Chinese Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival, is the grandest festival of China. It plays a very important role in Chinese traditional culture. The festival lasts from the first day to the fifteenth day of each lunar year. The custom of celebrating the Lunar New Year can be traced back to the Pre-Xia Period(2377B.C-2070B.C.). During the reign of King Yao(2377B.C.-2259B.C.), ancient Chinese people started to celebrate the Lunar New Year. However, the festival fell on different days in different dynasties. For example, people celebrated the Lunar New Year in the tenth month of each year. It has been fixed on the first day of the first month since the calender of Taichu was put in use(104 B.C.).
Half a month before the festival, people are usually busy shopping and preparing everything for the carnival. The twenty-third day of the twelfth month is called Xiaonian by Chinese, meaning “pre-new-year”. It is a day for cleaning houses and worshiping the God of Kitchen. Houses will be completely cleaned and decorated with red lanterns. According to legend, the God of Kitchen is in charge of supervising every household. On the day, he flies to heaven to report all family affairs to the Jade Emperor who has the power to make things pleasant or unpleasant for people. Therefore, Chinese people always worship the God of Kitchen before he leaves for heaven. The purpose of the worship is to please the God of Kitchen so that he would not speak ill of them.
The Lunar New Year Eve is called Chu-Xi(or Tsu-Shi). Chu means to take something away, and Xi means night in English. On the day, Chinese people often stick the portraits of house-guardians onto doors with sheets of red paper on which a couplet is written. All family members go home for a family reunion. After a sumptuous meal, they sit together watching the live Spring Festival Gala on TV. At midnight, all the households let off fireworks and firecrackers to welcome the Kitchen God back to their houses, who brings good fortune from heaven for the family in the coming year.
From the first day to the third day, people visit their closest relatives and friends, sending their New Year greetings. The Spring Festival Carnival is held at the same time, which features dragon dances, lion dances, recreational parades and temple fairs. Rice-dumplings are for the breakfast on the first day, and then noodles are for the breakfast on the second day. The rice-dumpling is a symbol of reunion and perfection. The noodle represents longevity. It is taboo sweeping floors with a broom on the first day. On the evening of the fifteenth day, a lantern show is regularly performed. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the first month is also called the Lantern Festival.
Author: Tina Luo
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