Christmas comes every year, and in addition to North Korea, Saudi Arabia andother special places, there are their own ways of celebrating around theworld. Therefore, as businessmen strive to improve their marketing,cultural defenders are following this trend. It seems that as long as themedia express a clear point of view, the deep impact of foreign culture can beblocked.

However, as many similar cases show, the guardians have no idea what Christmasis all about. Maybe they don't know and don't want to see it: Christmasand the traditional Spring Festival actually have the same origin and have beencelebrated by all human beings for thousands of years.

The early Zhou people and their merchants had their own winter solstice and NewYear traditions.

As early as ancient times, the Central Plains were the target of variousgroups. Since each group comes from a different region, there willinevitably be deviations in the way you date. In their view, theassimilated customs that the world takes for granted are difficult tounderstand. Therefore, in December each year, the Yin and Shang forces fromthe northeast to the south begin a new year. As for Zhou et al.'S marchfrom northwest to east, this time it was advanced to November.

After the Zhou people settled in the Central Plains, they continued to expandtheir power under the separation system, affecting many customs. Accordingto research, later scholars also found that their New Year is the wintersolstice. Although the ancients lacked modern scientific concepts, theyobserved the existence of this season long ago. Due to the need to preparefor winter, it is necessary to prepare materials to collect autumn harvestedgrain and livestock for resettlement. Then we will hold sacrifice ritualsand celebrations and look forward to the tribe's long night as soon aspossible. Therefore, in the eyes of the ancients, the Winter Solstice isnot only the end of the previous year, but also the bright beginning of thefollowing year.

The winter solstice and New Year of the Zhou people were forcibly separated byEmperor Hanwu.

This custom of the Winter Solstice and New Year's Day was left by the Zhoupeople and was not modified until the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Hanwuwas good at pleasure and not only liked to fight everywhere, but alsopromulgated a new calendar to integrate the country's agriculturalresources. The long-lasting lunar calendar was formed during histenure. Although new calendar concepts from India, Arabia, and Europecontinued to be absorbed around the next 2000 or so, they were basically thesame kind. The most important part is to move the starting point of theyear back to the Spring Festival, which is very familiar to everyone today.

However, the Winter Solstice, as a more ancient sacrificial node, is stillretained by the government and people. However, compared to its former glory,its status and influence are gradually weakening. However, before theformation of the contemporary festival system, people paid more attention tothe beginning of the winter solstice. According to the Book of Later HanDynasty, the emperor and officials will be on vacation during thisperiod. The Southern Song's Tokyo Dream Hualu also mentioned that Beijingresidents would buy new clothes, food and ancestor worship during the wintersolstice. Even the poor with four walls borrowed money to celebrate thewinter solstice.

The folk has always maintained the status of the winter solstice.

The tradition of the winter solstice and the new year is followed by mostpeople around the world.

Because the natural significance of the winter solstice is so prominent, itwill naturally be recognized and celebrated by most cultures in theworld. Regardless of the barbarians around the Central Plains or theMediterranean world far from the mainland, they are constantly absorbing therelevant customs in convergence.

In the poverty-stricken areas on the southwestern borders, there is a grandcustom to celebrate the winter solstice. The ancestors of the localresidents were mostly ancient magpies or Miaoli, and they were related to theZhou people of Xiqiao. They naturally retained the original folk customsand affected the Han families who later moved in. For example, thetraditional New Year of the Yi people, Bujiu, is close to the wintersolstice. It was just years of error that caused the separation of the twodates. Even today, some people have suggested directly returning thecloth's date to the winter solstice.

Safavid's Persian Court

Of course, outside the northern border of the empire, a large number ofGermanic tribes also celebrate the winter solstice. In addition to thecommonality of primitive humans, this is also due to the Ukrainian-Polishregion of Eastern Europe, which is the range of activities of nomadic groups innorthern Iran. Some groups will migrate westward into the Hungarian basinand connect with surrounding forest residents. Therefore, the wintersolstice culture also has a long history in the hinterland of continentalEurope.

As a result, people on both sides of Germany and the Baltic Sea celebrate theirYale holiday during the winter solstice. Today, many people know nothingabout the god of the forest they worship, but the white beard, pine trees andreindeer in their image can be found in the image of Santa Claus in latergenerations.

The German Winter Solstice and Odin became the image of Christmas

. The main god in Nordic mythology, Odin, is a regional branch of this ancientGermanic god. When the Anglo-Saxons from the west coast of Germany arrivedin Britain, the winter solstice custom was also introduced. In addition,early Celtic residents had a similar tradition. New England residentswelcome the sunrise at certain times of the year. The site chosen wasStonehenge, which was left by early humans.

Hundreds of years later, the Vikings who maintained their original beliefs alsospread the winter solstice tradition. In Iceland, Greenland andNewfoundland where they sail, migrant communities make sacrifices at specifictimes. They also didn't know that in the remote mountains of southernPeru, there were also Native Indians celebrating the winter solstice. WhenEuropeans knew these things, it was when the Spanish conquerors arrived in the16th century. Although the latter despised the barbaric customs of theindigenous people, they did not want to see that their Christmas and the other'sNew Year were the same.

The British who still reach Stonehenge for the winter

solstice

It turned out that in the process of spreading early Christianity, manymissionaries adopted cultural compromises. Many of the original churcheswere former altars, so residents can continue to pray where they are mostfamiliar. As for an important day that cannot be shaken like the wintersolstice, it is natural to carry out "leniency treatment" in asimilar manner.

Therefore, Jesus, who was not born in the winter at all, must change hisbirthday. The Latin Church in Western Europe knew this, but they also tookthe opportunity to confirm it. As a by-product of cultural developmentduring this period, the image of Odin, widely admired by the Germans, wasquickly absorbed by later Santa Clauses.

The image of ancient Odin has become a direct reference to Santa Claus.

Only Eastern Greek churches still follow a more primitive Christmas. Thisnot only laid the foundation for the future division of the East and Westchurches, but also made today's world actually have two parallel Christmasdays.

However, the calendar will change over time, and the dates of Christmas willchange from the initial winter solstice. To this day, the GregorianChristmas in the world is December 25 every year. Although not far fromthe winter solstice, it is easy to forget the connection between thetwo. However, from a fundamental point of view, this seeminglyforeign-style Christian holiday is actually the same as the Spring Festival inthe East Asian world. If cultural defenders see this, will they be morevulnerable than the Spanish conquerors 500 years ago?

The effect of Christmas today is more similar to the custom of the ancientwinter solstice.

Christmas posters made

in China in the early 20th century In modern China, Christmas is alsocalled the "winter solstice". Local civilized media such asShanghai's Shenbao are often referred to as "Winter Solstice in WesternCountries" and "Winter Solstice in Foreign Countries." Inessence, this is also because the dates between the two are so close that it iseasy for readers to understand quickly.

However, journalists at the time did not expect the younger generation to argueover what to eat at the festival more than 100 years later. After all, inthe era when the Revolutionary Party shouted "expulsion of fullpeople", eating dumplings has not been defined by cultural defenders asthe tip of the tongue. In addition to the southern half wall, which hasalways been the basic dish of dumpling culture, there are some special folkcustoms, such as eating glutinous rice cakes and lamb in remoteareas. Even in Nanjing, where people north of the Yangtze River have longemigrated, chicken soup is encouraged around the winter solstice.

on

Apart from the fact that some countries have confirmed that the dumplings wereintroduced by the Western Mongolian Army, many places are even older. Thislayer of food culture even continued to the West, entered the German-speakingarea of