By: J. Liu
The Chinese New Year is the most important festival in China. It usually starts in January or February. The Chinese start celebrating on the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and the festival lasts for up to 15 days. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, family members come home from different places and have dinner together.
The origin of Chinese New Year is often explained with mythology. Thousands of years ago, there lived a scary monster. It was called Nian. For most of the year, Nian lived in the ocean. But it came out annually and terrorized people living in the surrounding villages. It destroyed their buildings, killed their livestock, and even devoured the villagers. The villagers were terrified of Nian and hid in the mountains every year.
One day, an old man visited one of the villages that had often been attacked by Nian. Although the villagers warned him, the man still stayed in the village. After the villagers had left, the man started lighting candles. He stuck red paper on each of the house doors, wore red clothes and burned bamboo. When Nian came back to terrorize the village, it was very scared by the brightness of the red light and the deafening bangs of the burning bamboo.
From then on, everyone knew that Nian was afraid of light, loud noises and the color red. Since then, people have always lit candles, left the lights on for a long time, lit fireworks and wore red clothes in Chinese New Year.
These are still the traditions of Chinese New Year to this day. Because of this mythology, red represents luck, joy and prosperity in China. That is also why Chinese people hang Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters on the walls.
In addition, Chinese people think it is very important to prepare the whole family for the New Year. Everything should be new and clean. They buy new clothes, visit the hairdresser, repaint the walls and go shopping for preparations. Usually people buy candles, fireworks, red envelopes and flowers. But the most important are foods used in dishes.
On the last day of the year, the whole family comes together for a rich feast. Many foods are served, including some popular traditional foods like dumplings. Fish is also served in most regions of China. The word “fish” is homophonous with the word for “abundance,” which ultimately implies “wealth.”
After dinner, the elders give the younger ones red envelopes containing money. The red envelopes represent good luck and prosperity. The amount of money is very important. It doesn’t necessarily have to be much money, but it is important to choose the amount according to Chinese numerology and select lucky numbers.
The Chinese New Year is a clan and family celebration. People meet their relatives and give each other warm greetings. The Chinese New Year is something very special for Chinese people. It has great family and cultural significance. It is a time to reflect on oneself and wish for happiness and prosperity. The Chinese New Year bears wishes and hopes for all who celebrate this festival. If you ever have a chance to celebrate the Chinese New Year, you will be delighted and amazed by its magnificence.