In the west, we celebrate New Year on the 31st December and 1st January. Resolutions are made – I will go to the gym twice a week, I will help my wife with the housework - and probably forgotten! Does that sound like you? Well, there is another chance, as Chinese New Year is celebrated on January 22nd.
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Why do the Chinese celebrate New Year at a different time? The traditional Chinese calendar, like many Asian calendars, follows the lunar cycle. So the New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and the celebrations end on the full moon fifteen days later. A month is a ‘Moon’ and the cycle lasts about twenty nine or thirty days. In order to catch up with the solar calendar, the Chinese insert an extra month once every seven years out of a nineteen year cycle. This is the same as adding an extra day for a leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
The origins of the event are so ancient that they cannot be traced. However, the event is an exciting one, swathed in traditions and rituals.
Preparations begin a month before the date of the Chinese New Year. People buy presents and clothes, decorate their homes and cook traditional food. Homes are cleaned from top to bottom, as any traces of dirt from the previous year could bring bad luck. Doors and windows are repainted, usually in red to ward off evil spirits, and then decorated with sayings to bring happiness, wealth and longevity. Fortune cookies are also baked, containing similar hopeful messages.
Traditionally, each of the fifteen days has a special significance. The first day of the preparations welcomes the gods from the heavens and earth. Many people avoid eating meat on this day because they believe this will ensure a long and happy life.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors. They are also especially kind to dogs and feed them well, as this is believed to be the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law. The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families or friends on the fifth day because it will bring bad luck.
Visiting families and friends is resumed between the sixth and the tenth days, and people also visit temples to pray for good fortune and health.
The seventh day is the day for farmers to present their produce. Farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate their work. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles and raw fish are eaten to promote long life and success.
People typically have a family reunion dinner on the eighth day and on the ninth day they make offerings to the Jade Emperor. Jade comes in many shades of green and is thought to bring good luck.
During the tenth and twelfth days, families invite friends and relatives for dinner. Probably more food is eaten then than at any other time in the year! Traditional food made at this time has special characteristics, all supposed to enhance the hosts and guests success and good health. Black moss seaweed and dried bean curd are symbols of wealth and happiness. A whole fish represents togetherness and abundance, while a chicken symbolises prosperity. Anything white, such as uncooked tofu is not served, as white is thought to bring bad luck. After all this rich food, on the thirteenth day, people eat simple rice soup and mustard greens to cleanse their system!
The fourteenth day sees people preparing for the Lantern Festival held on the fifteenth night, when traditional Chinese lanterns are displayed and fireworks light the sky in a blaze of colour. Parents give children money in lucky red envelopes and families visit their neighbours to offer greetings.
The message from the Chinese New Year celebrations is one of peace and happiness for family members and friends. It is a time for family and friends to unite and give thanks for their good fortune, as well as a chance to wish that their good luck continues!
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Do you celebrate the Chinese New Year? If so, tell us more about it. Do you celebrate New Year in a different way? If so, tell us more about it. Send your stories to us.
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Luo, Bo Bin writes:
I'm a Chinese reader of this article, as a Chinese I think maybe the writer of this article have some misunderstanding about Chinese New Year, or maybe all the author tells us is just the customs of the place which he/she visited.
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| As far as I know on the second day of Chinese most of the people in China don't treat dogs as well as the author said and as a Chinese I have never heard about the Dog's Birthday. |
| On the fifth day of Chinese New Year so far as I know people can do anything they like – before this I never knew if you visit friends and families it will bring bad luck. |
| At Chinese New Year it's a Chinese tradition to have a family reunion dinner but this dinner is not on the eighth day of Chinese New Year, it is held on the last night of the previous year. |
| Not only parents give their children money in lucky red envelopes, you must give the red bags to your family members children or even your friend's children. The red bags are not given on the Lantern Festival, they are given on the first day of the new year, and not only given to the children, but to the old people also. |
Maybe some places have special customers - you know China is such a big country - but in my personal thinking the author doesn't know Chinese New Year very well. I'm Chinese and in the last 20 years I have visited lots of places in China, and I think that what I have told you is the real Chinese New Year.
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I am not Chinese and (to write this article) I did research on the subject through a number of different books and websites, so it could be that some of the information I found is true in certain parts of China, but not practised everywhere. As the writer says, China is a very big country and it is also a country which is changing very fast, so maybe some of the traditions I mention are not followed as closely as they may once have been.
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I am Vietnamese and we have also a Lunar New Year like China. We often have a reunion dinner on the last day of the previous year. This is a rather important event so every member of the family tries his/ her best to gather on this day.
