东西方新年

　　NewYear:

　　ChineseNewYear(SimplifiedChinese:春节,or农历新年;TraditionalChinese:春节,or农历新年;pinyin:Chūnjié,orNónglìxīnnián),ortheSpringFestival/LunarNewYearisthemostimportantofthetraditionalChineseholidays.TheChineseNewYearperiodlastsfor15days,beginningonthefirstdayofthefirstlunarmonth(正月ZhengYue)oftheChinesecalendar.Theholidayperiodendswith元宵节（YuanXiaoJie),onthe15thdayofthefestival.

　　Itispossiblethatthebeginningoftheyearbeganwithmonth1duringtheXiaDynasty,month12duringtheShangDynasty,andmonth11duringtheZhouDynastyinChina,butintercalarymonthswereaddedaftermonth12duringboththeShangDynastyaccordingtosurvivingoraclebonesandtheZhouDynastyaccordingtoSimaQian.ThefirstEmperorofChinaQinShiHuangchangedthebeginningoftheyeartomonth10in221BC.WhethertheNewYearwascelebratedatthebeginningofthesemonthsoratthebeginningofmonth1orbothisunknown.In104BC,EmperorWuestablishedmonth1asthebeginningoftheyearwhereitremains.

　　Accordingtolegend,inancientChina,nian("Nyan"),aman-eatingbeastfromthemountains,couldinfiltratehousessilentlytopreyonhumans.Thepeoplelaterlearnedthatnianwassensitivetoloudnoisesandthecolorred,sotheyscareditawaywithexplosions,fireworksandtheliberaluseofthecolorred.Soguonianactuallymeanssurvivingthenian.ThesecustomsledtothefirstNewYearcelebrations.

　　Chuxior除夕inMandarinChinese.Chumeans"getridof"andxiisthedayofthelegendaryman-eatingbeast,nian,thatpreysonceayearonNewYearEve.Whennianarrived,peopleusedfirecrackerstoscarehimaway.Oncenianranaway,peoplejoinedtogethertocelebrateforanotheryearofsafelife.

　　CelebratedinternationallyinareaswithlargepopulationsofethnicChinese.ChineseNewYearisconsideredtobeamajorholidayfortheChineseaswellasethnicgroupswhowerestronglyinfluencedbyChineseculture.ThisincludesJapanese,Koreans,Miao(ChineseHmong),Mongolians,Vietnamese,Tibetans,theNepaleseandtheBhutanese(seeLosar).

　　ChineseNewYearisalsothetimewhenthelargesthumanmigrationtakesplacewhenoverseasChineseallaroundtheworldreturnhomeontheeveofChineseNewYeartohavereuniondinnerswiththeirfamilies.