The Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) is one of the most important and distinctive traditional festivals in China, an important part of China’s excellent traditional culture. It is the first day of the lunar year (also called the Lunar New Year), the first day of the first lunar month, commonly known as “Guo Nian” (passing the year). From the Laba Festival or the Little New Year to the Lantern Festival, the celebrations are all called “Guo Nian.”

The Spring Festival has a long history, originating from early human primitive beliefs and nature worship. It evolved from the ancient New Year’s prayers and sacrifices, a primitive religious ritual where people would hold sacrificial activities at the beginning of the year to pray for a bountiful harvest and prosperity for livestock and people. Over time, these sacrificial activities gradually evolved into various celebrations, eventually forming the Spring Festival we know today.

During the Spring Festival, the Han Chinese and many ethnic minorities in China hold various activities to celebrate. These activities mainly revolve around ancestor worship and respect for elders, giving thanks and praying for blessings, family reunions, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new, and praying for a bountiful harvest, all bearing rich ethnic characteristics. The Spring Festival is rich in folk customs, including drinking Laba porridge, worshipping the Kitchen God, sweeping dust, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year pictures, pasting the character “福” (fortune) upside down, staying up late on New Year’s Eve, eating dumplings, giving lucky money, paying New Year’s visits, and visiting temple fairs.

Historical Evolution

The Prototype of the Ancient Spring Festival

The harvest festival is the earliest origin of the Spring Festival. The development direction of agricultural life in China was already established in the Neolithic Age. The seasonal festivals of agricultural China followed the rhythm of life in agricultural society. The sacrifices and celebrations after the harvest naturally became the markers of the annual cycle. In ancient society, people understood the daily time process from a divine perspective. Accompanying the four seasons were seasonal sacrificial activities. People used various seasonal sacrificial rituals to interrupt daily life in order to communicate with the gods of heaven, earth, and spirits. The winter and spring seasons at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year were particularly important. Traditional large-scale seasonal sacrificial ceremonies were often held during this specific time. According to the “Shuowen Jiezi” (a Chinese dictionary), sacrifice meant offering meat to the gods. Offering food to deities is a fundamental practice in traditional Chinese sacrifices. The Chinese believe that offering the finest or seasonal foods to the gods is akin to serving delicacies to honored guests, effectively expressing one’s sincerity. The main activities of the ancient Spring Festival were sacrifices to various gods and prayers for a bountiful harvest.

Ancient Spring Festival sacrifices were primarily large-scale public ceremonies held at the end of the year and the beginning of the next. The objects of worship were heaven, earth, mountains, rivers, ancestral temples, and the altars of the land and grain. Offerings were abundant, and the ceremonies were grand and well-organized, forming an important part of the ritual system of tribal groups or the state. The sacrifices were presided over by the emperor, and participants included civil and military officials.

The year-end grand sacrifice was a solemn and summarizing ceremony for the gods of heaven, earth, and humanity at the end of the year. The Book of Rites records two forms of this year-end grand sacrifice: one was the “Great Drinking and Steaming Ceremony,” a grand ritual at the ancestral temple, which also included sacrifices to the sun, moon, stars, public altar gods, gate gods, and the five daily sacrifices for the gate, door, central hall, stove, and travel. The time was in the tenth month of the Xia calendar, the last month of the Zhou calendar year, so a grand sacrifice was held to the gods. The first was the Great Wax Sacrifice, the year-end Great Wax Sacrifice, called Jiaping in the Xia Dynasty, Qingsi in the Shang Dynasty, and Great Wax Sacrifice in the Zhou Dynasty. It involved sacrifices to eight gods: Xianse, Sise, Baizhong, Nong, Youbiaozhuan, Qinshou, Fang, and Shuiyong.

On the day of Lichun (the Beginning of Spring), the emperor would go to the eastern suburbs to welcome the Qi (vital energy). On Lichun, the Zhou emperor wore blue clothes, rode in a blue chariot, and led the three dukes, nine ministers, feudal lords, and high officials to the eastern suburbs to welcome spring. Then, an auspicious day of the month, such as the first Xin day, was chosen to hold a suburban sacrifice to Heaven, praying for a good harvest from the Supreme God. After the suburban sacrifice, the Zhou emperor also chose an auspicious day of the earthly branch, such as the Hai day, to hold an agricultural ceremony. The emperor, personally carrying farming tools such as plows and hoes, and accompanied by the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, feudal lords, and high officials, entered the fields to symbolically cultivate the land. This is what historical records often refer to as “personally cultivating the imperial fields,” meaning the Zhou king personally labored in the fields for the Heavenly Emperor, and also prayed for a bountiful harvest that year. This ritual of offering sacrifices in the suburbs after the beginning of spring in the first lunar month to pray for a good harvest became a major political event for successive dynasties.

Ancient society worshipped nature, and seasonal beliefs reflected people’s reverence for the mysterious natural world. Although the Spring Festival had not yet appeared as an official name, its significance as a seasonal festival had already taken shape. People regarded the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, in which the Spring Festival falls, as a period with special divine significance, and through devout rituals, they achieved communication and exchange with heaven and earth and all things.