On the first day of a new year, people don't want to be the first to visit another person's house as they are afraid that their visit will bring something bad to that house (as the first visit plays a very important role for the coming year). In fact, we believe that there is a cycle of 12 years. Each year in this cycle corresponds with one kind of animal, beginning with the mouse and then followed by the buffalo, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog, and pig. If this year is the year of the pig, it is bad for people who were born in the year of the tiger to come first in the New Year. This is a very old tradition and we don't know how to explain it.
At midnight of the last day of the previous year (say 24:00), we prepare some food to pray to God. The Vietnamese believe that God will supervise all the activities of people done during the last year. The type of food is flexible but normally is sticky rice and whole boiled chicken (cock). We report to God and wish for everything to be good in the coming year. This time of praying is different from all praying during the previous year. It is carried out in an open area (I mean not inside).
On the first day of the New Year, children (it doesn’t matter if they are your friends’ or your neighbours’) are given lucky money contained in a small red envelop. It is a dream that this money will bring health to those kids.
From the second day of the New Year people feel free to come to their friends’ or relatives’ houses. It is a good time to see relatives and friends.
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Võ Thuỳ Trang writes “I am Vietnamese like Thuy Diep but where I live Lunar New Year is held in a rather different way than at Thuy Diep's place.
On the last days of the previous year, eveybody is hurrying with preparations to welcome a promising, prosperous and happy year. They give presents to each other, come back to their home towns (for those who live far from their home), buy clothers, clean and decorate the house, prepare the ancestral altar carefully with tuberose, a tray of five fruits .... with the hopeful belief that the more they prepare, the more they get in the new year.
On New Year's Eve, nobody goes out, they gather together and give best wishes for the New Year. At this time, an elderly woman in the family will prepare a dish of fruit, a bottle of flowers, a candle, a dish of salt and rice and sticky rice to invite God and the forefathers have reunion meals during Tet holiday.
On the first day, all activities stop except for visiting grave. They enjoy their house and give children red envelopes with money inside, with best wishes for them. Nobody wants to visit their relatives and friends because of the belief that a hostess' activities during the year depends on the person who is the first to come to their house on the first day of the New Year.
And the following days, they come to their friends and relatives to give their best wishes to each other.”
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‘Administrador Aulas Virtuales’ writes: “I do not celebrate Chinese New year, but I feel kindly towards all those celebrations other communities have. I think Chinese New Year is nice, I do deeply enjoy watching the events, my children love this celebration, they like the animals involved in the celebration, and we also like the food.”
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Asif Shahzad writes “I read the article published on your site. It was very interesting and informative for me as it reflected an ancient Chinese story and I knew today why the colour red is used in almost all Chinese architecture and household items. It was also interesting to know that they connect different animals with the overall personality of a person and his or her behaviour. I would love to read more about Chinese history in future.”
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Polina Shapourco writes “We don't celebrate the Chinese New Year in Russia, but a lot of people know about the Chinese horoscope. I hope that the Red Dog brings me luck! The modern Russian New Year hasn't any sharp distinctions from those in Europe. We believe that it is a family celebration. But at the same time many people (mostly the young) celebrate it in the open air, in fancy dress.”
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Pei Shi writes “Celebrating Chinese New Year is not only celebrated to remember ancient history or to have fun. It is really meant for a family to get together after a stressful and busy year. Nowadays, people are busy with their career development and achievement, but neglect the seniors and their family. This is the time for people to remember and spend time in each others’ company. Sharing sorrow, joy, success and loss. The Reunion dinner, a day before Chinese New Year, is very important to a Chinese family. Everybody from the family will go back to their home town to have their dinner, no matter how far they are from there, the family members will travel a million miles to do so! The seniors at home wait for 12 months, just waiting for this reunion dinner to see their sons/ daughters, grandsons/ granddaughters. So, don’t forget that there is someone out there waiting for you for a year or more.”
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Tatiana Kuznetsova writes “I don't celebrate the Chinese New Year, but many of our traditions are similar. We clean our homes before New Year, we have plenty of food when we celebrate it, share presents and I think that the tradition of celebrating with fireworks at midnight came from China.”
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Vladan Sretenovic writes: “I read your article about Chinese New Year with pleasure. I don't know a lot about Chinese history and legends and I would like to find out more about them. They like New Year Eve and they enjoy it. It is very important for them. Everybody from the family has dinner together. The seniors, their daughters, sons and grandchildren are happy during New Year' s Eve. Remember, there is always someone who waits for you and who wants to be with you during New Year' s Eve. The Chinese visit their neighbours and friends on New Year day, give gifts wrapped in red paper to children and unmarried couples and create a feeling of goodwill for the future, which is nice."
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Wikipedia: Chinese New Year
http://www.new-year.co.uk/chinese/index.htm
http://chineseculture.about.com/cs/newyear/index.htm
The British Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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