western festival

作者：曾文娟 标签：April day Fool History of

阅读次数：1914

History of April Fool’s day
　　The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.
　　Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. And some rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1. As the result of it ,they were labeled "fools" by the general populace. The general populace also sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.
　　This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way.