Harvest Thanksgiving Formalized During Han Dynasty:
Chinese New Year celebrations have their origin with end-of-harvest celebrations when people would offer thanks to gods for good harvests and entreaty for a good crop in the following year. Although they varied according to the different calendars used, the customs were formalized under Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 25) rule.
Traditions Blossom Under Tang Dynasty:
Varied festivals around god worship, sacrifice and celebration held at the end of the winter season and at the beginning of the spring were unified under the Han Dynasty rulers and consolidated, with their adoption of the formal Taichu calendar, to the first day of the first lunar month. During the economically prosperous and politically stable Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), celebrations around the New Year blossomed. Traditional customs around superstitions and worship gradually became means for people simply to celebrate and enjoy time with their families.
