Chinese New Years

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a deeply traditional Chinese social and religious holiday. This celebration is the most important holiday in traditional Chinese culture. The celebration is sometimes referred to as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival.

Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the traditional Chinese calendar and the celebration lasts for 15 days. The date of the celebration differs from year to year, but always takes place between January 21 and February 20. It is celebrated in areas with large numbers of Han Chinese people, including mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Each year is represented by three different themes. Most people are familiar with the animal zodiac, which has a 12 year cycle but the animal zodiac is not the only theme associated with a given year. There are 10 heavenly stems, which are represented by one of the five elements and a yin and yang association. The five Chinese elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The element is associated with two sequential years. The first year of an element is called yin and the second year is called yang. The complete cycle takes 60 years to repeat.

Because it is tradition to celebrate Chinese New Year with family members, the period surrounding the celebration has the largest human migration in China. Vast numbers of Chinese individuals travel to the homes of their parents and families to celebrate the new year. This 40 day period is called chunyun.

According to Chinese legend, Chinese New Year originated with the fight against Nien, a mythical beast. In the legend, the beast would eat livestock, villagers, and children on the first day of each new year. The villagers began to put food in front of their doors on the first day of the new year to protect themselves from the beast. Some villagers noticed that Nien was scared away by a child wearing red clothes. This started the tradition of hanging red decorations and lanterns to celebrate the new year. Some villagers also used firecrackers to scare away the beast. This is the traditional story of Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year is traditionally celebrated with the hanging of red decorations, especially over doors and windows. These decorations are based on hopeful messages for the coming year, such as wealth, longevity, happiness, and prosperity.

Traditionally, those celebrating Chinese New Year will thoroughly clean their homes during the celebration. Cleaning the house is considered good luck because it rids the home of any ill-fortune acquired during the previous year. Buddhist and Taoist households usually thoroughly clean their altars. Decorations from the previous year are removed and burned the week before the beginning of Chinese New Year. New decorations are placed at the altar.

Many Chinese families celebrate the Eve of Chinese New Year with a large feast. This feast will usually include chicken, duck, pig, and special deserts. Firecrackers will be lit at the end of the evening. On the morning of Chinese New Year, children wish their parents a happy and healthy new year. Parents give their children gifts of money in red envelopes.

The first day of Chinese New Year is traditionally devoted to welcoming deities. This welcoming officially begins at midnight on the first day. Buddhists, and many others, do not eat meat on the first day of Chinese New Year. This is intended to bring longevity. Additionally, the use of knives and the lighting of fires on the first day is considered to be bad luck by many people.

Married daughters will traditionally visit their families on the second day of Chinese New Year. Additionally, the Chinese will pray to their gods and ancestors. The second day is believed to be the birthday of all dogs, so dogs are treated kindly and fed extremely well on this day.

The third day is known as "chi kou" or "red mouth". This day is named for the God of Blazing Wrath. Chinese people will usually stay home and avoid visiting or socializing on this day.

The fifth day of the Chinese New Year is considered to be the birthday of the god of wealth. It is traditional to reopen business and shoot off fireworks to get the attention and favor of the god.

The seventh day is considered to be the common man's birthday or the day when all people grow one year older. The eighth day will consist of a family dinner to celebrate the Jade Emperor. The ninth day is another day for prayer for the Jade Emperor, because it is considered to be his birthday. The thirteenth day celebrates the god of war, who signifies strength, loyalty, truth, and justice.

The final day of the Chinese New Year celebrates the Shang Yuan Festival or Lantern Festival. Chinese people place candles outside their houses and shrines and temples are adorned with thousands of red lanterns to guide wayward spirits back to where they belong. Families also walk the streets carrying red lanterns with their entire extended familes. It is a beautiful site of deep cultural significance and history.