The first day of the first lunar month is the start of the Chinese New Year and this important celebration lasts for fifteen days. The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China and is also celebrated throughout Asia, not only in China. The Chinese zodiac, a twelve-year cycle, and the heavenly stems, a ten-year cycle, all coincide with the Chinese New Year.
The myth of how the Chinese New Year began is thought to originate from villagers protecting themselves from the monster Nian, or Year. On the first day of the New Year, Nian would come to eat what ever and whom ever it could. Villagers would leave food out hoping to satiate its hunger. Nian was also scared by the color red so red lanterns were hung to frighten it away. The current New Year stems from the celebration of the banishment of this beast.
The period around the Chinese New Year is known as the largest migration time in China as the New Year is a time to visit friends and relatives and many individuals travel to return home and visit with family. The day before the Chinese New Year the home will be cleaned from top to bottom to sweep away the bad luck from the preceding year and welcome in good luck. Other traditions like wearing new clothes and getting a haircut are also included in having a new start.
The first day of the Chinese New Year welcome sin the deities of earth and the heavens. Most individuals do not eat meat during this time. Most food is cooked the day before as the use of knives and fires are thought to bring bad luck. The first day is also when the family will visit the oldest or most senior members of their family. During the second day of the New Year the married daughter will visit her birth parents. Individuals also pray to the god and ancestors and also celebrate dogs.
The third and fourth days of the New Year are not traveling says as it is thought that individuals will argue more easily as well as being respectful to the dead particularly or any family that may have died within the past three years. The fifth day dumplings are traditionally eaten, as this say is the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth.
On the seventh day everyone turns one year older as this is the common mans birthday. On this day friends congregate and feast on colorful raw fish salads. The Jade emperor of Heaven's birthday is on the ninth day. Offerings of sugarcane are made to the Jade emperor and honored guests will drink tea. On the last day of the New Year lanterns and candles are lit to guide back wayward spirits.
Henry Fong
Feng Shui Consultant
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