"Chinese culture has a long history, and Chinese civilization is broad and profound. At the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, the general secretary emphasized that there are many important elements of China's excellent traditional culture, which together shape the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization. The Spring Festival is the oldest, most important and most distinctive traditional festival of the Chinese nation, which carries the common historical memory of our nation, embodies the national spirit and traditional values, and entrusts the emotions and pursuits of the Chinese. The Spring Festival culture is a vivid testimony of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, which has come all the way from ancient times, accompanied the Chinese nation through thousands of years of history, and is deeply integrated into the cultural blood of the nation. The outstanding continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peace of Chinese civilization can be clearly demonstrated in the development history and cultural connotation of the Spring Festival.
One. The Spring Festival has a long history, which can be traced back to the celebration of people after a year of harvest in ancient times, and the "year" in the oracle bone inscription is the pictogram of people carrying corn, which means the harvest of crops. In the activities of the ancestors to celebrate the harvest and pray for a good harvest, a wax festival was formed at the end of the year to worship the ancestral gods. "Sui Shu Etiquette Chronicles" records that "the ancient name of the wax, the pick-up, take the new and hand over", indicating that the wax sacrifice contains the meaning of removing the old and welcoming the new. The origin of the wax sacrifice is very early, and the "Book of Rites: Suburban Special Sacrifice" says that "the Yiqi clan began to be wax". The Yiqi clan is the ancient emperor, or Yao, or Shennong. The Wax Festival has become a grand festival since at least in the Spring and Autumn period. "The Book of Rites and Miscellaneous Notes" records that Confucius ** Zigong saw the scene of the sacrifice as "everyone in a country is crazy", which shows the strong festive atmosphere at that time.
Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the month of the first year of the past dynasties was different, Xia Yiyin month, Shang Yiqiu month, Zhou Yizi month, Qin Yihai month. In the first year of Emperor Wu's first year (104 years ago), he promulgated the Taichu calendar and determined to use Xia Zheng, that is, to take the first day of the first month of the summer calendar (the first day of the first month) as the first year. For more than 2,000 years since then, except for a few brief changes, the year established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has continued.
Historically, the head of the year is also known as Yuan Ri, Yuan Shuo, Yuan Chen, New Year's Day, Zheng Dan, Zheng Shuo, New Zheng, New Year, etc. The Han Dynasty's "Four People's Moon Order" recorded that on the day of the New Year's Day, it was necessary to "bow to the wife and children, and worship the ancestors", and the children and grandchildren "each put pepper wine on their parents, and praised the longevity and joy as well", and also "congratulated" the relatives and friends of the teacher. As we can see, the custom of celebrating the New Year in later generations was largely formed more than 2,000 years ago.
After the Xinhai Revolution, the Gregorian calendar was changed, with January 1 of the Gregorian calendar as the New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month of the summer calendar (lunar calendar) was changed to the Spring Festival. As a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, the Spring Festival has been passed down for at least 2,000 years, and its origin can be traced back to the early stage of development of Chinese civilization.
Two. The Spring Festival is a festival to remove the old and welcome the new, which essentially reflects the Chinese nation's unremitting pursuit of the "new" and the enterprising spirit of the Chinese nation in seeking innovation and change. The unremitting pursuit of change, development, and progress is the spiritual source of the Chinese nation's thousands of years of creating a brilliant civilization and going through hardships but growing stronger.
The Book of Rites: The Order of the Month says: "The number will end, and the year will begin." "The ancient Chinese regarded the natural order as the source and norm of the order of the world, and the production, life, and political activities of the world must follow the rhythm of the four seasons. The first day is the beginning of the year, and the day before the first day is the end of the year, which is called "New Year's Day" or "Chinese New Year's Eve". "Remove" means to remove, not only to remove the old year, but also to remove disasters and epidemics, and to sweep away all kinds of old filth.
"New year should be new", which means that people should welcome the new year with a new attitude. "The beginning of the year, the beginning of the beginning", people look forward to a good start in the new year. At the time of the change of age, the Chinese people have shown a positive attitude towards life, including self-reflection of "should turn to the past and wrong", "willing to get rid of the old and give birth to new ideas, and be new with the new year day by day", but also self-encouragement of "work hard to the end, the young man can still boast" and "the old man braves the cold to get up and listen to the rooster's first sound". Young and old, they all hope that there will be new things in the new year.
In the New Year, "all materials begin", we must "only have a new policy". "Zhou Li" recorded "the auspiciousness of the first month, the beginning of the peace, and the rule of the state and the country", Sun Yirang explained: "The first month is the first year, and the year is the beginning, and the old cloth will be new, and the county (hanging) law will be removed, and the new king will be the new one." "Wang Anshi's famous "Yuan Ri" poem "One year old in the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu." Thousands of households always replace the new peach with the old charm", which is to express the image of removing the old and establishing the new on the first day.
The name "Spring Festival" is actually an innovation based on tradition. The name of "Spring Festival" has long been known in ancient times, and "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Yang Zhen" contains "no snow in winter, and no rain in the Spring Festival", but this refers to the beginning of spring. Today's "Spring Festival" is to give a reasonable new connotation to the old name. From the distant wax festival to today's Spring Festival, from peach charms to Spring Festival couplets, from winning money to pressing New Year's money, and wax.
8. Small Year, Chinese New Year's Eve, Keeping the New Year, and Breaking.
Fifth, the Lantern Festival and other New Year's customs have gradually formed, and the Spring Festival has been advancing with the times. Today, new ways to celebrate the New Year such as online New Year's greetings are constantly emerging, and the Spring Festival culture is still constantly innovating.
