#70 𝖧ɑρρɣ 𝖭౿⍵ 𝖸౿ɑ𝗋！ 元旦快乐！
Do you know that 元旦快乐 is the common phrase for "Happy New Year" based on Gregorian calendar in China, and so what is the meaning of 元旦?
The Palace Museum (故宫博物院) of China posted a video with stunning visuals on Jan 1,2024 to celebrate the Gregorian new year and I think it encapsulates the traditional Chinese view whenever there is a new year (Gregorian or Spring Festival 春节 aka Chinese New Year). You can see the below four lines in the video, and I attempt to translate them here:
✨天地风霜尽
"The wind and frost" that cover the "Heaven and Earth" are coming to an end
✨乾坤气象和
There is harmony of the atmosphere of "Heaven and Earth"
The above two lines come from the poem written by Yuan poet Ye Yong (叶颙). The title of the poem is 《己酉新正》and 己酉jǐyǒu means the forty-sixth year of the 60 year cycle which is the combination of two separate cycles: the 10 Heavenly Stems 天干and the 12 Earthly Branches地支. 新正 means the first month of the Chinese calendar, and so the poem is about the advent of Spring which brings hope and optimism. Hence the figurative expression 风霜 is used which means hardships.
✨四气新元旦
The four seasons are ushered in by the new "first day of the new year" (元旦) .
✨万寿初今朝
Longevity (万寿) starts today
These two lines come from a poem by 萧子云 Xiao Ziyun, the noted writer from Southern Dynasties 南朝.
Here one could see that 元旦 was being used and you might have encountered it in China which means the first day of the Gregorian new year. Actually 元旦 (literally first dawn) originally meant the first day of the Chinese New Year but because Spring Festival is being used now, so 元旦 had been given a new lease of meaning to mean the first day of the Gregorian calendar, and so the Chinese would say 元旦快乐 now.
Note that there is a phrase 「 宫」迎新年 near the end of the video. Why is that a square bracket enclosed? Answer can be found in the comment.
Finally, may 2024 bring happiness and fulfilment for you!
Attached is the video from the Palace Museum (which owns the copyright to the video).
When you see a square bracket (for traditional characters) or quotation marks (for simplified characters) enclosing a Chinese character, they indicate that there is a homonym play. What it means that the original Chinese character has been substituted with another character that sounds the same but with a different meaning.
Here 宫gōng(palace) substituted 恭 as it should be 恭迎新年 i.e. to welcome the new year in a respectful manner. But as 恭 was substituted with 宫, then it means the Palace (Museum) welcomes the new year!