After the Qin and Han Dynasties

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, Chinese society gradually moved away from the influence of early primitive religious beliefs, and the coordination between seasonal festivals and social life became a focus. As the beginning of the year, the Spring Festival had significant social meaning after the Qin and Han Dynasties. The court used the beginning of the year as an opportunity to demonstrate and strengthen the bond between the emperor and his subjects, while the common people regarded it as a good time for family gatherings in villages and towns.

Qin Dynasty to Mid-Han Dynasty

From the Qin Dynasty to the mid-Han Dynasty, the beginning of the year was in the tenth month of the lunar calendar, with the first day of the tenth month being the New Year. In the first year of the Taichu era of Emperor Wu of Han (104 BC), the beginning of the year was fixed in the month of Jianyin (the first month of the lunar calendar), a practice followed by subsequent dynasties. This brought it close to the solar term of Lichun (the beginning of spring), aligning the start of the year with the beginning of the four seasons, allowing the New Year and the Spring Festival to be celebrated simultaneously. The tenth-month New Year of the Qin Dynasty was called “Qin New Year’s Day” in the Han Dynasty, and its celebratory rituals were preserved. The Jingchu Suishi Ji still records the custom of eating millet and meat soup on the “Qin New Year’s Day” during the Southern Dynasties, which later evolved into the “Cold Clothes Festival.”

Mid-Han Dynasty and Later

From the mid-Han Dynasty onwards, the beginning of the year was on the first day of the first lunar month, called Zhengyue Dan, Zhengdan, or Zhengri. The first day of the year in the first lunar month was established after the royal calendar was finalized, hence the Records of the Grand Historian states: “The first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the king’s year.” The first day of the first lunar month was an important celebration day for the Han Dynasty imperial family. The court held a large-scale court assembly, and “every year’s first month was a grand court ceremony to receive congratulations.” The emperor held court early on the first day of the first lunar month to receive congratulations from civil and military officials, who also received New Year’s banquet gifts.

Under the influence of the court, the emperor’s first day of the new year gradually became a major folk festival. During the Han Dynasty, folk customs for the New Year shifted from the traditional Laba Festival and Laba Day to the first day of the first lunar month. Cui Shi’s Four Seasons of the People from the Eastern Han Dynasty records the sacrificial rituals and celebrations of the first day of the first lunar month. Divination at the beginning of the year was one of the main customs of the Han Dynasty’s New Year’s Day. People in the Han Dynasty predicted the year’s droughts, floods, and harvests on the first day of the first lunar month.

Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties

During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the beginning of the year was called Yuanzheng, Yuanri, or Yuanhui. The New Year’s court ceremony remained a grand court ceremony. Due to a lack of historical records, only a general outline of the grand ceremony of Yuanhui during the Wei Dynasty is known.

On the eve of the first day of the Lunar New Year, court officials sat outside the Duanmen Gate, while ceremonial music and drums were set up in front of the palace. Before the fifth quarter of the night, the officials entered the palace and took their places. The emperor sat down, and the officials rose, then offered their congratulations in turn until dawn. The emperor received congratulations from vassal kings, envoys, and officials in several stages, with the officials bowing and shouting “Long live the Emperor!” The emperor then bestowed wine and food upon everyone. During the New Year’s Day celebrations of the Six Dynasties, a white tiger-shaped wine vessel was placed in the palace courtyard. Those who could speak frankly and offer advice in the palace courtyard could open the vessel and drink from it. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the winter solstice celebrations were abolished.

Sui and Tang Dynasty Spring Festival

The Sui and Tang Dynasty Spring Festival was called Yuanri, Suiri, or Yuanzheng. Yuanri was the festival for the new year. From the Tang Dynasty onwards, the Spring Festival was designated as a government statutory holiday. The “Jia Ning Ling” (假宁令) during the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty stipulated that seven days of leave would be granted for both Yuanri and the winter solstice. The seven-day Yuanri holiday consisted of three days before the New Year and three days after. On New Year’s Day, the imperial court held its customary morning court ceremony to celebrate the new year.

Due to the abundance of lanterns and candles lit by officials at the morning court, Chang’an resembled a “city of fire.” Officials from the Secretariat and Chancellery, along with civil and military officials, presented congratulatory memorials, which were read aloud by palace eunuchs. Congratulatory memorials from various localities were received by the Vice Minister of Rites, who would kneel and read the memorial from the highest-ranking official before presenting it. Families gathered for New Year’s Day, holding banquets to celebrate. Bai Juyi, who spent the festival with his family in Jiangnan, felt the warmth of kinship, as evidenced by his poem “A Playful Remark at a Family Banquet on New Year’s Day, Presented to My Brothers and Nephews, and Also to Attendant Censor Zhang and Judge Yin.”

