The Spring Festival is also called Chinese Lunar New Year. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for whole families to get together, which is similar to Christmas for Westerners.It comes on the first day of Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for almost half of a month. But in folk custom, this traditional holiday lasts from the 23rd day of the twelfth month to the 15th day of the first month (The Lantern Festival) on the lunar calendar.
In folk culture, celebrating the Lunar New Year is also called "guonian" (literally meaning "passing a year" ). It is said that the "nian" (year) was a fierce and cruel monster, and every day, it ate one kind of animal including human beings. Human beings were naturally scared and had to hide on the evening when the "nian" came out.Later, people found that the monster was afraid of the red color and fireworks. So after that, people used the red color and fireworks or firecrackers to drive away "nian" . As a result, the custom has remained on this day
Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. It contains rich culture and many interesting customs. Let me introduce some of these important customs.Cleaning the house is a custom before the Spring Festival.
"Dust"（尘）is homophonic with "chen"（陈）in Chinese, which means old and past. In this way,"sweeping the dust" before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. Chinese People believe that in order to receive the new luck,you have to swipe the bad luck. All the cleaning has to be done before the end of New Year' s Eve, that' s what Chinese people always called "Ci Jiu Ying Xin" : saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
"The Spring Couplet" , also called "couplet" and "a pair of antithetical phrases" , is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription, usually an auspicious phrase, above the gate. Whether the family is rich or poor, educated or ignorant, everyone must put on the Spring Couplet to symbolize the hopes for the coming new year.
On New Year's Eve, people who work far away will manage to come home, regardless of long-distance travel, so the "Grand Dinner on New Year's Eve" is also called "Family Reunion Dinner". Every family will make the dinner the most sumptuous and ceremonious one in the year.Hostesses will fetch out prepared food and all family members will sit together and make dumplings in harmony. At twelve o'clock, every family will shoot off firecrackers to greet new days and send off old ones.
Children love Spring Festival because they can receive red packet! A red packet is simply a red envelope with lucky money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth. In traditional Chinese cultural, red is considered a lucky color, red packet is believed to ward off evial spirits and to bring good fortune to the receiver. Traditionally, older generations give the red packet to the younger generation. Nowadays, this practice extends to close friends, neighbors, and even some companies give away year- end bonus in the red packets.
Pasting window grilles is a traditional custom in Xiao Nian. Window grilles are a form of Chinese folk art. By pasting various beautiful paper-cut patterns on the windows, they imply good luck and happiness.
On Little New Year's Day, people will paste red window grilles on their homes to express their hope for a happy life. At the same time, there are also some places will be posted on the door God, to ward off evil, bless Ping An.
The Lunar Year
With crackers cracking noise the old year passed away,
The vernal breeze brings us warm wine and warm spring day.
The rising sun sheds light on doors of each household,
New peachwood charm is put up to replace the old.
These are crystalline sugar-coated haws', tanghulu, which is a favorite winter snack for children in northern China Legends say that 800 years ago an emperor's concubine was sick and had a poor appetite .A doctor ordered that she eat 10 haws boiled with crystal sugar before dinner The concubine recovered within half-a-month.
饺子，or the stuffed Dumpling, is a very common Northern Chinese Dish, Chinese dumplings look like silver ingots. Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during New Year celebration, the more money you can make in the New Year. Ehen making these dumplings, coins and pennies are usually put into selected few, those lucky family members that happen to eat those special dumplings are believed to have special good fortune in the upcoming year.
Tangyuan is a traditional Chinese delicacy with a long history and rich cultural connotations. Its origins have various explanations, including folk legends and religious customs. According to one theory, tangyuan originated from ancient religious rituals as an offering. During traditional Chinese festivals like the Winter Solstice and Lantern Festival, tangyuan plays an important role, symbolizing reunion, harmony, and good wishes. People gather to make and enjoy tangyuan together, sharing warmth and happiness with their families, which has become an integral part of Chinese cultural tradition.
Lantern riddles refer to riddles written on lanterns. A lantern riddle generally consists of three parts: the riddle face, the hint, and the answer. In a lantern riddle,any character that appears in the riddle face cannot be repeated in the answer. Lantern riddles are full of wisdom, and guessing the answer is a fun activity, making it an essential part of the Lantern Festival.Lantern riddles have a long history in China, and it can be said that they reflect the endless wisdom of the Chinese people.
In a word, the Spring Festival brings us joy and happiness. We should cherish the Spring Festival. Continue to carry forward and inherit China's traditional culture. We should keep innovating in the basic traditional customs and keep the old traditional customs. Happy New Year to all! Happy Year of the Dragon!