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Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December
25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus,
and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly
nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived,
the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of
various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and
holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of
Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.
Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by
many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have
pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the
holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church
celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including
Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In
addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicholas, Father
Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts
to children during the Christmas season.
Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve
heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the
holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and
businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily
over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.
Etymology
The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is
derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a
phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse"
is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek, the letter Χ (chi), is the first
letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an
abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes
used as an abbreviation for Christmas.
Celebration
Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in countries
around the world, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian. In
some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the
celebration (e.g. Hong Kong); in others, Christian minorities or foreign
cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Countries such
as Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small
number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas,
such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees. Notable countries in which
Christmas is not a formal public holiday include People's Republic of China,
(excepting Hong Kong and Macao), Japan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Thailand, Nepal,
Iran, Turkey and North Korea. Christmas celebrations around the world can vary
markedly in form, reflecting differing cultural and national traditions.
Among countries with a strong Christian tradition, a variety of Christmas
celebrations have developed that incorporate regional and local cultures. For
Christians, participating in a religious service plays an important part in the
recognition of the season. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of
highest annual church attendance. In Catholic countries, the people hold
religious processions or parades in the days preceding Christmas. In other
countries, secular processions or parades featuring Santa Claus and other
seasonal figures are often held. Family reunions and the exchange of gifts are a
widespread feature of the season. Gift giving takes place on Christmas Day in
most countries. Others practice gift giving on December 6, Saint Nicholas Day,
and January 6, Epiphany.
For centuries, Christian writers accepted that Christmas was the actual date on
which Jesus was born. In the early 18th century, scholars began proposing
alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas was
selected to correspond with the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma and celebrated on December 25. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the
Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a "paganization"
that debased the true church. According to Judeo-Christian tradition, creation
as described in the Genesis creation narrative occurred on the date of the
spring equinox, i.e. March 25 on the Roman calendar. This date is now celebrated
as Annunciation and as the anniversary of Incarnation. In 1889, Louis Duchesne
suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after
Annunciation, the traditional date of the conception of Jesus.
The December 25 date may have been selected by the church in Rome in the early
4th century. At this time, a church calendar was created and other holidays were
also placed on solar dates: "It is cosmic symbolism...which inspired the Church
leadership in Rome to elect the winter solstice, December 25, as the birthday of
Christ, and the summer solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the
equinoxes as their respective dates of conception. While they were aware that
pagans called this day the 'birthday' of Sol Invictus, this did not concern them
and it did not play any role in their choice of date for Christmas," according
to modern scholar S.E. Hijmans.
However, today, whether or not the birth date of Jesus is on December 25 is not
considered to be an important issue in mainstream Christian denominations;
rather, the belief that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for
the sins of humanity is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating
Christmas.
Orthodox Christian Churches
Eastern Orthodox national churches, including those of Russia, Georgia, Egypt,
Ukraine, the Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and the Greek Patriarchate of
Jerusalem mark feasts using the older Julian Calendar. December 25 on that
calendar currently corresponds to January 7 on the more widely used Gregorian
calendar. However, the majority of Orthodox Christians began using the Revised
Julian Calendar in the early 20th century, which corresponds exactly to the
Gregorian Calendar. Therefore, most Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on the
same day as Western Christianity. Oriental Orthodox churches also use their own
calendars, which are generally similar to the Julian calendar. The Armenian
Apostolic Church celebrates the nativity in combination with the Feast of the
Epiphany on January 6. Armenian churches customarily use the Gregorian calendar,
but some use the Julian calendar and thus celebrate Christmas Day on January 19,
and Christmas Eve on January 18 (according to the Gregorian calendar).
Commemorating Jesus’ birth
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary as a fulfillment of
the Old Testament's Messianic prophecy. The Bible contains two differing
accounts which describe the events surrounding Jesus' birth. These biblical
accounts are found in the Gospel of Matthew, namely Matthew 1:18, and the Gospel
of Luke, specifically Luke 1:26 and 2:40. According to these accounts, Jesus was
born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem.
