soup during the New Year, you won't grow up this year. Rice cakes have a long history. Rice cakes in Han Dynasty are called rice cakes, cakes, bait and cakes.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu revenged his father and conquered the capital of Chu. He was granted a fief, built a city wall and began to build it. It is said that if people suffer from famine, they can dig a few feet under the city gate to find food. Later, when people suffered from war and famine, they remembered Wu Zixu's words. When they dug the ground, they found that the foundation was made of bricks and stones made of glutinous rice. People make glutinous rice into a food to tide over the difficulties. It happened to be New Year's Day, and it became popular to eat rice cakes on New Year's Day over time.

Eating rice cakes on New Year's Day was very popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the south. There are three colors of rice cakes: red, yellow and white, which symbolize gold and silver. Eating rice cakes on New Year's Day is of great significance. Some areas in Zhejiang will also eat rice cakes, which are homophonic "high", representing a step-by-step promotion and a wide range of financial resources.

? The third custom of new year's day: eat five spicy foods?

After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a custom of eating spiced food on the first day of New Year's Day. Intended to try new things. It existed in the Jin Dynasty and was called "Five Pan Xin" at that time. Five spices in a broad sense refer to five kinds of spicy dishes made of vegetables (onion, garlic, pepper, ginger and mustard). Taking five spices can sterilize and drive away cold.

As food in Yuan Dynasty, it was first recorded in the local customs of Zhou Dynasty between Wu and Jin Dynasties. It is said that eating five parsley in the morning of the Yuan Dynasty "helps to create the qi of the five internal organs" (Volume I of Jade Candle Collection). Five kinds of coriander are five kinds of spicy dishes. The Chronicle of Jingchu Age notes garlic, garlic, leek, Yuntai and coriander. For example, it is mentioned in local customs that you can move the five internal organs and pray for health. "Chronicle of Jingchu Age" quoted Zhuangzi as saying: "Drinking like spring onions helps five Tibetans."

For emperors, the amount and variety of food they eat every day are naturally indescribable, especially some emperors who only know pleasure. For example, today's protagonist, Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang, every New Year's Day, Emperor Yang Di's table concentrates on delicious food from all over the country, such as seafood in coastal areas and game in mountainous areas. However, among these delicacies, Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang's favorite is "spiced board". Before New Year's Day, chefs will prepare five spicy dishes in advance. At that time, all they had to do was say "Serve" and they would know that Emperor Yang Di would eat five spicy dishes. Emperor Yang Di won't stop eating until after the Spring Festival or even the Lantern Festival, which shows how much Emperor Yang Di loves spiced dishes, and the tradition of eating spiced dishes in Yuan Dynasty has a long history.

After all, New Year's Day is not a traditional festival in China. Although it has followed some traditional ways of celebration, such as setting off firecrackers, killing Sansheng, worshipping ghosts and gods, and offering sacrifices to ancestors, it has not been seen in people's minds how important it will be. In modern times, the custom of Chinese New Year is even simpler.