Drinking wine on New Year’s Day was a way to congratulate young people on their new age, and also a blessing for the elderly. The custom of praying for longevity on New Year’s Day was prevalent. In the second year of the Huichang era of Emperor Wuzong of Tang (842), the Japanese monk Ennin spent the Spring Festival in Chang’an. In his “Record of a Pilgrimage to Tang China in Search of the Dharma,” he recorded the scene: “On the first day of the first month, every household erected bamboo poles and hung banners. They prayed for longevity in the new year.” The customs of the Tang Dynasty on Renri (the seventh day of the first lunar month) followed those of the Six Dynasties, with the widespread practice of cutting ribbons and wearing headdresses. The headdress, called “sheng,” was a type of headdress with special religious significance, and at that time, most sheng were made from cut colored silk.

Song Dynasty

During the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the Spring Festival was called Yuanri, Yuandan, or New Year’s Day. The New Year’s Day court assembly remained an important royal ceremony. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the “New Year’s Day Grand Court Assembly” in Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) was grand and imposing. The emperor sat in the Daqing Hall, with four imposing warriors standing at the corners of the hall, known as “Hall Guardians.” Ceremonial guards were displayed in the hall, and all officials wore court robes and crowns. The top scholars from various provinces also stood in the court in official attire. Officials from various prefectures presented tributes with local specialties. The Song Dynasty’s New Year’s Day court assembly was even more solemn than that of the Tang Dynasty, displaying the majesty of imperial power.

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty adopted the rituals of the Han Dynasty, and its New Year’s Day court assembly was also grand and solemn. On the first day of the first lunar month, all officials waited at the Chongtian Gate for the dawn, entering the court at the fifth watch of the night. The Emperor and Empress entered the Daming Hall one after the other. Upon the sound of the dawn horn, officials entered the hall from the Sun Essence Gate and Moon Splendor Gate, standing in two rows to bow and kneel before the Emperor and Empress. The Prime Minister presented a memorial offering blessings: “To all under Heaven and Earth, we pray for the boundless blessings of Heaven and Earth, and for the Emperor and Empress to live ten thousand years.”

Then, the Emperor was offered three toasts, and the Imperial Music Bureau played music. Next, the congratulatory messages and gift lists from central and local officials were read aloud, followed by monks, Taoist priests, elders, and foreign dignitaries offering their congratulations. After the ceremony, a grand banquet was held in the hall for princes, relatives, imperial sons-in-law, and ministers. The Yuan Dynasty emperors inherited the grand New Year’s Day court ceremony of China, displaying a peaceful and prosperous atmosphere through a magnificent New Year celebration.

Ming Dynasty

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, frugality was valued, and court ceremonies were not emphasized. Court assemblies were merely routine affairs and had little impact on national life. People rushed to and from court on New Year’s Day, while private interactions between officials and the common people were much more lively. Even in the imperial palace, people valued daily festival activities more than court rituals.

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty placed great importance on the Lunar New Year. The court celebrations were extremely lavish, beginning with officials kneeling in the palace to pay homage, followed by a tea ceremony, song and dance performances, and theatrical performances, ending with a traditional court music performance. On major birthdays or the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a special banquet was held, with even grander and more elaborate ceremonies.

Modern Era

After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China, significant changes occurred in Chinese society. Official festivals and traditional folk festivals became separated, and the status of the Spring Festival in public society frequently shifted. Of course, the common people continued to enjoy their own traditional festivals.

On January 1, 1912, after Sun Yat-sen assumed the office of Provisional President in Nanjing, he officially telegraphed all provinces, announcing that the Republic of China would adopt the Gregorian calendar, designating November 13th, 4609th year of the Yellow Emperor’s reign as the first day of the Republic of China. After Yuan Shikai was elected Provisional President, he continued to promote the new calendar. Two calendar systems emerged in China: the officially promoted Western Gregorian calendar, used as the standard for public administration, law enforcement, and international communication; and the traditional lunisolar calendar, which people habitually used for agricultural seasons and daily life. In the early years of the Republic of China, although the government strongly promoted the new calendar, it also considered the needs of the people and adopted a compromise approach.

In January 1914, the Ministry of the Interior of the Beijing government submitted a petition to Yuan Shikai proposing that the Lunar New Year’s Day be designated as the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival as the Summer Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival as the Autumn Festival, and the Winter Solstice as the Winter Festival. All citizens should be granted rest, and public officials should also be granted one day off. Yuan Shikai approved the petition. Thus, the traditional Lunar New Year was officially renamed “Spring Festival,” and the traditional names of New Year’s Day and New Year were placed on January 1st of the Gregorian calendar. However, ordinary people did not pay attention to the Gregorian New Year’s Day and continued to refer to the first day of the first lunar month as the New Year. Chinese society experienced two New Years: the “Republic of China New Year” (Gregorian New Year’s Day) and the “National New Year” (Lunar New Year).

On September 27, 1949, on the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference stipulated that “the People’s Republic of China shall adopt the Gregorian calendar.” On December 23, 1949, the State Council passed the “National Holidays and Commemorative Days Regulations,” which specified the holiday dates for statutory holidays such as the Spring Festival and New Year’s Day. The name “Spring Festival” became more widely used throughout the country, resulting in two New Years in a single year: the Gregorian New Year and the Lunar New Year.