According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by
farm animals, though neither the stable nor the animals are specifically
mentioned in the Biblical accounts. However, a manger is mentioned in Luke 2:7,
where it states, "She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn." Early iconographic representations of
the nativity placed the animals and manger within a cave (located, according to
tradition, under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem). Shepherds from the
fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the
first to see the child. The Gospel of Matthew also describes a visit by
several Magi, or astrologers, who bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh
to the infant Jesus. The visitors were said to be following a mysterious star,
commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, believing it to announce the birth of a
king of the Jews. The commemoration of this visit, the Feast of Epiphany
celebrated on January 6, is the formal end of the Christmas season in some
churches.
Anbetung der Hirten (Adoration of the Shepherds) (c. 1500–10), by Italian
painter Giorgio da CastelfrancoChristians celebrate Christmas in various ways.
In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the
attendance of church services, there are other devotions and popular traditions.
In some Christian denominations, children re-enact the events of the Nativity
with animals to portray the event with more realism or sing carols that
reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the
Nativity, known as a Nativity scene or crèche, in their homes, using figurines
to portray the key characters of the event. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern
Orthodox Church practices the 40-day Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth
of Jesus, while much of Western Christianity celebrates four weeks of Advent.
The final preparations for Christmas are made on Christmas Eve.
A long artistic tradition has grown of producing painted depictions of the
nativity in art. Nativity scenes are traditionally set in a barn or stable and
include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men:
Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, who are said to have followed a star, known as
the Star of Bethlehem, and arrived after his birth.
Decorations
See also: Christmas tree, Christmas lights, Christmas stocking, and Christmas
ornament
Sources of Ibirapuera Park, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the Christmas season, photo by
Silvio Tanaka.The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a
long history. From pre-Christian times, people in the Roman Empire brought
branches from evergreen plants indoors in the winter. Decorating with greenery
was also part of Jewish tradition : "Now on the first day you shall take for
yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy
trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God
for seven days. " (Leviticus 23:40)
Christians incorporated such customs in their developing practices. In the 15th
century, it was recorded that in London it was the custom at Christmas for every
house and all the parish churches to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and
whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green". The heart-shaped
leaves of ivy were said to symbolise the coming to earth of Jesus, while holly
was seen as protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries
held to represent the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus at the crucifixion and the
blood he shed.
Nativity scenes are known from 10th-century Rome. They were popularised by Saint
Francis of Asissi from 1223, quickly spreading across Europe. Different
types of decorations developed across the Christian world, dependent on local
tradition and available resources. The first commercially produced decorations
appeared in Germany in the 1860s, inspired by paper chains made by children.
In countries where a representation of the Nativity Scene is very popular,
people are encouraged to compete and create the most original or realistic ones.
Within some families, the pieces used to make the representation are considered
a valuable family heirloom.
The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red. White, silver and gold
are also popular. Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his
crucifixion, while green symbolizes eternal life, and in particular the
evergreen tree, which does not lose its leaves in the winter.
The Christmas tree is
considered by some as Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding
the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an
adaptation of pagan tree worship. The English language phrase "Christmas
tree" is first recorded in 1835 and represents an importation from the
German language. The modern Christmas tree tradition is believed to have begun
in Germany in the 18th century though many argue that Martin Luther began
the tradition in the 16th century. From Germany the custom was
introduced to Britain, first via Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and then
more successfully by Prince Albert during the reign of Queen Victoria. By 1841
the Christmas tree had become even more widespread throughout Britain. By
the 1870s, people in the United States had adopted the custom of putting up a
Christmas tree. Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments.
Since the 19th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been
associated with Christmas. Other popular holiday plants include holly,
mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus. Along with a Christmas tree, the
interior of a home may be decorated with these plants, along with garlands and
evergreen foliage. The display of Christmas villages has also become a tradition
in many homes during this season. The outside of houses may be decorated with
lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas
figures. Other traditional decorations include bells, candles, candy canes,
stockings, wreaths, and angels.
Christmas lights and banners may be hung along streets, music played from
speakers, and Christmas trees placed in prominent places. It is common in
many parts of the world for town squares and consumer shopping areas to sponsor
and display decorations. Rolls of brightly colored paper with secular or
religious Christmas motifs are manufactured for the purpose of wrapping gifts.
In some countries, Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on Twelfth
Night, the evening of January 5.
Music and carols
The first specifically Christmas hymns that we know
of appear in 4th century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium,
written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the
theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus
ex Parentis (Of the Father's love begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius
(d. 413) is still sung in some churches today.
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was
introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux
into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of
St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something
closer to the traditional Christmas carol.
