Since ancient times, the tradition of Chinese Chinese New Year has a long history and has been rolling for thousands of years. The "Spring Festival" we are living now can be described as an eternal festival that floats in the long river of time. But have you ever thought that the origin of this "Spring Festival", which has been endowed with rich connotations, is inextricably linked to the "beginning of spring"? When and what twists and turns did it go through before it finally precipitated into what it is today? Let's take a look at the mysteries of this festival, trace the clues hidden in the smoke of history, and get a glimpse of the moving past and present life behind the traditional festival.
The first change of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period
When it comes to the changes of the "first year" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, we have to start with the earliest Xia Dynasty. At that time, the ancestors followed the trajectory of the sun and the moon, and set the day when the moon could not be seen during the week as the first day of the month, which was called the "new day". In a year, the first New Day of the first month is the "New New Moon Day", which is called the "first day of the year", that is, the beginning of the year.
In the following hundreds of years, the first major change was ushered in. The Shang Dynasty replaced it, advocating the idea of "returning to the year and spring", and set December as the first month, and the beginning of the year was also changed to December New Year. The Zhou people also followed the Shang system and set the first month of the year in November, but during the weekend, due to the increasing power of the princes and the divergence of calendars, the date of the first year began to diverge.
Entering the Warring States Period, the Seven Heroes fought in a melee, and the calendar became more complicated. At that time, there were popular summer calendars, business calendars, Zhou calendars, Lu calendars, etc., each following a way, during which the first day of the first month can be described as "different families, different roads". It was not until Qin Shi Huang ruled the world that the unified Yan Yue calendar was used, and the first month was set on the first day of October, and the beginning of the year was temporarily stabilized.
It is worth mentioning that although the seasons of the first lunar month change with the dynasties, the original intention of its establishment is to hope that the first period of the year can be in harmony with the natural solar terms and the growth of all things. For example, in the first month of October in the Qin Dynasty, it was the Chongyang season, which was the alternating moment when the yang energy was about to expire and the yin energy was gradually growing in a year, and the vitality of all things in the human and natural world was evaporating from one another, and the old and the new echoed back and forth. It can be seen that the ancients' choice of festival seasons was not arbitrary and subjective, but tried to grasp the rhythm from the harmony and unity between man and nature, in order to achieve endless growth and cyclical change.
The calendar changed during the Han and Tang dynasties
At the turn of the Qin and Han dynasties, a new page was opened at the beginning of the year. Liu Bang, one of the seven sons of Jian'an, although he was a man of cloth clothes from a humble background, he did not "correct Shuo" after unifying the world, and still continued the Qin system, setting October as the first month. This may have been due to the fear that large-scale changes would lead to social unrest, since the dynasty had only just established its foundations.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a generation of astronomy masters Tang Du, Luo Xiahong, and Deng Ping joined hands to remake the calendar and create the "Taichu Calendar". This almanac re-establishes the first month of the first month in the month of Mengchun, that is, the first month of the solar calendar, which is the same as the ancient system of the Xia Dynasty, and stops the century-old lost. Emperor Wu decreed the implementation of the new calendar, which was well accepted by the people, and there was no change in hundreds of years.
However, history is always turbulent, during the period of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Taoist apprentices had objections to the first lunar month, believing that it should coincide with the "first recovery of vitality", so the first lunar month was changed to November. Fortunately, this practice was not long criticized by authoritative scholars as "hurting reason, obstructing the long, chaotic etiquette and unification", and was finally abolished by Emperor Wen of Sui.
The Sui Dynasty regained control of the Central Plains and unified China, so it carried out reforms and revised the calendar. After repeated discussions with relevant authoritative groups, it was finally established that January was the first month, which was basically the same as that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. From then on, it has continued almost to the present day.
In the Tang Dynasty, the calendar master Yizong Kun re-edited and published the "Kaiyuan Calendar", which incorporated the doctrines of Yin and Yang Buddhism and the old families, and further improved the calendar system. laid the foundation for hundreds of years to come. After several changes, the first day of the first lunar month, that is, the "New Year" we are now living, has been firmly established.
It is worth mentioning that in this process, the emperors of the Han and Tang dynasties adhered to the concept of harmony and unity with nature, and tried their best to keep the first month set in the spring season, conforming to the order of the growth of all things. It can be said that this traditional Confucian concept is destined to have many cultural connotations for the New Year.
The Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were gradually determined
After the evolution of the Han and Tang dynasties, the New Year's Eve finally stabilized. In the Song Dynasty, the calendar has reached a very mature level, and it is difficult to have a major change. During the period of Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the famous physicist Shao Bowen suggested that "the system of the first month, the previous generations were different, and the Han system should be followed, and the month should be established as the positive, and it will never change." Emperor Song issued an edict from it, officially determining that the first month is January, and it will never be easier. Since then, the New Year has become inevitable in the position of the New Year in the solar calendar.
Although the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty were Hu people, under the influence of the Central Plains culture, they were also strict in etiquette and did not make changes to the New Year system. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang regarded the first month as an auspicious day and gave the name "January Month". This name has been used for hundreds of years and is still used today, adding to the solemnity and solemnity of the New Year.
