Customs of Chinese New Year

Customs of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and is usually celebrated for about sixteen days until the Lantern Festival. There are also a series of rituals and customs that the Chinese have in order to welcome the Spring Festival.

1. Cleaning the house

Cleaning the house removes dust and bad luck from the past year, and for the Chinese, doing a big cleaning is the first step in welcoming the New Year.

2. Shopping for Chinese New Year food and gifts

During Chinese New Year, many shops are closed, so before the holiday, Chinese people will go to buy a lot of New Year's goods and prepare a lot of food at home at the beginning of the New Year.

3. Putting up Spring Festival couplets

The custom of posting Spring Festival couplets originated in the Song Dynasty. At first, people used peach wood to carve human figures and hang them next to the door to protect themselves from evil spirits, then they drew portraits of door deities on peach wood and then simplified the custom by inscribing the names of the door deities on the boards of peach wood. The real popularity of Spring Festival couplets began in the Ming Dynasty, when people prayed for good luck in the new year, in the Spring Festival on the auspicious Spring Festival couplets.

4、Decorate the house: stick paper cuttings, hang Chinese knots, stick door gods

Decorate your house by sticking various kinds of paper cuttings on the windows - window flowers, which come in a variety of patterns. Door gods are put on the windows to drive away all kinds of demons and ghosts in front of the house.

5. Dumpling

When eating dumplings, which are shaped like Yuanbao(one of the Chinese money), wrapping dumplings means wrapping good fortune, and eating dumplings means living a rich life. At the same time, dumplings also have the meaning of warding off evil spirits.

6. New Year's Eve Dinner

New Year's Eve dinner is an important custom on New Year's Eve, where the whole family eats a reunion dinner together, representing family reunion and happiness.

7. Fireworks and Firecrackers

Setting off firecrackers is a custom of Chinese New Year, which has a history of more than two thousand years. The incessant sound of firecrackers is a sign of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. This custom comes from the legend that firecrackers are set off to drive away monsters.

8. Handing out red packets

New Year's money is an important custom during the Chinese New Year. Elders will give out New Year's money to the younger generation on New Year's Eve, signifying that they wish the younger generation to spend the year in peace and security. The distribution of New Year's money reflects the elders' concern and sincere blessings for the younger generation. Through the custom of New Year's money, family reunions and family harmony are inherited as a deep-rooted part of Chinese culture.

9. Visiting relatives

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, people put on new clothes and hats, visit their relatives and friends, greet each other, and wish for good luck in the New Year. New Year's greetings are the inheritance of the family and the order of elders, but also to the elders of the respect and blessings.

10, Lantern Festival, Guessing Lantern Riddles

The temple fair was initially a folk religious ceremony, and then gradually developed into a marketplace for trading activities and colourful entertainment. Visiting temple fairs can pass on the traditional culture of the family and pray for peace and happiness in the new year. People get together at the Lantern Festival