By the 13th century, in France, Germany, and particularly, Italy, under the
influence of Francis of Asissi, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs in
the native language developed。Christmas carols in English first appear in a
1426 work of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain, who lists twenty-five "caroles
of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to
house. The songs we know specifically as carols were originally communal
folk songs sung during celebrations such as "harvest tide" as well as Christmas.
It was only later that carols began to be sung in church. Traditionally, carols
have often been based on medieval chord patterns, and it is this that gives them
their uniquely characteristic musical sound. Some carols like "Personent hodie",
"Good King Wenceslas", and "The Holly and the Ivy" can be traced directly back
to the Middle Ages. They are among the oldest musical compositions still
regularly sung. Adeste Fidelis (O Come all ye faithful) appears in its current
form in the mid-18th century, although the words may have originated in the 13th
century.
Child singers in Bucharest, 1841.Singing of carols initially suffered a decline
in popularity after the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe, although some
Reformers, like Martin Luther, wrote carols and encouraged their use in worship.
Carols largely survived in rural communities until the revival of interest in
popular songs in the 19th century. The 18th century English reformer Charles
Wesley understood the importance of music to worship. In addition to setting
many psalms to melodies, which were influential in the Great Awakening in the
United States, he wrote texts for at least three Christmas carols. The best
known was originally entitled "Hark! How All the Welkin Rings", later renamed
"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing". Felix Mendelssohn wrote a melody adapted to
fit Wesley's words. In Austria in 1818 Mohr and Gruber made a major addition to
the genre when they composed "Silent Night" for the St. Nicholas Church, Oberndorf. William B. Sandys'
Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833) contained the first appearance in
print of many now-classic English carols, and contributed to the mid-Victorian
revival of the festival.
Completely secular Christmas seasonal songs emerged in the late 18th century.
"Deck The Halls" dates from 1784, and the American, "Jingle Bells" was
copyrighted in 1857. In the 19th and 20th century, African American spirituals
and songs about Christmas, based in their tradition of spirituals, became more
widely known. An increasing number of seasonal holidays songs were commercially
produced in the 20th century, including jazz and blues variations. In addition,
there was a revival of interest in early music, from groups singing folk music,
such as The Revels, to performers of early medieval and classical music.
Food
A special Christmas family meal is traditionally an important part of the
holiday's celebration, and the food that is served varies greatly from country
to country. Some regions, such as Sicily, have special meals for Christmas Eve,
when 12 kinds of fish are served. In England and countries influenced by its
traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey, meat, gravy, potatoes,
vegetables, sometimes bread and cider. Special desserts are also prepared, such
as Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruit cake. In Poland and other parts of
eastern Europe and Scandinavia, fish often is used for the traditional main
course, but richer meat such as lamb is increasingly served. In Germany, France
and Austria, goose and pork are favored. Beef, ham and chicken in various
recipes are popular throughout the world. The Maltese traditionally serve
Imbuljuta tal-Qastan, a chocolate and chestnuts beverage, after Midnight
Mass and throughout the Christmas season. Slovaks prepare the traditional
Christmas bread potica, bûche de Noël in France, panettone in Italy, and
elaborate tarts and cakes. The eating of sweets and chocolates has become
popular worldwide, and sweeter Christmas delicacies include the German stollen,
marzipan cake or candy, and Jamaican rum fruit cake. As one of the few fruits
traditionally available to northern countries in winter, oranges have been long
associated with special Christmas foods.
Cards
Christmas cards are illustrated messages of greeting exchanged between friends
and family members during the weeks preceding Christmas Day. The traditional
greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", much like
that of the first commercial Christmas card, produced by Sir Henry Cole in
London in 1843. The custom of sending them has become popular among a wide
cross-section of people with the emergence of the modern trend towards
exchanging E-cards!
Christmas cards are purchased in considerable quantities, and feature artwork,
commercially designed and relevant to the season. The content of the design
might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity
of Jesus, or Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem, or a white dove
which can represent both the Holy Spirit and Peace on Earth. Other Christmas
cards are more secular and can depict Christmas traditions, mythical figures
such as Santa Claus, objects directly associated with Christmas such as candles,
holly and baubles, or a variety of images associated with the season, such as
Christmastime activities, snow scenes and the wildlife of the northern winter.
