Spring Festival should be Chinese New Year, not Lunar New Year

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-20

The Spring Festival, the first day of the first lunar month, is the first day of the Lunar New Year, also known as the lunar yearChinese New Year。The concept of the Spring Festival only existed after the Xinhai Revolution, but the meaning and traditional customs of the Spring Festival originated in the ancient Yaoshun period, more than 4,000 years ago. When Shun became the leader of the tribal alliance, he led his people to worship heaven and earth at the end of the year, and the prototype of "Nian" had been formed. After the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, with the deepening of people's worship of heaven and earth and their belief in ancestors, people used various formsCelebrate the harvestWorship the heavens and ancestorsExorcise ghosts and avoid evil spirits, welcome auspicious blessings, gradually formed the custom of the New Year, so the Spring Festival is also called the "New Year's Festival".

There are many names for the Lunar New Year, such as "Shangri" and "Yuan Ri" in the pre-Qin period; During the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, it was called "New Year's Day", "Zhengdan", and "Zhengri"; During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was also called "Yuan Ri", "Head of State", etc.; In the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was called "New Year's Day", "New Year's Day", "Xinzheng", "Xinyuan" and so on; In the Qing Dynasty, it was always called "New Year's Day" or "Yuan Day". It can be seen that in ancient China, the Lunar New Year has always been called "New Year's Day".

From ancient times to the present, the first month of each year in the lunar calendar is called the first month or the first month. However, the specific date of the "first month" before the Han Dynasty was not the same. In the Xia Dynasty, the second month (Yin Yue) after the month of the winter solstice (Ziyue) was the first month, which was called "Xia Zheng"; In the Shang Dynasty, the first month after the sub-month (ugly month) was the first month, which was called "Yin Zheng"; The Zhou Dynasty took the sub-month as the first month, which was called "Zhou Zheng". In the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (104 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promulgated the Langzhong people of SichuanDrop downThe "Taichu Calendar" formulated stipulates that:A return year is one year in lengthA synodic month is one month in lengthAnd change the first day of the first lunar month to the beginning of the yearThe first day of the Lunar New Year is called New Year's DaySince then, this name has basically been used in successive dynasties.

According to research, February 11, 103 BC, that is, the first day of the first month of the first month of the second year of Emperor Wu of Han (Xia Zheng), is the first Lunar New Year ever passed by Chinese since the implementation of the "Taichu Calendar".

Historically, the term "Spring Festival" first appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty Yang Zhenlie's Biography, which reads: ".There is no snow in winterSpring Festival rainHundreds of people are anxiousAnd the repairs don't stopSincerity to the drought is also a sign of drought。But in ancient times, "Spring Festival" referred to the festival of spring, especially the "beginning of spring" of the 24 solar terms. The Lunar New Year of the ancients actually celebrated "New Year's Day" and "Beginning of Spring".

In 1912, *** announced the adoption of the Gregorian calendar year, and on January 21, 1914, he was the chief of the interior of ChinaZhu QichaoThe "New Year's Day" of the lunar calendar was changed to "Spring Festival" and reported to Yuan Da**, which was approved. Since then, China has called January 1 of the Gregorian calendar "New Year's Day", and the first day of the first lunar month is called "Spring Festival".

Zhu Qichuan named the Lunar New Year "Spring Festival", from "New Year's Day" to "Spring Festival", "Chinese Year" is endless, "Chinese style" is endless, and Chinese culture has a long history.

The first day of the first lunar month is named the Spring FestivalMarks the beginning of the Lunar New YearThis is the time of spring returnA time when everything is recoveringIt symbolizes the rebirth and renewal of nature。Based on the ancient lunar calendar system and the customs and production guidance of agricultural society, the starting point of the lunar calendar is the beginning of spring of the 24 solar terms, that is, when the sun reaches 315 degrees of yellow longitude, the first month of the lunar calendar is the first month of the lunar calendar, and it is also the first month after the beginning of spring, so the Spring Festival falls on the first day of the first lunar month. At the same time, the Spring Festival, as the first day of the first lunar month, is also stipulated by the lunar calendar system based on the changes of celestial phenomena in China's ancient agricultural society, which represents a new beginning and hope, and is an important node to celebrate the New Year.

Therefore,The Spring Festival is a one from ChinaA traditional festival with a long history and culture, without the Chinese background, this festival is meaningless and nondescript. The ghosts and sticks can only translate the Spring Festival as ".chinese new year", instead of ".lunar new year

"Lunar New Year" literally means "lunar new year", which is not accurate because they don't know much about the Chinese calendar. The Spring Festival is the first day of the first lunar month, relative to the Gregorian calendarNew Year's Day(solar year), it is called a "lunar year".Lunar calendarThe correct translation should be".lunisolar calendar"lunisolar" means "moon and day" in English, because the lunar calendar is a lunisolar calendar.

We Chinese ourselves often do not understand the lunar calendar and the lunar calendar, which should not be. So-calledLunar calendarIt refers to a calendar based on the periodic changes of the moon's phases, regardless of the influence of the sun. The lunar calendar is characterized by accurate monthsThe first day of junior high school must be Shuo(New Moon).dayFifteen must be hope(Full Moon).day, but it does not match the annual apparent movement of the sun. The average length of a lunar year is only 354 days, 8:48:336 seconds, which is about 11 days different from the length of a year (365 days in a normal year and 366 days in a leap year) from the Gregorian calendar (a type of solar calendar), and with the accumulation of time, the four seasons will be disordered. You see, in less than three years, the difference between the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is about a month, and within five years, we are afraid that we will have to spend the Spring Festival in the summer, which is obviously inconsistent with natural celestial phenomena.

In order to bridge this gap (how to make up for it, please refer to the article "Understanding the Lunar Calendar, Lunar Calendar and Gregorian Calendar" in one article), our ancients were very clever and invented itLunar calendar。To put it simply, the lunar calendar not only refers to the moon but also considers the sun, combining the two, so that the months follow the lunar calendar and the year follows the solar calendar, which is a very advanced and scientific traditional Chinese calendar. To put it bluntly, the lunar calendar is based on the lunar calendar and is integratedGregorian calendar(a calendar based on the annual movement of the sun) component of the mixed calendar, which is mainly based on the lunar calendar, supplemented by the solar calendar.

So as a Chinese, when promoting to the outside world, you should directly translate the Spring Festival as "Chinese new year" or "lunisolar new year", do you remember?

On the way home is the New Year

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