從古代殷朝漢朝一直到民國，然後到新中國成立，元旦節的演變是一個很長的歷史過程。此文簡單的介紹了元旦的含義及元旦節的由來。
In ancient China, Yuan Dan was not on January 1st, as regulated in the Gregorian calendar. The date of Yuan Dan had been changed many times from the 1st of the 12th lunar month in Yin Dynasty to the 1st of the 1st lunar month in Han Dynasty. When Sun Yat-sen took office as the temporary President in Nanjing at the beginning of January of 1912, he set the 1st of the 1st lunar month as the Spring Festival while the 1st of January was set as the New Year, which was also called Yuan Dan. After liberation, the Central Government of China issued a National Festival and Memorial Day Holiday that set January 1st as Yuan Dan, which was a one-day holiday for the whole country. In order to distinguish the two New Years of both the lunar calendar and solar calendar, and as the "spring beginning" of the Lunar Calendar was always around the lunar New Year, the 1st of the 1st lunar month was called the Spring Festival. Yuan means the beginning, the first. The beginning of a number is Yuan. Dan, which is a pictographic character in the Chinese language, means the day rises from the horizon, symbolizing the beginning of a day. When Yuan and Dan are combined, it means the first day of a New Year. Yuan Dan is also called Three Yuan, the beginning of a year, the beginning of a month and the beginning of an hour. The word Yuan Dan was first used during the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns era.
在古代，按公歷來說，元旦不僅僅是一月一號這一天。元旦的日期從殷朝臘月初一改到漢朝的正月初一。公元1911年，孫中山領導的辛亥革命 ，推翻了滿清的統治，建立了中華民國。各省都督代表在南京開會，決定使用公歷，把農歷的正月初一叫做“春節”，把公歷的1月1日叫做“元旦”。新中國成立後，中國出台了關于全國假日和戰爭紀念日的放假規定時，定1月1號為元旦，全國放假一天。為了區別農歷和陽歷的兩個新年有鑒于農歷二十四節氣中的“立春”恰在農歷新年的前後，因此便把農歷正月初一改稱為“春節”。“元”意為開始，第一，數位的第一個稱元。“旦”在中國文字裏是象形文字，其意思為太陽從地平線上聖騎，意為一天的開始。當“元”和“旦”相結合，意思就成了一年開始得第一天。元旦又稱“三元”，即歲之元、月之元、時之元。 元旦最早可以追溯到“ 三皇五帝時期”（ “三皇”指天皇、地皇、人皇。“五帝”指木帝、火帝、土帝、金帝和水帝。 ）
In Jin Shu, compiled by Fang Xuanling in the Tang Dynasty, the first lunar month was called Yuan and the 1st day was called Dan.
元旦一詞始于三皇五帝，唐房玄齡等人寫的《晉書》上傳，把正月稱為元，初一為旦。