During lunch time at work today, the topic of Christmas tree came up in my chat with K. I was telling her how I almost bought a small Christmas tree when M and I were at Home Depot on Saturday. I guess I just wanted to have a sliver of that very contagious holiday spirit. Since we are going to spend the holiday away in Mexico, we decided against having one in our house. Yet, this very brief and sudden yearning for a Christmas tree triggered my interest in finding out about the history behind it.
As part of the Christmas decoration, the tree is really the center piece. Little ornaments and lights are hung from tree branches; gifts will be laid out under the tree. Without the tree, the holiday will be very lacking in ambiance.
I had always assumed that the Christmas tree had been part of the Christian tradition all along. In the meantime, I never assumed that the Christians are the only people who had this tradition. Evergreen trees must have caught the attention of ancient peoples from different corners of the world, especially in the coldest months of a year. It is no surprise that, in both Pagan and Christian traditions, we can find origins of such a practice - placing branches or boughs of evergreen trees inside a house usually in Winter. Although in the pagan traditions, the evergreen tree was often used to recognize the winter solstice, the shortest day of a year; while in the Christian tradition, there are different legends, myths and theories that all link this practice with Christianity. For example, one of the legends has it that, around the 7th century, St. Boniface, a monk, cut down a deciduous oak tree being worshipped by a group of Pagans, who had been just baptized. Miraculously, an evergreen tree grew out of the oak tree stump. This symbolizes the death of Paganism and the triumph of Christianity. The fact is that it would be very difficult to trace this tradition to one single origin.
According to many sources, the first documented use of a Christmas tree in the Christian tradition was in 1510 in Riga, Latvia. But Western Germany is really the place where this tradition took roots and spread to other parts of the world. It is said that Martin Luther was the one who started this tradition in the 16th century. Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, the Thuringia area in Germany boasted the oldest and biggest Christmas decoration industry.
In England, this tradition didn't catch up until the latter half of the 19th century during the Queen Victoria period. She and her German prince, Albert, helped popularize this practice through their own popularity. In the late 19th century, this tradition was introduced across the Atlantic to the States by German immigrants. And the Frank Winfield Woolworth was one of the first American businessmen who started selling Christmas trees in his stores - forerunners of modern day Walmart!
These days anybody can celebrate the holiday with a Christmas tree. In China, it is still a fairly new fad and highly commercialized. It is just another opportunity to for people to get together, to shop and to have fun decorating!
As part of the Christmas decoration, the tree is really the center piece. Little ornaments and lights are hung from tree branches; gifts will be laid out under the tree. Without the tree, the holiday will be very lacking in ambiance.
I had always assumed that the Christmas tree had been part of the Christian tradition all along. In the meantime, I never assumed that the Christians are the only people who had this tradition. Evergreen trees must have caught the attention of ancient peoples from different corners of the world, especially in the coldest months of a year. It is no surprise that, in both Pagan and Christian traditions, we can find origins of such a practice - placing branches or boughs of evergreen trees inside a house usually in Winter. Although in the pagan traditions, the evergreen tree was often used to recognize the winter solstice, the shortest day of a year; while in the Christian tradition, there are different legends, myths and theories that all link this practice with Christianity. For example, one of the legends has it that, around the 7th century, St. Boniface, a monk, cut down a deciduous oak tree being worshipped by a group of Pagans, who had been just baptized. Miraculously, an evergreen tree grew out of the oak tree stump. This symbolizes the death of Paganism and the triumph of Christianity. The fact is that it would be very difficult to trace this tradition to one single origin.
According to many sources, the first documented use of a Christmas tree in the Christian tradition was in 1510 in Riga, Latvia. But Western Germany is really the place where this tradition took roots and spread to other parts of the world. It is said that Martin Luther was the one who started this tradition in the 16th century. Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, the Thuringia area in Germany boasted the oldest and biggest Christmas decoration industry.
In England, this tradition didn't catch up until the latter half of the 19th century during the Queen Victoria period. She and her German prince, Albert, helped popularize this practice through their own popularity. In the late 19th century, this tradition was introduced across the Atlantic to the States by German immigrants. And the Frank Winfield Woolworth was one of the first American businessmen who started selling Christmas trees in his stores - forerunners of modern day Walmart!
These days anybody can celebrate the holiday with a Christmas tree. In China, it is still a fairly new fad and highly commercialized. It is just another opportunity to for people to get together, to shop and to have fun decorating!