There are even humorous cards and genres depicting nostalgic scenes of the past
such as crinolined shoppers in idealized 19th century streetscapes.
Some prefer cards with a poem, prayer or Biblical verse; while others distance
themselves from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".
Stamps
A number of nations have issued commemorative stamps at Christmastime. Postal
customers will often use these stamps to mail Christmas cards, and they are
popular with philatelists. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike
Christmas seals, and are valid for postage year-round. They usually go on sale
some time between early October and early December, and are printed in
considerable quantities.
In 1898 a Canadian stamp was issued to mark the inauguration of the Imperial
Penny Postage rate. The stamp features a map of the globe and bears an
inscription "XMAS 1898" at the bottom. In 1937, Austria issued two "Christmas
greeting stamps" featuring a rose and the signs of the zodiac. In 1939, Brazil
issued four semi-postal stamps with designs featuring the three kings and a star
of Bethlehem, an angel and child, the Southern Cross and a child, and a mother
and child.
Both the US Postal Service and the Royal Mail regularly issue Christmas-themed
stamps each year.
Gift giving
The exchanging of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas
celebration, making the Christmas season the most profitable time of year for
retailers and businesses throughout the world. Gift giving was common in the
Roman celebration of Saturnalia, an ancient festival which took place on
December 25 and may have influenced Christmas customs. Christmas gift giving
was banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages due to its suspected pagan
origins. It was later rationalized by the Church on the basis that it
associated St. Nicholas with Christmas, and that gifts of gold, frankincense and
myrrh were given to the infant Jesus by the Biblical Magi.
Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas, considered by many to be the original Santa
Claus.A number of figures of both Christian and mythical origin have been
associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. Among these are
Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, Père Noël, and the Weihnachtsmann;
Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas; the Christkind; Kris Kringle; Joulupukki; Babbo
Natale; Saint Basil; and Father Frost.
The most famous and pervasive of these figures in modern celebration worldwide
is Santa Claus, a mythical gift bringer, dressed in red, whose origins have
diverse sources. The name Santa Claus can be traced back to the Dutch
Sinterklaas, which means simply Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in
modern day Turkey, during the 4th century. Among other saintly attributes, he
was noted for the care of Children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. His
feast on the 6th of December came to be celebrated in many countries with the
giving of gifts. Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishop's attire,
accompanied by helpers, inquiring about the behaviour of children during the
past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. By the 13th
century, Saint Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of
gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At
the Reformation in 16th–17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift
bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, corrupted in English to Kris Kringle,
and the date of giving gifts changed from December the 6th to Christmas Eve.
The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United
States, and in particular in New York. The transformation was accomplished with
the aid of notable contributors including Washington Irving and the
German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840–1902). Following the American
Revolutionary War, some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols
of the city's non-English past. New York had originally been established as the
Dutch colonial town of New Amsterdam and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was
reinvented as Saint Nicholas. In 1809, the New-York Historical Society
convened and retroactively named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw
Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York City. At his first American appearance in
1810, Santa Claus was drawn in bishops' robes. However as new artists took over,
Santa Claus developed more secular attire. Nast drew a new image of "Santa
Claus" annually, beginning in 1863. By the 1880s, Nast's Santa had evolved into
the robed, fur clad, form we now recognize, perhaps based on the English figure
of Father Christmas. The image was standardized by advertisers in the 1920s.
Santa Claus is famous around the world for giving gifts to good childrenFather
Christmas, a jolly, well nourished, bearded man who typified the spirit of good
cheer at Christmas, predates the Santa Claus character. He is first recorded in
early 17th century England, but was associated with holiday merrymaking and
drunkenness rather than the bringing of gifts. In Victorian Britain, his
image was remade to match that of Santa. The French Père Noël evolved along
similar lines, eventually adopting the Santa image. In Italy, Babbo Natale acts
as Santa Claus, while La Befana is the bringer of gifts and arrives on the eve
of the Epiphany. It is said that La Befana set out to bring the baby Jesus
gifts, but got lost along the way. Now, she brings gifts to all children. In
some cultures Santa Claus is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or Black Peter. In
other versions, elves make the toys. His wife is referred to as Mrs. Claus.
There has been some opposition to the narrative of the American evolution of
Saint Nicholas into the modern Santa. It has been claimed that the Saint
Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end
of the American War of Independence. Moreover, a study of the "children's
books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam by Charles Jones revealed no
references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas. However, not all scholars agree
with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a booklength study in 1978;
Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the
tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York was alive and well from the
early settlement of the Hudson Valley on.
Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and
Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby
Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a
reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of
Santa Claus imported from the United States.
In Alto Adige/Südtirol (Italy), Austria, Czech Republic, Southern Germany,
Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia and Switzerland, the Christkind (Ježíšek in
Czech, Jézuska in Hungarian and Ježiško in Slovak) brings the presents. The
German St. Nikolaus is not identical with the Weihnachtsmann (who is the German
version of Santa Claus/Father Christmas). St. Nikolaus wears a bishop's dress
and still brings small gifts (usually candies, nuts and fruits) on December 6
and is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht. Although many parents around the world
routinely teach their children about Santa Claus and other gift bringers, some
have come to reject this practice, considering it deceptive.
History
Pre-Christian background
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the unconquered sun".
Modern scholars have argued that the festival was placed on the date of the
solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward
retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered.". Some early
Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus. "O,
how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was
born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote. John Chrysostom also
commented on the connection: "They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'.
Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?"
Although Dies Natalis Solis Invicti has been the subject of a great deal of
scholarly speculation,. the only ancient source for it is a
single mention in the Chronography of 354, and Hijmans argues that there is no
evidence that the celebration precedes that of Christmas. "[W]hile the winter
solstice on or around the 25th of December was well established in the Roman
imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on
that day antedated the celebration of Christmas, and none that indicates that
Aurelian had a hand in its institution," according to modern Sol scholar Steven Hijmans.
Winter festivals
A winter festival was the most popular festival of the year in many cultures.
Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needs to be done during
the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring
approached. Modern Christmas customs include: gift-giving and merrymaking
from Roman Saturnalia; greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year;
and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts. Pagan Scandinavia
celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early
January period。 As Northern Europe was the last part to
Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is
synonymous with Christmas, a usage first recorded in 900.
Christian feast
The New Testament does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. Around AD
200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that a group in Egypt celebrated the nativity
on 25 Pashons. This corresponds to May 20. Tertullian (d. 220) does not
mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa. However, in Chronographai, a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius
Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox, popularizing
the idea that Christ was born on December 25. The equinox was March 25
on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December. De Pascha
Computus, a calendar of feasts produced in 243, gives March 28 as the date of
the nativity. In 245, the theologian Origen of Alexandria stated that, "only
sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod)" celebrated their birthdays. In 303,
Christian writer Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of
gods, which suggests that Christmas was not yet a feast at this time.
Feast established
The earliest known reference to the date of the nativity as December 25 is found
in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome。In the
East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany
(January 6), although this festival emphasized celebration of the baptism of
Jesus.
Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the revival of
Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of
Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, and to
Antioch in about 380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned
as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom in about 400.
The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas, (1686), published shortly after
Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England.Middle Ages
In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas Day was overshadowed by Epiphany, which in
the west focused on the visit of the magi. But the Medieval calendar was
dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The forty days before Christmas became
the "forty days of St. Martin" (which began on November 11, the feast of St.
Martin of Tours), now known as Advent. In Italy, former Saturnalian
traditions were attached to Advent. Around the 12th century, these
traditions transferred again to the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 –
January 5); a time that appears in the liturgical calendars as Christmastide or
Twelve Holy Days.
The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was
crowned Emperor on Christmas Day in 800. King Edmund the Martyr was anointed on
Christmas in 855 and King William I of England was crowned on Christmas Day
1066.
By the High Middle Ages, the holiday had become so prominent that chroniclers
routinely noted where various magnates celebrated Christmas. King Richard II of
England hosted a Christmas feast in 1377 at which twenty-eight oxen and three
hundred sheep were eaten. The Yule boar was a common feature of medieval
Christmas feasts. Caroling also became popular, and was originally a group of
dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers
that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned caroling as
lewd, indicating that the unruly traditions of Saturnalia and Yule may have
continued in this form. "Misrule"—drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling—was also an
important aspect of the festival. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Year's
Day, and there was special Christmas ale.
Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that incorporated ivy,
holly, and other evergreens. Christmas gift-giving during the Middle Ages
was usually between people with legal relationships, such as tenant and
landlord. The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, card
playing escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season
featured lavish dinners, elaborate masques and pageants. In 1607, King James I
insisted that a play be acted on Christmas night and that the court indulge in
games. It was during the Reformation in 16th–17th century Europe, that many
Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, and the
date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.
