It's about to be the annual Christmas again, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas in advance. Have you ever wondered: what is the origin of Christmas? What does Santa Claus do? In the eyes of Westerners, the status of Christmas is the same as our Spring Festival! Today we will talk about the history of Christmas in the West.
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Christmas (christamas day, because the Greek word for Christ is Χριστός, the transliteration is christos) is a Christian holiday, and from the name you can see that "Christmas" is the day God was born, and the God in Christianity is the Jesus we learned in the Middle School English class. In fact, Jesus is not the so-called "god", it is Jesus who brought the idea of God to people, which is the source of the core idea of Christianity, "God is the Father".
So the question arises: December 25th is set for Christmas, is it really the day Jesus was born? In fact, within 200 years of the birth of Christianity, no one knows exactly what day Jesus was born, and the date of Christ's birth is not described in the Bible at all.
So in the first two centuries of Christianity, there was no such thing as Christmas, so what about Christmas Eve? So how exactly is the date of December 25 calculated? There's another interesting story.
By the 3rd century, Christians were slowly growing, and gradually people found: Oh, it seems that there is no festival dedicated to Christ? So the believers began to plan a commemoration day, and the divergence of opinions began. Some people think that Christ was born in March, some think that he was born in April, and some people think that he was born in May or December.
For example, May 20, which is more familiar to couples, was originally designated as one of the anniversaries of Christianity. Anyway, remember that from January to December, every month was once regarded as the anniversary of Christ, such as May 20, March 28, April 24, or December 25.
So by now we know that the date of Jesus' birth was originally a mystery, and the claim of December 25 was finally deduced by a historian of the church through calculations. Jesus did not know when he was born, but the date of his death was accurate: March 25. Church historian Sextus Julius Africanus extrapolated the approximate date of Jesus' birth based on this date of death.
In fact, this calculation is also very simple and scrawled, Jesus died at the age of 33, and pushing forward 33 years is the year of his birth. And there is also an important message. The Bible records that Jesus' mother, the Virgin Mary, was conceived on March 25. Then, based on the 9-month gestation time, the date of December 25th was calculated.
You see, this day is actually so sloppy in definition, it actually has no strong basis. This date must come down, on the one hand, it is recognized by people, on the other hand, it has also been questioned.
For example, some scholars in the church believe that only sinners celebrate their birthdays, and they are firmly opposed to celebrating Christ's anniversary with the date of birth, and it is such a crude calculation that it is even more disrespectful to Christ.
However, this matter was reversed during the reign of Constantine the Great, who was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, and of course he had to develop the church well after he ascended to the throne. From this period onwards, Christianity was officially developed and strengthened, and began to have its own clear anniversary, before which Christians were actually excluded. Christianity before Tandyn the Great was a very small church with no status, until the time of Tandyn the Great, because there were such a king-level members to promote and support, it later developed and grew.
December 25 was set for Christmas, which came into being. Now that Christmas is set, Santa Claus is here.
Christmas was set like this, but at this time, there was no such thing as Santa Claus. In fact, Santa Claus and Christmas Eve appear together.
The so-called Santa Claus, although it is a character in Western legends, this character has an archetype. Its prototype is actually the Saint of Christianity. Saint nicholas. December 25 is designated as Christmas, and the night before Christmas is defined as Christmas Eve. It's as if we define the first day of the Chinese New Year as the New Year and the day before as the Chinese New Year's Eve, both of which make a lot of sense.
St. Nicholas, a bishop who lived in the 4th century, was merciful and compassionate, and it is rumored that he raised 9 reindeer with different names.
That's why adults always say to their children, "Every Christmas Eve, Santa Claus drives a carriage of 9 reindeer to give gifts to the children." Although few people now know the true meaning of Santa Claus, there is actually the story behind this statement: he likes to give gifts to others.
But don't get me wrong: Although Christmas Eve is Christmas Eve and Santa Claus, it is not a memorial to Nicholas. There is a special festival in honor of Nicholas: called St. Nicholas' Day. This tradition is defined in the Netherlands as December 6 every year, so in the Netherlands, Santa Claus does not give gifts on December 24, but the day before December 6, on the evening of December 5. That's a funny thing.
Nowadays, Christmas and the image of Santa Claus have long since been freed from religious shackles and become carnivals around the world, with adults on vacation and children waiting for gifts. Santa Claus has also begun to become a festive image.
In the United States, more than 80% of young children believe that Santa Claus is real. This has nothing to do with superstition, parents also want their children to believe in Santa Claus, which actually represents a national belief on the other hand, even in the West, many adults are willing to believe that Santa Claus exists, and they are willing to believe that Christmas is an auspicious day of prayer, which can bring good luck to their families.
At the end of the article, I would like to tell you that some people may think that Western festivals are not suitable for us, but here I would like to tell you that the world is actually a big family now, and cultural exchange is also a thing worth talking about. After all, Westerners are also learning from us to celebrate the New Year, and we also celebrate Christmas, so what's the harm?
We are a big country, and we are tolerant and tolerant of cultures from all over the world.
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