Valentine's Day (English: Valentine's Day), also known as St. Valentine's Day, falls on February 14th every year and is one of the traditional festivals in the West.

Lovers send chocolates, greeting cards and flowers to each other on this day to express their love or friendship.

This festival originally commemorated two martyred saints of the early Christian church named Valentine.

Origin theory one: In the 3rd century AD, Emperor Claudius II of the Roman Empire announced the abandonment of all marriage commitments in the capital Rome. This was out of war considerations, so that more men with nothing to worry about could go to the battlefield.

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A priest named Sanctus Valentinus did not follow this will and continued to hold church weddings for young people in love.

After the incident was reported, Father Valentin was first whipped, then stoned, and finally hanged on the gallows on February 14, 270 AD.

After the 14th century, people began to commemorate this day.

Now, the day translated as "Valentine's Day" in Chinese is called Valentine's Day in Western countries to commemorate the priest who sacrificed his life for his lover.

Statement 2: It is said that Valentine was one of the earliest Christians. Being a Christian in that era meant danger and death.

To cover other martyrs, Valentine was caught and thrown into prison.

There he cured the blind eyes of the warden's daughter.

When the tyrant heard the miracle, he was very frightened, so he beheaded Valentine in public.

According to legend, on the morning of the execution, Valentine wrote a loving farewell letter to the warden's daughter, signed: From your Valentine.

On that day, the blind girl planted an apricot tree with red flowers in front of his tomb to express her feelings. This day was February 14th.

Since then, Christianity has designated February 14 as Valentine's Day.

Statement 3: In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday set up to show respect for Joanna.

Joanna was the queen of the Roman gods, and the Romans also worshiped her as the goddess of women and marriage.

The following February 15th is called the "Lupasala Festival", which is a festival used to show respect for other gods under Yona's rule.

In ancient Rome, the lives of young men and girls were strictly separated.

However, during the Lupasara festival, young men can choose the name of their beloved girl to be engraved on the vase.

In this way, during the festival, the young man can dance with the girl of his choice to celebrate the festival.

If the chosen girl is also interested in the boy, they can continue to match, and eventually they will fall in love and get married in the church together.

For this reason, later generations designated February 14th as Valentine's Day every year.

Theory 4: Originated from the Lupercalia Festival in ancient Rome. This theory is that the Christian church celebrates this day to combine the Lupercalia Festival in ancient Rome (celebrated on February 15th every year to bless the productivity of people, fields, and livestock) to Christianity.

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Among the gods worshiped by the Romans, Lupercus, the god of animal husbandry, was responsible for the protection of shepherds and their flocks.

Every year in February, the Romans would hold a grand ceremony to celebrate Lupercalia.

The calendar back then was slightly later than it is now, so Lupercalia was actually a celebration of the coming spring.

Some people also say that this festival celebrates the god Faunus, who is similar to the ancient Greek god Pan with human body, goat's feet and horns on his head, who is in charge of livestock and agriculture.

With the expansion of Roman power in Europe, the custom of Lupercalia was brought to what is now France and Britain.

One of the most popular holiday activities is similar to lottery.

The young women's names were placed in the box, and then the young men stepped forward to draw.

The chosen couple becomes lovers for a year or more.

The rise of Christianity made people's custom of commemorating the gods gradually fade away.

The priests did not want people to give up the joy of the festival, so they changed Lupercalia to Valentine's Day and moved it to February 14th.

In this way, the legend about the Valentine monks and the ancient festivals are naturally combined.

This festival was most popular in medieval England.

After the names of unmarried men and women are drawn, they will exchange gifts with each other, and the woman becomes the man's Valentine within this year.

A woman's name will be embroidered on a man's sleeve, and it becomes the man's sacred duty to care for and protect the woman.

The origin of the name of Valentine's Day, "Brewer's Dictionary of Epigrams and Fables" says: "Saint Valentine was a Roman priest who was imprisoned for aiding persecuted Christians. He later converted to Christianity... and was eventually used by others.

Beaten to death on February 14th..." The connection between the ancient custom of celebrating Valentine's Day and Valentine is actually purely coincidental.

In fact, this festival is likely related to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia or the mating season of birds.

Valentine's Day features couples giving each other gifts.

Today, people like to express their feelings with love cards.