Three. In ancient times, the first year was also called "Zhengshuo", which is the first month, and the first day of the new year. Ancient Zhengshuo has a very special significance. "Historical Records" said: "The king is ordered to change his surname, and he must be cautious from the beginning, correct Shuo, and change his color." "Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Xia Zheng, although later generations did not easily correct Shuo, the promulgation of the calendar was still a symbol of dynastic rule. In addition to political and ideological unity, the "great unification" is also embodied in various aspects such as etiquette and music.
The establishment of the concept of "great unification" is also closely related to the New Year. The term "great unification" comes from the "Legend of the Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period", which believes that the first book of the "Spring and Autumn Period" "Spring and Autumn King Zhengyue" is to promote unification. Therefore, the beginning of the year has been endowed with a unique significance, becoming the "beginning of politics and religion" to maintain the "great unification": "The husband and the king, the beginning of the order to reform the system, the administration and education in the world, from the prince to the people, from the mountains and rivers to the grass and insects, all of them are tied to the first month, so the beginning of cloud politics and religion." ”
Since the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have held grand Yuan-Ri court meetings on the Yuan Day. The Quartet came to congratulate, and all the countries came to the dynasty, "Qi Eight Wilderness is in the Fan Suit, and the Xianji is the king", which fully demonstrates the unity of the country.
1. The identity of all ethnic groups with the country.
On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, the "family carnival" of "family banquet, young and old" is the most important way for Chinese to celebrate the New Year for thousands of years, and it has also made us closely link the happiness of individuals and families with the stability and prosperity of the country for a long time, expanding from the natural love of blood and family to the love of the country, and finally developing into the responsibility of cherishing the family and the country.
Four. **The general secretary pointed out: "Chinese civilization has never replaced pluralism with a single culture, but has converged from pluralism into a common culture to resolve conflicts and build consensus. "The Spring Festival is a common festival of the Chinese nation, and it is the result of the pursuit of unity and unity by the people of all ethnic groups, the continuous deepening of political, economic and cultural ties, and the continuous exchanges and blending in the long historical process.
As early as in the "Book of Han", there is a record of the Xiongnu Shan Yu coming to meet Zhengdan to congratulate. The Book of the New Tang Dynasty records that the Turkic Khan sent an envoy to "offer things to the first month", and said that "this new year and the moon, I am willing to offer the Son of Heaven with longevity". Later, Song Liao and Song Jin sent envoys to each other for 300 years, which made the Spring Festival a bridge for ethnic exchanges and blending.
The regimes established by ethnic minorities in previous dynasties also imitated the system of Yuan-Japanese Dynasty Meeting. Historically, the people of the Yan Dynasty "gathered to have fun every year, and ordered several generations of good singers and dancers to move forward, and the scholars and girls accompanied each other, and sang and harmonized with each other, and swirled like a turn." The party people "come and go when they are old, ask each other with labor, sit with each other, and worship and dance with their teeth". Today, various ethnic groups have formed their own unique festival customs in the long-term interaction, which has enriched the cultural connotation of the Spring Festival.
There are many kinds of customs in different places and different ethnic groups, but at the special moment of the Spring Festival, people from all over the world gather as a whole. Although there are many years and customs, their spiritual core tends to be the same, all of which contain the moral sentiment of paying attention to family affection and not forgetting the origin, the family and country feelings of loving the country and the family, praying for the peace of the country and the people, praying for blessings and disasters, yearning for the ideal of beauty and well-being. This is the common pursuit of the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and it is also an important embodiment of the sense of community of the Chinese nation.
Five. The Spring Festival is a happy and peaceful festival for family reunion, inheriting the concept of peace, harmony and harmony of the Chinese nation, not only pursuing unity and harmony between people, but also pursuing harmony between people and nature. The "Book of Rites" says that the first month is a season of "harmony between heaven and earth", "it is forbidden to cut trees, not to cover nests, not to kill children, not to kill birds, not to kill moose and eggs", especially emphasizing that "you must not call soldiers, and if you call soldiers, you will be ruined", and oppose waging war in the first month.
Spring Festival is a festival of peace and happiness, reflecting the Chinese's ardent expectations for a better life in the future. "The Book of Rites: Suburban Special Sacrifice" records the wax words of ancient times: "The soil is against its house, the water is to its ravine, the insects are not to be made, and the plants and trees are to be restored." "The Book of Songs: Shengmin" also points out that a great significance of sacrificing ancestors is to "prosper the heirs", that is, to prosper in the coming year. It can be seen that praying for harmony between heaven and man and abundant crops has been an important part of the New Year since ancient times. For thousands of years, "Gilgilly, Pepsi is happy" and "Prosperous years, Shitaiping" have become every Chinese's beautiful vision for the coming year.
The Spring Festival is a peaceful and joyful festival. "The Book of Rites: The Order of the Month" says: "The ancestors of the Lap have five rituals, and the workers and peasants rest them." In the "Book of Rites and Miscellaneous Notes", Confucius explained the meaning of the year-end festival with "one piece and one relaxation, the way of civil and military", that is, after a busy year, you need to relax and be happy, and rise it to the way of governing the country of King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou. "Celebrate the New Year", "Vigil and Cheer", "Year after Year, Joy and Joy Together, Jiaqing and the Times", from ancient times to the present, peace and joy are the constant theme of the Spring Festival.
Today, the significance of the Spring Festival is not limited to China, and many countries around the world have established the Spring Festival as a legal holiday. On 22 December 2023, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to designate the Chinese New Year (Chinese New Year) as a United Nations holiday. As the Spring Festival culture further expands to the world, the concept of peace, harmony and harmony will surely play a greater role in building a community with a shared future for mankind, promoting the development and progress of human society, and moving towards a better future.
The author, Zheng Renzhao, is a researcher at the Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a researcher at the Institute of Ancient History, Chinese Academy of History