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In Western countries, people gather every year on December 25 to celebrate Christmas. Christmas, also known as "Christmas", was originally the day when the disciples commemorated the birth of Jesus. Later, with the wide spread of ** religion in the world and the advancement of globalization, Christmas has become a worldwide holiday. Even in some non-religious countries, people celebrate or have a holiday on this day. Countries such as Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, for example, have also been influenced by Christmas culture. In recent years, Christmas has gradually become popular in our country, especially in the eyes of many businesses, this day is often a day of abundant wealth.
Modern Christmas is no longer a purely religious holiday, but a mixture of many factors, including religion, family, entertainment, consumption and other aspects. At the same time, it is no longer just a symbol of Western culture, it is going global, and different countries will celebrate Christmas in different ways.
Christmas Shopping).
1. The Origin of Christmas.
In fact, the Bible does not record the exact time of Jesus' birth, so there are many opinions about the date of Christmas. It is said that a historian named Sextus Aphiliganus calculated from the Bible that Jesus' birthday was December 25. Farmers in Western countries are jubilant at this time to celebrate the harvest of the year and prepare for the arrival of the cold winter. The church designated this day as Christmas, which not only conformed to the customs of the time, but also made it easier for people to accept the religion.
There is also a theory about the decision of Constantine the Great. At that time, Mithraism was still thriving in the Roman Empire, and they believed that Mithra, the god of the sun, was born on December 25, so it was celebrated on this day by believers. After the Roman Emperor Constantine accepted and converted to **Christianity, he made it the state religion and vigorously promoted it. In order to show the sincerity of his faith, Emperor Constantine changed December 25 to the birthday of Jesus, which is the earliest origin of Christmas.
Statue of Constantine the Great).
However, due to the different calendars used by various countries or regions outside the Roman Empire, the exact time of Christmas was never unified, so different church branches celebrated Christmas at other times according to their own customs. The Armenian Church, for example, celebrates Christmas on January 6.
As to when Christmas will begin to appear, there are some clues to the question at the moment. It has been found that an ancient calendar page of the Roman Empire reads: "* Born in Bethlehem of Judah. "The date is December 25, 354 A.D. This suggests that Christmas was already being celebrated at least in the middle of the 4th century AD.
2. The Transition of Christmas.
How to celebrate Christmas is also a problem, and it has not been solved for a long time. According to the original intention of the Church, people should commemorate the birth of Jesus on this day, but it backfired, and people were more fond of indulgence, revelry, and alcohol on this day.
People in the Middle Ages celebrate Christmas scenes).
For a long time, Christmas was filled with "frolic, vulgar and even brutal" acts, and there were not many solemn and solemn scenes. This situation made many ** disciples dissatisfied later. After the Reformation, many Reformers believed that Christmas was a corrupt and depraved Catholic custom and therefore not worth advocating. Especially in England and the United States, the Puritans were strongly opposed to Christmas. In the United Kingdom, Parliament has strongly criticized Christmas, arguing that it provides freedom for carnal indulgence in its activities. In North America, the British colony of Plymouth also forbade the local population to celebrate Christmas.
But by the 19th century, there had been a big shift in opinion. This shift is still evident in the UK and the US. The first is that people in these countries are starting to reconsider the meaning of Christmas.
In 1819, the American writer Washington Irving published his essay on the ideal celebration of Christmas in the famous journal "Notes on Observations and Experiences". In it, he argues that Christmas should be celebrated in a family-friendly way, not in the shallow and crude way of the past.
At about the same time, an American named John Pintard was also opposed to a carnival Christmas, and he was horrified by the widespread drunkenness that prevailed during the holiday. Therefore, he thought of changing the atmosphere of Christmas and changing the social climate in this way. His approach was to exalt St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas, who is said to have been the bishop of Asia Minor, was beloved by the people of his time. Pintard portrays it as an old man in a hat who brings gifts to children on Christmas night. This image is the prototype of Santa Claus.
And the emergence of "A Christmas Carol" has completely changed people's views on Christmas. In 1843, the English writer Charles Dickens wrote this **, which quickly became a household name and became very popular, and even the plot in ** was accepted by people, and gradually developed into Christmas customs, such as family reunions, gift-giving, Christmas meals, etc. It has really changed people's perception of the status and value of Christmas.
On the second day, the theme of ** was to advocate family, kindness and friendship. The protagonist of ** is Scrooge is a wealthy but cold, harsh, selfish and miserly man. But on Christmas Eve, he had an adventure. When he sees his past, present, and future, he begins to regret what he has done. Scrooge became a different person entirely. He became warm, kind, and generous. He didn't scold Bob, an employee who was late to work, and gave him a turkey so he could celebrate Christmas;He greeted passers-by warmly;He also visited his nephew ...... for the first time
Scrooge) Needless to say, A Christmas Carol was a huge success and was unprecedentedly popular. Since then, the way Americans celebrate Christmas has begun to shift, with family togetherness, affection and educating children at the center. Of course, the original religious elements are naturally integrated, adding a sense of sacredness.
In 1870, the United States made Christmas a national holiday. Of course, this is to promote American values and cultural values to the world, but on another level, the value of Christmas has been further strengthened.
With the spread of ** religion around the world, Christmas has also gone to the whole world. However, in different countries, there are very different ways of celebrating, reflecting the cultural traditions and the atmosphere of the times in different countries.
3. How different countries celebrate Christmas.
At present, Christmas has become a global holiday, and even Japan and South Korea in Asia are influenced by Christmas culture. On this day, people exchange gifts and hold feasts, and the kind Santa Claus and beautiful Christmas trees enhance the lively atmosphere of the festival.
Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the globe, for example in Spain, where the tradition is to eat 12 grapes and the French drink champagne over the grapes, but in any case, a hearty meal is a holiday essential. However, the content of a meal can vary greatly from country to country. Christmas dinners in the UK and the US must have roast turkey. The history of eating turkeys in old Britain is not very long, though. In the 40s and 50s of the 19th century, turkey gradually became a "fashionable" food for Christmas in England. But it wasn't until after the end of World War II that turkey replaced beef and goose as the "traditional" Christmas meal in Britain.
Christmas roast turkey).
In Poland, Christmas dinners are usually sumptuous, with 12 dishes including carp, fruit and dessert. The main course is carp, as there is no other meat on the Christmas table in Poland.
If you like to drink, you may feel very happy to spend Christmas in Germany. The aroma of mulled wine, eggnog, grogg, hunter's tea, and other liquors wafts from the street shops. Among them, mulled wine is a traditional Christmas drink in Germany, and it is also one of the hot drinks that Germans must drink at Christmas.
Danish Christmas dinners are a bit rougher, with the main course usually crispy roast pork. This dish is made from whole pork with skin, sprinkled with coarse salt and grilled with spices, which is crunchy and delicious, and has a unique flavor that is loved by locals.
Goose feathers and snow outside, people laughing and laughing in the warmth of the room, there is no such scene in Australia. Every year in December, Australia is in the midst of a hot summer. The climate is very different from that of Europe, which makes Christmas in Australia special. Outdoor barbecue is the main way for Australians to celebrate Christmas. In Australia, almost every home has a barbecue, and there are even public barbecues near campsites, on the side of the road, in parks, and even in the park. Seasoned beef and mutton, sausages, seafood, etc., are grilled first and then brushed with sauces, which makes people swallow saliva just thinking about it.
Australian Barbecue).
Today's Christmas is no longer simply a religious holiday, but a mixture of cultural elements. There are both the melodious singing of hymns from the solemn church, and the ** shopping in the major supermarkets, this festival is both sacred and secular, as for how people celebrate Christmas, it depends on their own understanding of this holiday.
Wen Shijun said. In countries such as Europe and the United States, Christmas is equivalent to the Chinese New Year. There are certain similarities between the two, such as the importance of family reunion and affection, people greet each other, give gifts, and so on. In terms of cultural inheritance, Christmas and Spring Festival are both traditional festivals, and both have the function of carrying and transmitting traditional culture.
However, there are many differences. Most importantly, Chinese New Year and Christmas are festivals in different cultural contexts. The Spring Festival reflects China's agricultural culture and ancestor worship culture, and the religious color of Christmas has always been stronger, and many people will go to church to commemorate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.
After China's reform and opening up, the whole society is becoming more and more open, and Christmas is gradually valued by young people in China. For this, we do not need to worry and blame, but we should pay attention to how to rebuild the sacredness and ritual sense of the Spring Festival in warmth.
References. Jin Hengshan, "The Production Mechanism of Popular Culture: The Origin of Christmas", World Culture, No. 5, 2022.
Wu Jian, "The Origin of Christmas", Rural Practical Technology, No. 12, 2008.
Shi 2: "The Origin of Christmas", Primary School Science, No. 12, 2021.
Zhang Zi, "Christmas in Europe", Study Abroad, No. 2, 2023.
Aster: "Christmas Food is Different", Restaurant World, Issue 12, 2022.
Chen Jing, "Analysis of the Cultural Differences between Chinese and Western Festivals from the Spring Festival and Christmas", the 2nd Forum on "Education, Teaching and Innovation Research" in the New Era of Primary and Secondary School Teachers, July 18, 2022.
Author: Haoran Literature and History, Stone).
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