Origination of the Spring FestivalⅢ

According to historical records, the origination of the Spring Festival traces back more than 4,000 years ago to the reign of Shun, a legendary monarch said to have ruled ancient China around 2200 B.C. It is said that on the day when Shun succeeded Yao as the new leader of the country, he led his people to offer sacrifice and worshipping rituals to the heaven and the earth. And from then on, people treated the day as the beginning of a new year, namely Zheng Yue Chu Yi (正月初一), and started to hold celebrations on the day annually. However, Zheng Yue Chu Yi didn’t fall on the same day in different dynasties. For example, in the Xia Dynasty, it was the first day of Lunar January but in the Shang Dynasty it was Lunar December 1st. And in the Qin Dynasty it is Lunar October 1st that was officially acknowledged by the first feudal emperor of China – Qinshihuang as Zheng Yue Chu Yi. Later in the Han Dynasty, Han Wu Di, the seventh emperor of the dynasty, re-specified Lunar January 1st as Zhen Yue Chu Yi. From then on, Zheng Yue Chu Yi was fixed on Lunar January 1st.