Christmas is just around the corner. You can put on your Nordic jacket and a red christmas hat. About three or five friends go to the Christian Church for mass in the evening, or get together under the Christmas tree. How about a Christmas like this? Do you know the origin of Christmas? Why Christmas?

Christmas is a traditional festival in the West. The Church holds midnight mass on Christmas Eve on December 24, that is, in the early morning of December 25 to celebrate the coming of Jesus, so it is also called "Christmas Day". So Christmas is a religious festival.

There is no record of the date of Jesus' birth in the Bible. Christmas is set by posterity. In the calendar used by Roman Christians, it is found that the page on December 25, 354 ad recorded: "Christ was born in Bethlehem, Juda." As a result, people gradually believe that December 25 is Jesus' birthday.

It is said that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was pregnant because of the Holy Spirit. God sent messengers to tell Joseph in a dream that he would marry Mary, who was unmarried and pregnant, and named the child "Jesus", which means that he would save the people from their sins. It is similar to the birth of the Chinese emperor. One expresses the divine power of the emperor, and the other expresses the salvation of all living beings.

When the Virgin Mary Maria was about to be born, the Rome government ordered all the people to declare their residence in Bethlehem. When Joseph and Maria arrived in Bethlehem, it was late and they could not find a hotel. They had only a stable to live in. That night, Mary gave birth to the Son Jesus in the stable. In order to commemorate the birth of Jesus, later generations set December 25 as Christmas, and looked at mass every year to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

Since December 25 was recognized as Christmas day, it has become an important festival for Christians and even non Christians. Christmas cards, Santa Claus, Christmas stockings, Christmas hats, Christmas trees and so on gradually appeared in the public's vision, and later gradually commercialized and politicized. It has become a global comprehensive festival, which is a major festival integrating commerce, entertainment and religion.

Let's look at the Christmas decorations. People will send Christmas cards at Christmas to express the joy of celebrating Christmas, and to wish relatives and friends to express their missing feelings. Adults wear a red hat to sleep. In addition to sleeping soundly and a little warm, you will find that there are more gifts from your beloved in the hat the next day. And children like Christmas socks, because Santa Claus will enter the house from the chimney at night, and then quietly put the gifts in the socks at the head of the good children's bed, and the children will receive long-awaited gifts.

How can Santa climb the chimney to give presents to children? It is said that the prototype of Santa Claus is Nicholas. He was revered as a saint after his death. He is an old man with white beard wearing a red robe and a red hat. How could he be the prototype of Santa Claus?

In the fourth century, Nicholas's parents were very enthusiastic Catholics, but died early. When Nicholas grew up, he donated all his wealth to the poor, while he devoted himself to the church and served the society all his life.

Nicholas became a priest and bishop. During his life, he did a lot of charity work. He liked to help the poor secretly. Santa Claus became his nickname and became the saint on earth. Every Christmas, he would drive a sleigh pulled by elk from the north, enter the homes by the chimney, put Christmas gifts in socks and hang them on the head of the children's bed or in front of the stove.

There is also a Christmas tree in every household. The origin of the Christmas tree in Germany is to bring an evergreen plant into the house or outdoors, decorate it with Christmas lights and colorful decorations, and put an angel or star on the top of the tree. A shining Christmas tree was born.

Christmas has developed from a religious festival at the beginning to a global Festival, and gradually integrated with the cultural traditions of other parts of the world. For example, China joined the custom of eating apples at Christmas, implying peace and prosperity in the next year.