In the first year of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, that is, BC 104, astronomers such as Luo Xiahong and Deng Ping formulated the taichu calendar, which restored the beginning of October to the beginning of Meng Chun, and later generations gradually improved it into the lunar calendar (that is, the lunar calendar) used today. Since then, China has been using the Gregorian calendar (lunar calendar, also known as the lunar calendar) calendar until the end of the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for 2080.
After the Revolution of 1911, the Gregorian calendar was gradually changed. Later, in order to distinguish the two New Years, and in view of the fact that the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar is just before and after the Lunar New Year, the first day of the lunar calendar was renamed the "Spring Festival".
2. The origin of Lantern Festival
According to the Taoist saying of "Sanyuan", the 15th day of the first month is also called "Shangyuan Festival". Since ancient times, the Lantern Festival custom has been dominated by the warm and festive custom of watching lanterns.
The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to general data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month has been paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. The activities of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to sacrifice "Taiyi" in Ganquan Palace on the night of the first month are regarded by later generations as the first sound of offering sacrifices to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month.
However, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month was really a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The custom of burning lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month is related to the eastward spread of Buddhism. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism flourished, and officials and ordinary people generally "burned lanterns for the Buddha" on the fifteenth day of the first month, so Buddhist lights were spread all over the people. Since the Tang Dynasty, Lantern Festival has become a legal thing and has gradually become a folk custom.
3. The origin of Tomb-Sweeping Day.
As the days of Qingming and cold food are close, and cold food is the day when people ban fire to sweep graves, gradually, cold food and Qingming become one, and cold food has become another name for Qingming, and it has also become a custom in Qingming period. On Qingming day, fireworks are not moved, but only cold food is eaten.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is also called an outing festival, at the turn of mid-spring and late spring. It is a traditional festival in China, and it is also one of the most important festivals for offering sacrifices to ancestors and sweeping graves. Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese nation, began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years.
4. The origin of Dragon Boat Festival
Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay their respects to Qu Yuan. Fishermen rowed boats and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other foods prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river "plop, plop", saying that the ichthyosaurs, shrimps and crabs were full and would not bite the doctor's body.
People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that it was necessary to stun the dragon water beast with medicine so as not to hurt Dr. Qu.
Later, for fear that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, people came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and wrapping them with colored silk to develop them into brown seeds. After that, on the fifth day of May every year, there was the custom of dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine. In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.
5. The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of the moon in ancient times and has a long history. The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" was first recorded in Zhou Li. Because of the ancient calendar in China, August 15 of the lunar calendar happens to be the autumn of a year, and it is in the middle of August, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival".
In addition, in the four seasons of the year, each season is divided into three parts: "Meng, Zhong and Ji", so the second month of autumn is called "Zhong Qiu". It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. There are still folk myths and legends about "Wu Gang cutting Guangxi and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon".