Chinese New Year Background History

During the shang dynasty.

Chinese new year background history. Chinese new year also called lunar new year annual 15 day festival in china and chinese communities around the world that begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between january 21 and february 20 according to western calendars. The history of the chinese new year was said to start from the year end religious ceremony in shang dynasty. The origin of the festival can be traced back to the worshiping activities in china s ancient agrarian society.

A few said that it started from as early as emperor yao and shun. It is unclear when exactly the celebration of the new year began in china. Some people believe that chinese new year originated in the shang dynasty 1600 1046 bc when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning or the end of each year.

The date for the ceremony wasn t fixed till the han dynasty 202 bc 220 ad when emperor wudi commanded to use the lunar calendar. A national public holiday across the country to celebrate the rich chinese filipino relations and traditions embedded in filipino history. Chinese new year s eve half day and the first day of chinese new year.

The origins of the chinese new year festival are thousands of years old and are steeped in legends but it is unclear when the beginning of the year was celebrated before the qin dynasty. In 1912 the newly formed chinese republic governed by the nationalist party renamed the traditional holiday spring festival to get the chinese people to transition into celebrating the western new year. Festivities last until the following full moon.

Chinese new year s eve and the first three days. Beginning in 1949 under the rule of chinese communist party leader mao zedong the government forbade celebration of the traditional chinese new year and followed the gregorian calendar in its. Unlike the western calendar the chinese calendar shifts it was reset.

The origins of this renaming from chinese new year to spring festival are fascinating and not widely known. The concept of a year was further strengthened in the han dynasty under the rule of emperor wudi when he declared the first day of the lunar calendar to be the chinese new year. Its exact beginning is not recorded.