Just what is Chinese New Year? There is actually a lot more to it than lion dances and firecrackers. Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar so it is also called the Lunar New Year and is also referred to as the Spring Festival since it is the beginning of the Spring term, which is the first term of the 24 terms on the lunar calendar. Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon fifteen days later. The preparation starts a month before the new year. The preparation includes thoroughly cleaning and decorating the house, buying new clothes, preparing enough food for at least two weeks. The decorations are highly symbolic with a lot of lucky words, printed paintings and red colours everywhere. Everyone gets a haircut before the new year so everything and everyone looks new and fresh on the new year.
The New Year's Eve is the time for families. The New Year Eve's dinner is the biggest dinner of the year, much like Thanksgiving dinner. It is known as the reunion dinner as families will come together on this day to have a meal. The dinner is full of symbollic meaning, such as Chinese dumplings implying wealth since they have the shape of ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots. Everyone, even kids, drinks a little Jiu (usually hard liquor), which symbolizes longevity since Jiu has the same pronunciation as longevity in Chinese. Then the family chats while watching national TV shows or listening to radio together until the coming of the new year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out and children will also stay awake throughout the night to pray for the good health and longevity of their parents. This is known as ‘Shou Sui’.
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth. "Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them. An ancient custom called Hong Bao (Red Packet) takes place. Children wake up early to find small red envelopes containing sweets or money under their pillows and married couples give unmarried adults small packets of money and then the new year greetings begin. It is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. When visiting a house or family for Chinese New Year, it is tradition for the family to display a spread of chinese delicacies for the guests to eat. These delicacies includes mandarin oranges, melon seeds, nian gao which is also known as new year cake, and lastly roasted barbecue pork also known as bakkwa.
The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents and the Chinese also pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs. The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival day, it is celebrated as ‘Yuan Xiao Jie’. On this day, families eat sweet glutinous rice balls known as ‘tangyuan’, brewed in a sweet soup.
To sum up everything, Chinese New Year marks a new beginning not only for the chinese but for everyone and it is also a time for us to have fun and enjoy. More importantly, it is a time to get together with family members and friends to keep up with them and as for children, it is a time for them to collect Red Packets!
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hi, i'm claudia and this is my crappy english blog. =)
It's Me
Claudia Tan Yan Bing
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