QiFeng/Wen
Today is the first update after the renaming of "Qi Feng Ju", let's talk about "New Year's Day".
The word New Year's Day has been used since ancient times, but the New Year's Day of the ancients was the first day of the first lunar month, which is what we now often call "the first day of the Chinese New Year". China celebrates New Year's Day on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar and began in 1912.
In December 1911, provincial representatives gathered in Shanghai to discuss, in addition to electing the provisional president, other matters, such as the calendar to be used for the soon-to-be-reborn republic.
Pictured: Representatives of various provinces gather in Nanjing
The revolutionaries represented by Huang Xing advocated switching to the Gregorian calendar and connecting with the world; the relatively conservative deputies demanded that the lunar calendar be followed and the inherent traditions respected. The two sides were at loggerheads.
At this time, Sun Yat-sen, who had just arrived in Shanghai, said that if the delegates did not agree to the use of the Gregorian calendar, he would refuse to go to Nanjing to serve as the provisional president. The provincial representatives had to meet overnight and adopted a resolution on the use of the Gregorian calendar.
Subsequently, Sun Yat-sen issued a notice in his capacity as interim president, "The Republic of China changed to the solar calendar, and November 13, 4609, the Yellow Emperor's era, is the New Year's Day of the first year of the Republic of China."
Figure: Electrification in the Gregorian calendar
At the same time as the establishment of the Republic of China, the Qing court in the north was still there. Xu Shichang served as minister of military advice in Yuan Shikai's cabinet, in charge of naval and army affairs. In his diary for the day, he wrote:
"On the thirteenth day, before dawn, he waited outside the door of the Imperial Palace. Straight, to the Cabinet Office. Returning to the apartment in the afternoon, the ninth brother returned from Qingdao. Take a nap and meet the guests. Late dinner, long talk. ”
Most of the diaries left by Xu Shichang are the same, and the new year's day in 1912 is also consistently waveless.
Pictured: Xu Shichang's diary is really unique
Yun Yuding, who was also an official in Beijing, looked a little more "trendy" than Xu Shichang, not only knowing that this day was Western New Year's Day, but also going out to give some Western envoys and friends a "New Year's Greeting":
"Thirteen days, sunny. In the afternoon, he went to the Embassies of Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, the German Barracks, the General Post Office of Pali, dr. Law Dr. Dolmen to pay homage to the New Year (the first day of the first lunar month in the Western calendar), and to congratulate his wife. ”
Yun Yuding is about opposed to replacing the lunar calendar with the Gregorian calendar, but apparently does not exclude the so-called "foreign festival" today.
What is unexpected is that Zheng Xiaoxu, who was later regarded as an old man, was very enlightened on the Issue of New Year's Day:
"Thirteen days. Today is also the New Year's Day of the 1912th year of the Narcean calendar. If the imperial court wants to change to the solar calendar, it is advisable to announce today that Wen xiangcheng has this intention, but it cannot be used. ”
Zheng Xiaoxu heard that Yuan Shikai had a plan to change the Gregorian calendar, and after learning that it could not be implemented in the end, he felt some pity. Zheng Xiaoxu's statement is true, and the Senior Council did propose to change the Gregorian calendar and change the 13th of November of the third year of xuanun to the new year of xuanun.
The above three people, Xu, Yun and Zheng probably did not know that on the thirteenth day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar and the first day of the Gregorian calendar, the Republic of China had been established and issued a notice of switching to the Gregorian calendar.
Those who are in the south and who have thrown themselves into the revolution have a completely different impression. Zhu Zhisan, a native of Ezhou, was serving in the Hubei military government at the time, and belonged to the first group of people to learn that the new government would change to the Gregorian calendar. He wrote in his diary of December 30, 1911:
"Today, the county office has been ordered to prepare a new calendar (year), which is called the solar calendar 'the first year of the Republic of China'. Xuantong Xinhai was finally over, and the Manchu Qing Qi had perished for two hundred and sixty-eight years. ”
On January 1, 1912, Zhu Zhisan wrote down his observations for the day:
"Today is the day of the establishment of the Nanjing government, that is, the first day of January 1912 in the Western calendar. After dinner, out of the city, see the Hanxi Academy posted with the new union, and the bunting flag is flying for the New Year's Day of the new calendar. Passers-by sighed, saying that they would follow the foreigners for the New Year and perform foreign ceremonies. ”
He saw the students of Hanxi Academy (located in Ezhou, Hubei Province) celebrating New Year's Day on this day, and the reaction of passers-by was to sigh - these students followed the foreigners to celebrate foreign festivals and perform foreign ceremonies.
Pictured: Zhu Zhisan's diary written around New Year's Day in 1912
Young people usually expect more from new things than the elderly. Ye Shengtao, who was 18 years old at the time, was still studying in Suzhou, and he wrote in his diary:
"Today is the first day that our country has switched to the solar calendar, and my diary has also changed to the solar calendar today... Suitable for a classmate to come to a certain jun, said that the Republic of China has changed to the solar calendar. The crowd did not believe it, called the chief of the civil administrator, and sure enough. Then today's New Year's Day also. Special New Year's Day must have a holiday, so the holiday. ”
After Ye Shengtao arrived at the school that day, he heard a classmate say that the Republic of China had changed to the Gregorian calendar, and everyone did not believe it, so he called the civil administrator to confirm. After being confirmed, the school directly celebrates New Year's Day.
Whether accepted or not, January 1 of the Gregorian calendar is thus determined as New Year's Day and continues. For the nascent Republic of China, the use of the Gregorian calendar was a self-renewal of ancient China, and celebrating New Year's Day with the people of all countries was also the only way to integrate into the world.