What are the similarities and differences between Spring Festival and Christmas in the West?

Christmas and Spring Festival are the products of different nationalities and cultures. Both of them created a warm atmosphere in that cold season, pinning their gratitude and hope on saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.

The origin of Christmas

On February 25th, 65438, Christmas is a joyful religious festival, and it is the day when Christians celebrate the birth of Christian founder Christ. Love, family and belonging are important themes. According to the Bible, the holy book of Christians, God decided to reincarnate his only son, Jesus Christ, and live on earth in order to let people know God better, learn to love God and love each other better. The exact date of Jesus' birth is unknown. In the early Roman calendar (AD 336), Christmas was designated as 65438+February 25th, which was the first special day of the birth of Jesus. /kloc-In the 20th century, Christmas became the most important celebration of Christianity, and it began to become a serious religious celebration. Later, non-religious decorations and gifts and feasts became popular [1].

The Origin of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival has a history of about 4000 years. The designation of the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival began in 19 13 years. The Spring Festival is the most lively and grand traditional festival in a year. Spring Festival is also called "Year". Legend has it that there was a monster named Nian in Archaean, with tentacles on its head, which was extremely fierce. Every time the cold will run out, when the Spring Festival comes, it will come out to hurt people and animals and destroy homes. In order to defend it, people gathered together and used the characteristics of "Year" and "Park Red" to scare it away by pasting "Fu Tao" (Spring Festival couplets) and "firecrackers". I'm used to it. During the Spring Festival, people always place infinite hopes on the new year.

celebrate

Christmas and Spring Festival are celebrated in the same way, that is, they both last for a long time. Although Christmas is between February 25th, 65438+ and1October 6th, generally speaking, Christmas begins after Thanksgiving and lasts until June, 65438+. Broadly speaking, the Spring Festival starts from Laba, enters the schedule on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and lasts until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. In some places, we also celebrate the Grain Filling Festival on the 25th day of the first month and the 2nd day of the second month to pray for good weather and good harvest. Although both festivals last for more than a month, due to the differences in cultural customs, the celebrations of the Spring Festival and Christmas have their own characteristics.

Christmas celebrations

Christmas is a very important holiday in the west. Like the Spring Festival, every place has its own unique way to celebrate. Generally speaking, at Christmas, people will decorate the Christmas tree, give Christmas cards to each other, have a Christmas dinner and give Christmas presents to children.

Christmas trees are usually made of evergreen trees such as cedar and cypress, which symbolizes the longevity of life. The tree is decorated with all kinds of lights and candles, colorful flowers, toys and stars, and hung with all kinds of Christmas presents. On Christmas Eve, people sing and dance around the Christmas tree and have fun.

Christmas cards are greeting cards to celebrate Christmas and New Year. They are printed with pictures of stories about the birth of Jesus, and wishes such as "Celebrate Christmas" and "Happy New Year".

Just as people in China eat New Year's Eve dinner during the Spring Festival, Europeans and Americans also attach great importance to the whole family sitting around the Christmas tree for a festive meal. The custom of eating turkey for Christmas dinner began at 1620. This custom prevails in America. The Christmas dinner in England is roast goose, not turkey. On Christmas Eve, Austria likes to invite relatives and friends of the whole family to a restaurant for Christmas dinner in droves. Among them, turkey, preserved chicken, roast cowboy meat and pork leg are essential. With famous wine, everyone has a good time.

What children look forward to most is the gift brought by Santa Claus. It is said that Santa Claus was originally the bishop of Mela in Asia Minor and his name was Saint Nicholas. After his death, he was honored as a saint. He is an old man with a white beard and a red hat. Every Christmas, he drives a sleigh pulled by deer from the north, enters the houses from the chimney, and puts Christmas presents in socks and hangs them on the children's bedside or in front of the stove. Therefore, when westerners celebrate Christmas, parents will put Christmas gifts for their children in socks and hang them on the bedside of Christmas Eve. The next day, the first thing the children woke up was to look for a gift from Santa Claus by the bed.

The way to celebrate the Spring Festival

The tradition of setting off firecrackers originated from a monster named Nian. This monster has blue face and fangs, which is very terrible. On the 30 th night of the twelfth lunar month, they will flee to various villages to kill people. Once I went to a village on the evening of New Year's Eve, and it happened that two children were setting off firecrackers. Nian didn't know what it was, only heard the crackling sound and dazzling light, scared and fled. As a result, people discovered Nian's weakness of being afraid of the light and sound of firecrackers. Setting off firecrackers every year130 February has gradually evolved into a custom [2].

Sticking Spring Festival couplets and changing door gods are important customs in the Spring Festival. Every New Year's Eve, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should post red paper Spring Festival couplets and mighty door gods. Spring Festival couplets and door gods are used to eliminate ominous and protect the safety of a family. They have a long history. The most important meal of the year is the New Year's Eve dinner, also called the reunion dinner. Although the dishes of New Year's Eve dinner vary from place to place, each dish has a certain meaning, such as the homonym "Ji" of chicken, which means auspiciousness; Fish homophonic "Yu", that is, more than a year; Tofu is homophonic "striving for wealth", that is, wealth; The rice cake symbolizes "getting taller every year"; Almond symbolizes "happy people"; Jiaozi homophonic "Jiaozi", that is, the meaning of Jiaozi at a young age. Jiaozi also has various fillings, some with sweets and peanuts. Eating sugar means that life is as sweet as honey, and eating peanuts means immortality.

On the first day of the first month, when the New Year comes, people open doors and set off firecrackers, commonly known as "opening firecrackers". After breakfast, people should pay New Year greetings and wish each other well, He Xinchun. Usually, the order of New Year greetings is: first, worship the heavens and the earth, then worship the ancestors, then worship the elders of Gaotang, then the whole family worships each other in the order of generations, and finally go out to worship. With the popularization of telephone, internet and mobile phone, people can call and send emails to friends and relatives to pay New Year greetings. In recent years, there has been a new situation of using mobile phone text messages to pay New Year greetings.

Similarities between Christmas and Spring Festival

Spring Festival and Christmas have different origins and celebrations. As the leaders of their respective festival cultures, Spring Festival and Christmas have the same place. Festival culture is not only a window to show a picture of national cultural life, but also a system of symbols and meanings. This is the hope for happiness, the yearning for kindness and the blessing for the future.

The prevalence of Christmas and the weakening of Spring Festival.

In cities and between campuses, the atmosphere of Christmas is getting stronger and stronger. Spring Festival is the root of traditional festivals in China. No matter how grand Christmas is, China people, as orientals, can't do without it in the final analysis. The behavior of young people and businessmen is just an excuse for Christmas. Most people who celebrate Christmas don't spend it at home, but invite friends to hotels and restaurants, and there are not as many complicated ceremonies as foreigners. They are just looking for a place to eat, drink and have fun. Just follow the trend and say "Merry Christmas".