Chinese New Year
Let's celebrate!
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A cultural celebration - Chinese New Year
A cultural celebration - Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is full of fireworks, the colour red, and delicious food – but how did this celebration begin? Who is Nian and how does Chinese New Year stop him from scaring villages once more? What are some traditions observed during the celebration? What is the significance behind the colour red?
Chinese New Year is important to Chinese people. We should learn how to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Activities
Activities
Red packet
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Give red packets to children, family members, friends and employees as a symbol of good luck. There is money in the red packets.
Lion dance
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Watching the lion dance is fun. Performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits.
Clean the house
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Clean the house symbolizes getting rid of bad luck from the old year.
After cleaning, people decorate their houses with the colour red in the form of spring couplets, paintings, paper-cuts and lanterns.
Reunion dinner
(Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner /Tuen Neen Fan)
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Having a reunion dinner is common. It is an annual feast where family members shows the love and respect that bind them together as a family. The whole family gathers to conclude the year together before a new beginning.
Chinese New Year's Candy Box
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Making a Chinese New Year's candy box is easy. People put candies, dried fruits and nuts in the candy box.
Some of the classic sweets are candied lotus root slices, melon seeds, candied lotus seeds, candied winter melon, and wrapped hard candies.
Having sweets in the house symbolizes a sweet life in the coming new year.
New Year shopping
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Before Chinese New Year's Eve, Chinese people would do new year shopping, preparing the goods for Chinese New Year.
People usually buy food, snacks and decorations. Candies, new year gifts, and new clothes are included in the new year shopping for kids.
Some people wear new clothes on New Year's Day to signify a clean new start.
Like Christmas, Chinese New Year is a time for shopping!
New Year greetings
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Chinese people usually exchange blessing messages to their relatives, friends, and colleagues, expressing their best wishes of the coming year.
笑口常開 May your year be filled with abundance of smiles and laughter.
心想事成 May all your wishes come true.
萬事如意 May everything go well for you.
Decorations
Decorations
In Chinese culture, the colour red symbolizes good fortune and joy.
Fai Chun
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There are three types of Fai Chun, including Doufang the square ones, Chuntiao the short rectangle ones and Chunlian the long rectangle ones.
Fai Chun is a traditional decoration that is often used during Chinese New Year. Chinese put Fai Chun in the doorways to create festive atmosphere. The phrases written on it usually means good luck and prosperity. Customarily, Fai Chun is written by hand.
Spring couplets / Chunlian
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Entryways are decorated with spring couplets on both sides of the door and sometimes one above.
Sticking spring couplets shows people’s delight in the festival and people’s wishes for a better life in the coming year.
Chuntiao
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Chuntiao is a vertical or horizontal rectangle that carries two or four Chinese characters. Phases are expressed based on various contexts.
To family:
恭喜發財: wishes people to become affluent so it can be seen in all occasions.
年年有餘: wishes for excess family possessions in the end of the year.
To kids:
學業進步: wishes for progress in studies
To old people:
龍馬精神: wishes for no disease, one will be as health as the spirits of dragon and horse
Upside-Down Fu Character
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Similar to New Year couplets and paper cuttings, people stick Doufang, a paper with the calligraphy of the Chinese character fu, on doors.
The fu(福) characters are meant to be inverted. Fu means 'good fortune', and sticking the character upside down means the good fortune "pours" towards the family.
New Year paintings
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Sticking New Year paintings on doors and walls during the New Year for decorative purposes. Each Chinese New Year arrives, every family replaces its New Year picture in order to "say goodbye to the past and welcome the future 去舊迎新". The paintings symbolizes the wishes for good fortune and happiness.
Images on the paintings includes:
- Legendary figures: Door Gods, Kitchen God, God of Wealth.
- Animals: lions, tigers, deer, cranes, phoenix.
- Plants: flowers, money tree, pot of wealth.
Paper cuttings
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Paper cutting is the art of cutting designs out of paper. Then, people stick the red paper cuttings on doors and windows.
Each animal or plant on the paper cutting represents a different wish.
The peach: longevity
The pomegranate: fertility
The mandarin duck: love
The pine tree: eternal youth
Lanterns
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People believe hanging red lanterns can help to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck.
People usually hang red lanterns in their houses, parks, and city streets.
It is said that the higher the lanterns are hung, the luckier the family will be.
Food
Food
Tang Yuan
(glutinous rice ball)
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Tang Yuans are round. They are served at family gatherings.
Tang Yuan symbolizes unity and family togetherness.
Fish
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Fish symbolizes surplus and wealth (a lot of money). The pronunciation of fish 魚 is the same as 餘, which means surplus and plenty.
It is important that the fish is served with its head and tail to represent both a good beginning and end to the year.
Fun fact: half the fish is saved to eat the following day to ensure long-lasting future prosperity.
When served, the head of the fish should face elderly guests, who must eat the fish first.
Chicken
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Much like the whole fish, the whole chicken is a symbol of unity and family.
The chicken is served as a whole, with the head and feet included.
Fun fact: the breadwinner[the primary or sole income earner家庭經濟之柱 in a household] in the family should eat the chicken feet, as it just might help them “grab” onto wealth.
Nian Gao
(rice cake)
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Nian Gao symbolizes success and higher performance or income in the new coming year.
The idea of 'higher/improvement' comes from the pronunciation of 糕. It has the same pronunciation as 高, which means high or tall.
Spring rolls
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Spring rolls are rolls fried until golden brown which looks like gold bars.
It means getting ''a ton of gold'' while eating spring rolls.
Shrimp
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Shrimp and lobster are both seen as symbols of fortune, happiness and good luck.
The Cantonese word for shrimp (“ha”) sounds like laughter, so it’s come to signify happiness.
Tangerines
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The tangerine 桔 is one of the luckiest fruits in Chinese tradition.
Its name sounds similar to the Chinese words for “luck” and “success” so they’re often served at the end of a meal or given as gifts to relatives during visits.
But during Chinese New Year, they’re everywhere. Their roundness and golden colour means fullness and wealth.
Fun fact: it’s believed that the more tangerines you eat during Chinese New Year, the more wealth you'll get.
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