Boxing Day

今天是Boxing Day，所以我的MSN個人訊息是「Happy Boxing Day」。隔壁的同事以前在美國住過，他看到我的MSN個人訊息，突然感嘆說道：「啊！Boxing Day，可是跟我沒關係。」

但我對「Boxing Day」的解讀是「國定假日」，而他對這一天的解讀是「Boxing Day Big Sales」的流血大降價的血拼日。這就引起我對Boxing Day由來的好奇心。

以前在紐西蘭念日文的時候，老師曾經要我們比較紐西蘭和日本的假日，絕大多數的假日都可以查出由來，唯有紐西蘭在12月26日的Boxing Day由來，我怎麼樣都查不到，問了當時我的英語家教，他也不曉得，他猜可能是26日那一天大家把拆掉的聖誕禮物盒子拿出來丟掉吧？

現在網路這麼方便，我就上Wikipedia查了由來，才知道這一天真的是基督教的一個節日呢！只是不確定除了大英國協以外的國家，例如美國，這天是不是也會放假咧。

Boxing Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Boxing day)

Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia , Canada, New Zealand and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population. It is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society. Contemporary Boxing Day in many countries is now a "shopping holiday" associated with after-Christmas sales.

This day is historically England's name for St Stephen's Day - St. Stephen was one of the first Christian martyrs, being stoned to death in Jerusalem around A.D. 34-35 - 26 December, which is a public holiday in most countries in Europe and many countries around the world with predominantly Christian populations. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St Stephen's Day is celebrated on the 27th of December, although in Greece the Greek Boxing Day (Synaxis Theotokou, Σύναξις Θεοτόκου) is also celebrated as a public holiday on the 26th of December and is not related to the English version.[citation needed]

In Ireland the Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the feast day of St. Stephen's Day as a non-moveable public holiday on December the 26th, although since partition the name "Boxing Day" is used by the authorities in Northern Ireland and it has become a moveable public holiday in line with the rest of the UK. The Banking and Financial Dealings Act of 1971 established "Boxing Day" as a public holiday in Scotland. In the Australian state of South Australia, December the 26th is a public holiday known as Proclamation Day.

It is usually celebrated on the 26th of December, the day after Christmas Day; however, unlike St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day is not always on the 26th of December, its associated public holiday can be moved to the next weekday if the 26th of December is a Saturday or Sunday. The movement of Boxing Day varies between countries.

儘管現今的時代我們比較關心的是各大商家計畫過了採買聖誕禮物時間的促銷活動，這讓我聯想到中秋節與烤肉的關係，這和Boxing Day與Shopping有異曲同工之妙啊！