Reformation into the 19th century
Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present. From Charles Dickens' A
Christmas Carol, 1843Following the Protestant Reformation, groups such as the
Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a
Catholic invention and the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast." The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in a more religiously
oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to
return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old style Christmas
generosity. Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the
English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647.
Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities and for
weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with
holly and shouted royalist slogans. The book, The Vindication of Christmas
(London, 1652), argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English
Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances
with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", and carol singing.
The Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 ended the ban, but many clergymen
still disapproved of Christmas celebration. In Scotland, the Presbyterian Church
of Scotland also discouraged observance of Christmas. James VI commanded its
celebration in 1618, however attendance at church was scant.
In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England shared radical Protestant
disapproval of Christmas. Celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681.
The ban by the Pilgrims was revoked in 1681 by English governor Sir Edmund
Andros, however it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas
became fashionable in the Boston region. At the same time, Christian
residents of Virginia and New York observed the holiday freely. Pennsylvania
German Settlers, pre-eminently the Moravian settlers of Bethlehem, Nazareth and
Lititz in Pennsylvania and the Wachovia Settlements in North Carolina, were
enthusiastic celebrators of Christmas. The Moravians in Bethlehem had the first
Christmas trees in America as well as the first Nativity Scenes. Christmas
fell out of favor in the United States after the American Revolution, when it
was considered an English custom. George Washington attacked Hessian
(German) mercenaries on Christmas during the Battle of Trenton in 1777,
Christmas being much more popular in Germany than in America at this time.
By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased in Britain and writers, including
William Winstanly, began to worry that Christmas was dying out. These writers
imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were
made to revive the holiday. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas
Carol, that helped revive the 'spirit' of Christmas and seasonal
merriment. Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying
Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion. Dickens
sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, in
contrast to the community-based and church-centered observations, the observance
of which had dwindled during the late 18th century and early 19th century.
Superimposing his secular vision of the holiday, Dickens influenced many aspects
of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family
gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of
spirit. A prominent phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', was popularized
following the appearance of the story. The term Scrooge became a synonym for
miser, with 'Bah! Humbug!' dismissive of the festive spirit. In 1843, the
first commercial Christmas card was produced by Sir Henry Cole. The revival
of the Christmas Carol began with William B. Sandys Christmas Carols Ancient and
Modern (1833), with the first appearance in print of 'The First Noel', 'I Saw
Three Ships', 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' and 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen',
popularized in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
The Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, 1848. Republished in Godey's
Lady's Book, Philadelphia December, 1850.In Britain, the Christmas tree was
introduced in the early 19th century following the personal union with the
Kingdom of Hanover, by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen to King George
III. In 1832 a young Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a
Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it. After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became
more widespread throughout Britain. An image of the British royal family
with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, created a sensation when it was
published in the Illustrated London News in 1848. A modified version of this
image was published in the United States in 1850. By the 1870s, putting up
a Christmas tree had become common in America.
In America, interest in Christmas had been revived in the 1820s by several short
stories by Washington Irving which appear in his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey
Crayon and "Old Christmas". Irving's stories depicted harmonious warm-hearted
English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in Aston Hall,
Birmingham, England, that had largely been abandoned, and he used the tract
Vindication of Christmas (1652) of Old English Christmas traditions, that he had
transcribed into his journal as a format for his stories. In 1822, Clement
Clarke Moore wrote the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (popularly known by its
first line: Twas the Night Before Christmas). The poem helped popularize the
tradition of exchanging gifts, and seasonal Christmas shopping began to assume
economic importance. This also started the cultural conflict of the
holiday's spiritualism and its commercialism that some see as corrupting the
holiday. In her 1850 book "The First Christmas in New England", Harriet Beecher
Stowe includes a character who complains that the true meaning of Christmas was
lost in a shopping spree. While the celebration of Christmas wasn't yet
customary in some regions in the U.S., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow detected "a
transition state about Christmas here in New England" in 1856. "The old puritan
feeling prevents it from being a cheerful, hearty holiday; though every year
makes it more so". In Reading, Pennsylvania, a newspaper remarked in 1861,
"Even our presbyterian friends who have hitherto steadfastly ignored Christmas —
threw open their church doors and assembled in force to celebrate the
anniversary of the Savior's birth". The First Congregational Church of
Rockford, Illinois, 'although of genuine Puritan stock', was 'preparing for a
grand Christmas jubilee', a news correspondent reported in 1864. By 1860,
fourteen states including several from New England had adopted Christmas as a
legal holiday. In 1870, Christmas was formally declared a United States
Federal holiday, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant。Subsequently, in
1875, Louis Prang introduced the Christmas card to Americans. He has been called
the "father of the American Christmas card".
