in the fairly long history of humanity the celebration of new year is found to have a pre-historic root. since the era of the most ancient civilization a number of dates have been marked as the beginning of a new year by different people from different parts of the world. the diversity is due to the difference in their ethnic and cultural background.
today the new year is celebrated all over the world on january 1. but this was not the case a few hundred years back. the wide spread acceptance of january 1 as the new year is confined only within the past four hundred years.
the changeover
the celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. it was first observed in ancient babylon about 4000 years ago. in the years around 2000 bc， the babylonian new year began with the first new moon （actually the first visible present） after the vernal equinox （first day of spring）。
the beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. after all， it is the season of rebirth， of planting new crops， and of blossoming. january 1， on the other hand， has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. it is purely arbitrary.
the babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. each day had its own particular mode of celebration， but it is safe to say that modern new year's eve festivities pale in comparison.
the romans continued to observe the new year in late march， but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
in order to set the calendar right， the roman senate， in 153 bc， declared january 1 to be the beginning of the new year. but tampering continued until julius caesar， in 46 bc， established what has come to be known as the julian calendar. it again established january 1 as the new year. but in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun， caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.
this calendar did not witness significant reforms till 1582， when pope gregory xii incorporated our present method of calculation and dividing the year. it was the pope who reinstituted the practice of observing new year's day on january 1， regardless of the pre-christian associations with that date.
the church's view of new year celebrations
although in the first centuries ad the romans continued celebrating the new year， the early catholic church condemned the festivities as paganism. but as christianity became more widespread， the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations， and new year's day was no different. new years is still observed as the feast of christ's circumcision by some denominations.
during the middle ages， the church remained opposed to celebrating new years. january 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by western nations for only about the past 400 years.
the global adoption
catholic countries adopted it soon. yet it took some time for the protestants to follow suit. finally germany did adopt it in 1700， great britain in 1752， and sweden in 1753. it was then necessary to drop 11 days from the calendar because 1700 had been a leap year.
the oriental countries through the influence of religious groups such as the hindus， taoists， buddhists and moslems， considered the new calendar as the christian calendar， but also adopted it as their official one. japan welcomed it in 1873 and china in 1912.
the eastern orthodox adopted it even later， in 1924 and 1927， russia took it twice - first in 1918 and after trying out its own calendars， again 1n 1924.
参考译文：
庆祝新年的传统可以一直追溯到史前时期。在最古老的人类文明时期，由于种族和文化背景的差异，世界各地的人们在不同的日期庆祝新年，直到几百年前全世界才统一将1月1日这天作为新年。
新年是最古老的节假日，最早出现于4000年前的古巴比仑时期。在公元前2000年前后，巴比仑的新年开始于春分后的第一个新月日，因为毕竟春天是一个代表新生的季节，一个播种的季节、一个百花始放的季节，将春天的来临作为新的一年的开始比较符合逻辑。
罗马人继承了这一传统，也在三月后期庆祝新年，但在不同的君主统治时期，罗马的历法不断地被修改，因而造成了历法与太阳运行的不同步。为了确立一套正确的历法，在公元前153年罗马将1月1日定为新一年的开始，但其后历法仍被不断修改，直到公元前46年恺撒确立起现在我们所说的公历，才又将1月1日确立为新年。
其后，关于历法没有出现什么重大的改革，直到1582年罗马教皇gregory xii整合出我们目前采用的划分一年的计算方法，并重新确立新年的日期为1月1日。
一些天主教国家很快便开始采纳这一历法，新教徒也逐渐接受这套历法；一些信仰印度教、道教、佛教、伊斯兰教的东方国家虽然一直将这部新历法视为基督教的历法，但也都逐渐将1月1日作为自己的法定节假日。