After the Revolution of 1911, the traditional Chinese calendar was abolished, and the Gregorian calendar was adopted. January 1st is called Yuandan(New Year), while the first day of the first lunar month is named the spring Festival. Therefore, the Chinese people have got the custom of celebration two New Years. The populace at large tend to celebrate the Spring Festival as New Year with continuous festive clebrations.
春节，是中华民族历来最隆重的节日，俗称“新年”，。
The Spring Festival, has been the most significant and celebrated holiday of the year for the Chinese nationality. It also called “the Chinese New Year”.
我们往上追溯，至少在殷墟出土的甲骨文中，就已经出现“年”这个字了。那是刻成一个人弯着背肩负沉甸甸穗禾形状的象形字。可见早在殷商时代，就把“年”和作物收成联系在了一起。《榖梁传.宣公十六年》：“五谷皆熟为有年。五谷大熟为大有年。”《说文解字》释“年”字，也说：“谷熟也。”如今人们常说“年成”，“年景”，也是这个意思。农业社会里，庄稼一年熟一次，庄稼熟了，年也到了，很好记。
The Chinese character nian(year) can be traced back to inscripttions on tortoise shells unearthed in the Yin Remains. The pictograph nian was carved in the shape of a man bent with heavy ears of wheat on his back, which was an indication that nian has been closely related to the harvest ever since the Yinshang Period (1600BC-1046BC). It was recorded in the Guliang Commentary, the 16th year of Duke Xuan that “New Year is the time of harvest, and a good year is a bumper crop.” “Year” is interpreted as “crops are ripe” in Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation and Stady of Principles of Composition of Characters) written in the Han Dynasty (206BC—220AD), which is similar in meaning to “harvest of the year” nowadays. Since the crops are ripe once a year in agricultural societies, New Year approaches at the harvest time.
究竟把那一天定为“年”，这就要涉及历法。历史上有过不同的历法，定出来的日子也不一样。汉武帝时，创制“太初历”，确立以夏历正月初一为岁首。《史记》、《汉书》称正月初一为“四始”，也就是岁之始、时之始、日之始、月之始；“三朝”，也就是岁之朝、月之朝、日之朝。从此之后，把夏历正月初一叫作“元旦”，沿用了两千多年。这就是说，历史上一般把过年的日子叫“元旦”。以前也有“春节”，一般是指“立春”这一天，和今天所说的春节不是一回事。
Which date is set as the beginning of the Chinese New Year? This has to do with the Chinese calendar. The date of the Chinese New Year varied throughout history due to different Chinese calendars. During the period of Emperor Wu in the Han Dynasty(206BC—220AD), the Taichu Calendar was created, and the beginning of a new year was set on the first day of the first lunar month in the traditional Chinese calendar. The first day of the first lunar month is regarded as “four beginnings” in both Shiji (Records of the Historian) and Hanshu(Chronicles of the Han Dynasty), that is the beginning of a year, the beginning of a month. It is also called “three dawns”—–the dawn of a year, the dawn of a month, and the dawn of a day. The first day of the first lunar month was kept as “the Chinese New year” in the following 2000 years. The day on which people celebrate New Year was usually called Yuandan (the Chinese New Year) in history. The Spring Festival used to refer to the beginning of Spring, which is different from what it means now.
辛亥革命以后，废除夏历，中国开始用公历，就把公历1月1日叫做元旦，称夏历正月初一为春节。从此以后，中国人便有了每年要过两个年的风俗。不过在民众中间，还是约定俗成，只把过春节当作真正意义上的过年，并且总是把过年过得红红火火、热热闹闹的。
