Lunar New Year is just right around the corner, and this year, the first day of the lunar year begins on January 22, 2023. Each year, the beginning of the lunar year is different, and starts later than the Gregorian calendar, which is what most parts of the world including the United States uses. Lunar New Year is sometimes also known as “Chinese New Year”, but many other Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan celebrate this holiday as well. Lunar New Year in China and some other countries treat this holiday similar to how the United States celebrates Christmas. This popular holiday is celebrated for 15 days in China, and is quite highly celebrated because Chinese people wish to bring in good luck for the new year. There are many festivities that occur during this time such as lion dances, musical performances, prepping for the new year, and meaning of certain dishes. There are a tremendous amount of activities in the Lunar New Year that would be difficult to cover, but some of the most important and interesting ones are highlighted in this post.
The first day of the Lunar New Year celebrations (also called “Spring Festival” 春节) are the most highly anticipated and requires the most prepping. On this day, many people don’t hold knives or brooms because it would be a sign of bad luck. Brooms are not used for cleaning because it was known in the olden days that using the broom would sweep away all the good fortune that would or have already made its way into the home. Using knives on the first day is taboo, so most of the cooking is done the few days leading to the first day. Additionally, to get rid of the bad spirits that may be lingering from the previous year, there would be lion dances, firecrackers, and lightening bamboo sticks to ward off bad spirits.
Probably one of the most anticipated aspects of the Lunar New Year is the giving and receiving of red pocket envelopes also known as hong bao 红包。These red pocket envelopes are filled with cash given to children and the elderly. The cash amount would be in multiples of eight because “eight” in mandarin and cantonese is phonetically similar to the word “prosperous”. On the other hand, people usually never give cash amounts that end in the number “four” because it is phonetically similar to the word “die” in both mandarin and cantonese. Therefore, people do not want to wish death to the receiver at the beginning of the year. Red pocket envelopes are not the only items that are given as gifts during this time. Other gifts would be assorted nuts and fruits, especially tangerines, pomelos, and oranges because their Chinese characters are related to the character “luck” in Chinese. Gifts that are not acceptable to give during this time are clocks or watches because they are phonetically similar to the process of funerals.
Day 2 of the Lunar Year is called 开年 (kai nian), and the main focus is to worship the God of Wealth 财神(cai shen). Most red pocket envelopes are given out, and interestingly, only married men and women are allowed to give and receive red envelopes while unmarried, single individuals can only receive. There is a popular song sung in cantonese called “财神到”, and it is used to celebrate and welcome the God of Wealth into the living space. This day is dedicated to maximizing the chances that the household/personels will be prosperous in the new year.
Usually after the 3rd day of celebrations, businesses almost return back to normal while people continue to celebrate the new year. School-aged children get this time off, but the length varies depending on the region. The official holiday is seven days long while some children depending on the area get the full 15 days off.
This is a brief overview of what the festivities look like for the first two days of the Lunar New Year in China along with traditions and customs that Chinese people follow during this time. The types of dishes and festivities may vary region to region, but one thing that can be said for certain is that the main theme of the celebrations is the importance of family gathering.
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Hi Anna, I never knew there were specific days of the Lunar New Year. In South Korea, which is where I am from, families will get together and celebrate the Lunar New Year. Younger people or generations will do 세배 sebae (Korean traditional bow or greeting) to older people or generations. It would be nice if I could experience and celebrate the Lunar New Year in this way.
I did not know so many superstitions were associated with the lunar new Year. I grew up in a Korean home but I lived in America all my life. I never really celebrated the lunar new year, at least to this extent. I would only go out and eat dinner with my family. We never practiced any of these superstitions. I think it's so cool to have a certain period of time dedicated to welcoming the new year. In America, we only celebrate for a few days or so. Also in America holidays are heavily commercialized. I wish there was more culture embedded into our holidays in general.