Controversy and criticism
Throughout the holiday's history, Christmas has been the subject of both
controversy and criticism from a wide variety of different sources. The first
documented Christmas controversy was Christian-led, and began during the English
Interregnum, when England was ruled by a Puritan Parliament. Puritans (including
those who fled to America) sought to remove the remaining pagan elements of
Christmas. During this period, the English Parliament banned the celebration of
Christmas entirely, considering it "a popish festival with no biblical
justification", and a time of wasteful and immoral behavior.
Controversy and criticism continues in the present-day, where some Christian and
non-Christians have claimed that an affront to Christmas (dubbed a "war on
Christmas" by some) is ongoing. In the United States there has been a
tendency to replace the greeting Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays。Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have initiated court cases to
bar the display of images and other material referring to Christmas from public
property, including schools. Such groups argue that government-funded
displays of Christmas imagery and traditions violate the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution, which prohibits the establishment by Congress of a
national religion. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lynch vs.
Donnelly that a Christmas display (which included a Nativity scene) owned and
displayed by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island did not violate the First
Amendment. In November 2009, the Federal appeals court in Philadelphia endorsed
a school district's ban on the singing of Christmas carols.
In the private sphere also, it has been alleged that any specific mention of the
term "Christmas" or its religious aspects was being increasingly censored,
avoided, or discouraged by a number of advertisers and retailers. In response,
the American Family Association and other groups have organized boycotts of
individual retailers. In the United Kingdom there have also been some
controversies, one of the most famous being the temporary promotion of the
Christmas period as Winterval by Birmingham City Council in 1998. There were
also protests in November 2009 when the city of Dundee promoted its celebrations
as the Winter Night Light festival, initially with no specific Christmas
references.
Economics
Christmas market in Metz, France.Christmas is typically the largest annual
economic stimulus for many nations around the world. Sales increase dramatically
in almost all retail areas and shops introduce new products as people purchase
gifts, decorations, and supplies. In the U.S., the "Christmas shopping season"
starts as early as October. In Canada, merchants begin advertising
campaigns just before Halloween (October 31), and step up their marketing
following Remembrance Day on November 11. In the United States, it has been
calculated that a quarter of all personal spending takes place during the
Christmas/holiday shopping season. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau
reveal that expenditure in department stores nationwide rose from $20.8 billion
in November 2004 to $31.9 billion in December 2004, an increase of 54 percent.
In other sectors, the pre-Christmas increase in spending was even greater, there
being a November – December buying surge of 100 percent in bookstores and 170
percent in jewelry stores. In the same year employment in American retail stores
rose from 1.6 million to 1.8 million in the two months leading up to
Christmas. Industries completely dependent on Christmas include Christmas
cards, of which 1.9 billion are sent in the United States each year, and live
Christmas Trees, of which 20.8 million were cut in the USA in 2002.
In most Western nations, Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for
business and commerce; almost all retail, commercial and institutional
businesses are closed, and almost all industries cease activity (more than any
other day of the year). In England and Wales, the Christmas Day (Trading) Act
2004 prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day. Scotland is
currently planning similar legislation. Film studios release many high-budget
movies during the holiday season, including Christmas films, fantasy movies or
high-tone dramas with high production values.
One economist's analysis calculates that, despite increased overall spending,
Christmas is a deadweight loss under orthodox microeconomic theory, because of
the effect of gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between
what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid
for the item. It is estimated that in 2001, Christmas resulted in a $4 billion
deadweight loss in the U.S. alone. Because of complicating factors, this
analysis is sometimes used to discuss possible flaws in current microeconomic
theory. Other deadweight losses include the effects of Christmas on the
environment and the fact that material gifts are often perceived as white
elephants, imposing cost for upkeep and storage and contributing to clutter.
See also: 圣诞节
The Birth of Jesus Christ
Noël
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