元旦英语优秀作文

　　It is possible that the beginning of the year began with month 1 during the Xia Dynasty, month 12 during the Shang Dynasty, and month 12 during the Zhou Dynasty in China, but intercalary months were added after month 12 during both the Shang Dynasty according to surviving oracle bones and the Zhou Dynasty according to Sima Qian. The first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang changed the beginning of the year to month 12 in 221 BC. Whether the New Year was celebrated at the beginning of these months or at the beginning of month 1 or both is unknown. In 122 BC, Emperor Wu established month 1 as the beginning of the year where it remains.

　　According to legend, in ancient China, nian ("Nyan"), a man-eating beast from the mountains, could infiltrate houses silently to prey on humans. The people later learned that nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. So guo nian actually means surviving the nian. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations.

　　Chuxi or 除夕 in Mandarin Chinese. Chu means "get rid of" and xi is the day of the legendary man-eating beast, nian, that preys once a year on New Year Eve. When nian arrived, people used firecrackers to scare him away. Once nian ran away, people joined together to celebrate for another year of safe life.

　　Celebrated internationally in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese. Chinese New Year is considered to be a major holiday for the Chinese as well as ethn