[Festival Science Popularization] Do you really understand April Fool'

April Fool's Day ( April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day), also known as All Fool's Day and Humor Festival, is on April 1st and has not been recognized as a legal holiday by any country .

The more common saying that April Fool's Day originated in France. In 1564, France first adopted the Gregorian calendar , a newly reformed calendar , which started the year on January 1, instead of the previous calendar
The festival spread to England in the 18th century, and was later brought to the United States by the early British immigrants, and was brought to the American continent with the British colonial movement and immigration activities , so it became a popular festival in Europe and the United States .

Festival Origin

The more common saying is that it originated in France . In 1564, the French Emperor Charles IX announced that the whole country would switch to the Gregory calendar, so the New Year's activities originally held on April 1 were brought forward to January 1. Charles IX's reform It was opposed by some old-fashioned people who still celebrated the New Year according to the old calendar , gave gifts to each other, and held various celebrations. The Reform Party made a big mockery of these people's practices.

Because conservatives were tricked into attending the event and sent fake gifts to them, the deceived conservatives who came to the event were called "April Fools" or "baited fish". Unexpectedly, this kind of party mocked each other Behavior gradually became popular in France, and eventually formed April Fool's Day. April Fool's Day not only became a favorite festival in France, but also spread to England in the 18th century, and was later brought to the United States by early British immigrants, and was brought to the American continent with the British colonial movement and immigration activities. A popular festival in Europe and America .

In the beginning, any American could concoct appalling news without any moral or legal responsibility , and the government and judiciary would not pursue it. On the contrary, whoever makes up the most bizarre lies and can deceive people into believing the most will be awarded the laurels . This approach has brought a lot of confusion to the society, which has caused people's dissatisfaction.

Fooling and cheating during the holiday season is no longer as outrageous as it used to be, but for the purpose of lighthearted fun.

Jokes can only be played until 12:00 noon on April Fool's Day, which is a strict rule of convention. A man who is having fun after noon is a bigger fool than the man he makes fun of. Anyone who jokes after the hour will immediately run into trouble and find himself out of fun. There is a little poem that describes it like this: It's past twelve o'clock on April Fool's Day, you big fool come late. Come next April Fool's Day, you'll be the biggest fool ever.

trace the origin

Tracing back to the origin of April Fool's Day, there are roughly the following types:

Reformers make a mockery of these practices of the old school , sending them fake gifts and inviting them to fake parties. Since then, teasing people on this day has spread. When a person is deceived, the person who makes fun of him will shout loudly: "POISSON D'AVRIL" ("POISSON D'AVRIL"), which means "Prank in April". The origin and original meaning of this idiom is unclear.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decided to adopt a new reformed calendar— the Gregorian calendar (the common Gregorian calendar ), which started the year on New Year's Day, changing the previous practice of taking April 1st as the new year's calendar. beginning. However, some conservatives in France opposed this reform and still gave New Year gifts on this day to celebrate the New Year according to the old calendar. Clever and funny people send them fake gifts and invite them to fake receptions on April 1st. And dubbed conservatives "April fools" or "baited fish." Then people will fool each other in April 1st, France has become a popular custom. At the beginning of the 18th century, the custom of April Fool's Day spread to England, and then was brought to the United States by early immigrants from England.
According to the research of British historians: The Encyclopedia Britannica records: "April Fool's Day" is a festival of lying that began to appear after the religious revolution in the fifteenth century AD. At that time, King Philip II of Spain once established a " Heresy Inquisition ", as long as he was not a Catholic , he was regarded as a heretic, and he was sentenced to death on April 1st every year , that is, the death penalty . The subjects felt very terrified, so they took pleasure in lying and making fun every day to dilute their fear and hatred of the ruler. Later, it was used for a long time and evolved into "April Fool's Day".
According to legend, about 1,650 years after Adam , the ancestor of mankind, God destroyed the world with a flood, but only Noah , the descendant of Huide , the third son of Adam , was left behind. life. After the flood receded slightly, Noah sent out a white dove to find a piece of land after the flood receded, because this day happened to be April 1st. Therefore, later generations believe that doing a meaningless thing on this day is like a white dove doing a white job, acting stupidly , which is the origin of "April Fool's Day".
According to the records of ancient Roman records: Rome held the "Ginger Meeting" in early April every year. In a certain year of the "Ginger Meeting", Bailuo Saipina, the daughter of the god of dominion Shirise, met the Hades when she was picking daffodils in the Elysium. King Prado, the two fell in love at first sight and showed their love to each other. Prado then married Bai Luo Saipina as the queen of the underworld . In order to fool Shirley, and Shirley was fooled, she followed the source of the sound to find it. Therefore, they take the annual "Ginger Fair" as "April Fool's Day".
According to Christians, "April Fool's Day" is to commemorate the day when Jesus was crucified. Before Jesus was crucified, he was forced to run around. Crucification, in fact, contains the meaning of vigilance.
April Fool's Day has similarities with Hilaria (March 25) in ancient Rome and Holi (until March 31) in India.
The choice of time is related to the "spring equinox", when the weather often changes suddenly, it seems that nature is fooling humans.
There is a folklore in the UK that believes that April Fool's Day is related to a town called " Gotham Town ". Legend has it that there was such a tradition in the 13th century that all roads visited by the king would be owned by the public. The people of Gotham, unwilling to lose their main road, spread rumors, hoping to stop the king's visit. The king then sent a messenger to inquire. When the messenger arrived in the village, he found that the streets were full of crazy people. The king gave up the plan of inspection. So April Fool's Day came from commemorating the lies of the townspeople of Gotham Town.
Joseph Persian, professor emeritus of American humor at Boston University, put forward his own views on the historical origin of April Fool's Day. He believes that April Fool's Day originated as a joke. In 1983, Persian King once said that the concept of April Fool's Day came from Roman clowns during the period of Constantine I in Rome in the third and fourth centuries AD . It is said that when the clowns successfully petitioned the ruler, the ruler allowed them to elect a member who could become king one day. So, on April 1st, Constantine I handed over the rule of the Roman Empire to one of his buffoons, King Cugil. Kujill then decreed that April 1st would always be a day of the absurd. According to Boskin, the news agencies at that time did not have much interest in this topic. "I think I should have been credited for this bizarre story."