New Year's Da
Name: New Year's Day(yuan Dan in Chinese pronunciation)
Date: January 1st
The concept of "Nian"(meaning "year" in chinese)originally derived from agriculture production. In ancient times, People called the growth cycle of grain "Nian"(a year), which means, when grains
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Enormous "China net." |
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| On New Year's Eve, people strike the bell and pray for a blessed New Year. | get ripe one time, it is 0ne year. 1n Xia Dynasty(2070-1600 BC)and Shang Dynasty(1600-1046 BC), Chinese people created Xia Calendar, by which people regarded the cycle of moon being full or not as a month and divide one year into 12 months. The usage of the concept "Nian" started from Zhou Dynasty. Chinese people usually call the first day of a year. "Yuan Dan." "Yuan" means "beginning," and "Dan" refers to the time of dawn,also refers to daytime. The combination of "Yuan" and "Dan" means the very beginning time, namely the firs day of one year.
0riginally the first day of Zheng Yue(the first lunar month) was called "Yuan Dan"in China, but it was not unified what day should be the first day of Zheng Yue. And the dates of Chinese New Year's Day are not the same either in various dynasties. For Instance,it was on the first of Zheng Yue in Xia Dynasty. On the first day of the twelfth lunar month in Shang Dynastv, and on the first day of the eleventh lunar month in Zhou Dynasty.
After Qin Shihuang(the first emperor in China, 259-210 BC) unified the six states , Qin Dynast) took the first day of the tenth lunar month as "Yuan Dan,"and this stipulation had been followed by the later dynasties since then. In 104 BC , Han Wudi (an emperor of Han dynasty, 156-87 BC)accepted the advice of Sima Qian (c.145 or 135 BC-?) and some other people, and started to use today. Like the Calendar of Xia Dynasty, Which is Chinese lunar also the calendar of Xia Dynasty, Taichu Calendar also took Zheng Yue as the beginning of one year and adopted the 24 solar terms into it. Although all later dynasty made some change on it, they basically followed the calendar's blueprint and took the first day of Zheng Yue as "Yuan Dan."
After Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the government of Qjng Dynasty was overthrown, the feudal rule of China was finally over, and Mr. Sun Zhongshan(or Sun Yat-sen, 1866-1925) established the government of the Republic of China(1912-1949) in Nanjing. The representatives of all provincial
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| Annual New Year Concerts are becoming the fashion in numerous cities nowadays. | governors gathered together in Nanjing to discuss the Problem of calendar. In order to be convenient for agriculture production and for statistics, the government stipulated that the lunar calendar will be used in common people's life, and the Gregorian calendar will be used in government, factories, schools, and social organizations. On September 27, 1949, the first session of Chinese People's Political Consultation Conference(CPPCC)passed a resolution, which formally stipulated January 1"of the Gregory calendar as "Yuan Dan"(namely the New Year's Day) and the first day of lunar calendar).
Chinese people attach more importance to the New Year's Day of lunar calendar than to that of the Gregorian Calendar. Therefore, the Celebrations for the New Year's Day are not so warm and big-scaled as those of Chun Jie. However, around the New Year's Day, people also have some big celebrations, such as orchestral concert and Parties. Greeting cards are also Presented to each other among friends, relatives and some organizations to express their good wishes. |
