Why is the first month of the lunar calendar called the first month? What is the elegant name of the first month?

The first month is the month of Jianzheng. In the era of Astronomical Observation and Timekeeping, the month when the handle of the Big Dipper returns to the Tiger is the first month of spring. So why is the first month of the lunar calendar called the first month? What is the elegant name for January? We also want to know the specific situation, let’s take a look together.

Why is the first month of the lunar calendar called the first month?

The reason why the first month of the lunar calendar is called the first month is that in ancient my country, the first month of each year changed with the change of dynasties.

It is said that in ancient times, whenever a country changed hands, the emperor of the new dynasty would establish new policies and abolish the old system. One of the most important ones was to "change the calendar and the clothes." "Changing the calendar" meant abolishing the old calendar of the previous dynasty and adopting the new calendar. And establishing the first month of each year was one of the most important signs of changing the calendar. Therefore, it was common to change the beginning of the year whenever a new emperor came to power. Because this symbolizes the time when a new dynasty begins.

The word “正” (zheng) in the first month of the lunar calendar has two pronunciations in Chinese: one is like the “正” in “刚正不阿”, which means being right, upright, and correcting, but when used for the first month in the lunar calendar, it should be pronounced as the “征” in “万里征途” (wanli zhengtu). This is the traditional reading since the Zhou and Qin dynasties. Some people also believe that the reason why "正" is pronounced as "征" is because Qin Shihuang's surname was Ying and his given name was Zheng, and "政" and "正" have the same pronunciation. In order to avoid the emperor's name, the pronunciation was changed to "征".

What is the elegant name of January?

The elegant names of January are: Mengchun, Shouchun, Shangchun, Yinmengchun, Beginning of Spring, Early Spring, Yuanchun, New Spring, Early Spring, Duanchun, Zhaochun, Xianchun, King of Spring, First Year, Huasui, Zhaosui, Kaisui, Xiansui, Fangsui, Chusui, Fasui, Chuyang, Mengyang, Xinyang, Chunyang, Zhengyang, Taichu, Suishi, Wangzhengyue, Chukongyue, Xiachuyue, Chuchunyue, Zouyue, Wangyue, Duanyue, Mengzou, Taiyue, Jinyue, Jianyin, Yinyue, Yangyue, Mengchunyue, Sanweiyue, Sanzheng, Sanzhiri, Muyue, Shangyue, Zhengyue, Xinzheng, Chuyue, Zaoyue, Taiyue, Shisanyue