Although the Qing Dynasty was ruled by the Manchurians, it did not change the New Year's Month, but incorporated it into the chronological style, calling it "New Year's Day". In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Yongzheng made the "Imperial Decree of the Great Qing Dynasty", which systematically standardized the New Year from various aspects such as etiquette and customs, which can be said to have stereotyped the New Year at the institutional level.
Folk customs also matured at this stage. Festive reunion is the most important theme of the New Year, and the flavor of the New Year is the essence of it. Customs such as firecrackers, New Year's paintings, and New Year's paintings have become popular, and there are also customs such as cutting window flowers, sticking door gods, and hanging lanterns. From the palace to the people, from etiquette to customs, a series of festivals and customs have formed an organic and complete system, and the New Year has become a unique and important festival in Chinese culture.
In this long historical process, year after year, the Chinese people have carried forward the past and forged ahead into the future with strong festival enthusiasm, and decorated the New Year with joy and significance. It can be said that the "New Year's Festival" we celebrate today has been deeply integrated with the national memory and is immortal.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the New and Old People's Festivals alternated
Throughout history, the New Year's Festival has experienced thousands of years of precipitation, and its status is still unshakable at the end of the Qing Dynasty. However, with the acceleration of the convergence of Chinese and Western cultures, the new New Year Festival has gradually begun to take root in the land of China.
The earliest person to propose the reform of the calendar was the late Qing scholar Yan Fu. He believes that the Chinese and Western calendars have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the luni-solar calendar should be adopted, which not only inherits the traditional lunar calendar, but also absorbs the scientific principles of the Gregorian calendar, so that the two complement each other. In his view, this is undoubtedly a good opportunity to reform the old system.
However, Yan Fu's suggestion was not adopted by the Qing government. It was not until the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China that its ideas were finally realized. In 1912, the Provisional Government passed the Gregorian Year Regulations, adopting a new calendar and designating New Year's Day as a New Year's holiday. At the same time, the first month of the lunar calendar was officially named "Spring Festival".
This change marks a major turning point in China's New Year system. The establishment of the A.D. era and the Gregorian calendar festival meant that Western science and culture gained a legal status in China. Correspondingly, the first lunar month, which was originally the "New Year's Festival", has retreated to the position of "Spring Festival", and its dominant position has been hit like never before.
However, this is not a simple substitute for the trade-offs between the old and the new. On the contrary, in the process of blending, the two New Year cultures complement each other, coexist and develop. Whether it is New Year's Day or Spring Festival, their respective customs are constantly enriching and developing. From the large-scale Spring Festival temple fair during the Republic of China to the "Spring Festival Cultural Festival" at the Beijing World Horticultural Fair, we can all see that the New Year customs in the new era are full of new vitality and vitality.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the coexistence of the "two festivals", there were also attempts to organically integrate the two during this period, such as the "Spring Festival Gala" that emerged during the Republic of Shanghai period. In this emerging festival, Chinese and Western customs complement each other, and Eastern and Western cultures penetrate and blend, which can be said to have reached an unprecedented degree of integration. This attempt has undoubtedly laid the foundation for the symbiosis and co-prosperity of the New Elderly Festival in the future.
The "Spring Festival" is stereotyped and the traditional festival is reborn
In the period of New China, the traditional national culture has been carried forward unprecedentedly under the attention of the party and the state. As a representative festival, the Spring Festival is naturally full of vitality in this context.
Under the direct care of the central government, the Spring Festival customs have been comprehensively organized, standardized and carried forward. Since the 50s of the last century, the Central Literature Editorial Committee has organized experts to collect materials on Spring Festival customs across the country several times, and has successively collected and published important documents such as the "National Folk Spring Festival Customs Data Compilation", which has laid a solid foundation for the protection and inheritance of traditional festivals.
At the same time, the Spring Festival customs are also gradually improved in practice. Inheriting thousands of years of folk customs, coupled with the emerging urban-rural cultural exchanges in modern times, the connotation and form of the Spring Festival are constantly enriched. New types of programs, such as the Festival Festival and the Lantern Festival, have come into being, pushing traditional folk entertainment to modernization. Today, temple fairs and Shangyuan nights in Beijing and other regions all show the unique charm of traditional festivals of the Chinese nation.
It is worth mentioning that as an important festival event founded by New China, Qingming Shanghe Park is of great significance for highlighting the cultural value of the Spring Festival. In the 60s of the last century, in the face of the impact of exotic cultures such as "Christmas" in the West, people of insight in the mainland proposed to establish this garden fair with the theme of spring, aiming to regain the traditional connotation of the important festivals of the Chinese nation and promote and sublimate them. Over the decades, Qingming Shanghe Garden has become an important window to reflect traditional Chinese festival culture.
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It is not difficult to see that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the great attention of the party and the state, the Spring Festival has gradually become finalized, inheriting thousands of years of cultural genes, and at the same time injecting a new connotation of the times. It can be said that it has grown from a simple New Year's custom to an important carrier and platform to show the traditional culture of the Chinese nation. Facing the future, this unique festival culture will surely glow with a stronger national atmosphere and the spirit of the times in the new stage of development.