Christmas is an important holiday for Christianity to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Also known as Jesus Christmas, Nativity Day, Catholic also known as Jesus Christmas Feast.

Christmas originated in 138 AD and was held at the initiative of Saint Clement, the bishop of Rome. The church history records that the first Christmas was in 336 AD. Since the Bible does not clearly record when Jesus was born, Christmas dates vary from place to place. It was not until 440 AD that the Holy See set December 25 as Christmas Day. In 1607 AD, church leaders from all over the world gathered in Bethlehem to further affirm. Since then, most Christians in the world have adopted December 25 as Christmas. December 25 was originally the birthday of the sun god prescribed by the Roman Empire. Some people think that they choose to celebrate Christmas on this day because Christians believe that Jesus is the righteous and eternal sun. After the mid-fifth century, Christmas as an important holiday became a church tradition and gradually spread among Eastern and Western churches. Due to the different calendars used and other reasons, the specific dates and forms of celebrations held by different denominations are also different. The spread of Christmas customs to Asia was mainly in the mid-nineteenth century. Japan and South Korea were all influenced by Christmas culture. Nowadays, it has become a common custom in the West to exchange gifts and hold banquets at Christmas, and to add a festive atmosphere with Santa Claus and Christmas trees. Christmas has also become a public holiday in the Western world and many other regions.

Time of introduction to China

Christmas entered China with the introduction of Christianity during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, China's acceptance of Western religions was not high, so this statement is not credible. The earliest record of Christmas in China is the report of 《Shen Bao》 on December 24, 1872, which referred to "Christmas" as the birthday of Jesus. Since then, there have been many reports, but Christmas is called the "Western Winter Solstice" or "Western Festival." It is called the "Western Winter Solstice" because this day is similar to the Chinese Winter Solstice, but it can also be seen that people did not understand Christmas at that time.

During that time, a large number of foreign colonists poured in. Christian churches stationed in China often held large-scale events on this day, and people gradually learned about Christmas. By the beginning of the 20th century, this festival was accepted by non-church people in Shanghai and became a joyous festival. Since then, this festival has been handed down in China and gradually spread throughout the country. Today, Christmas has been circulated around the world. It is no longer a purely religious holiday, but has slowly transformed into a joyous holiday with a strong commercial color.

Decoration

• Christmas stockings: It used to be a pair of big red socks, regardless of size. Because Christmas stockings are used to hold gifts, they are children’s favorite things. At night, they will hang their socks by the bed and wait for the gift the next morning;
• Christmas hat. It is said that in addition to sleeping peacefully and a little warmly when you wear it at night, you will also find that there are more gifts from a loved one in the hat the next day;
• Christmas trees, usually people put an evergreen plant (such as a pine tree) into the house or outside before and after Christmas, decorated with Christmas lights and colorful decorations, and put an angel or star on the top of the tree. The Christmas tree originated from Germany;
• Christmas rings, ornaments used at homes during Christmas in Western countries, usually use green branches or rattan (pine hair, pine needles, etc.), silver metal and golden bells with red ribbons to form the main color. The four colors of green, white, yellow and red represent joy and celebration, and the words "MERRY CHRISTMAS" or X'mas in short are written on it. The Christmas ring first appeared in Finland.

Christmas diet includes turkey, tree trunk cake, almond pudding, gingerbread, seafood, glogi wine, beach feast, polenta, etc.

The Christmas character image mainly refers to Santa Claus, whose prototype is living in AD. Santa Claus is his nickname afterwards. This name comes from the story of him secretly giving money to help three girls. Nicholas was revered as a saint after his death. The image of Santa Claus is an old man with a white beard wearing a red robe and a red hat. Every Christmas he drives from the north in a sleigh pulled by a deer, enters each house through the chimney, and hangs Christmas gifts in socks on the children's bedside or in front of the stove.