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CHINESE NEW YEAR

INDEX

What is the Chinese New year Mythology Traditional food Traditions

What is the Chinese New Year?

It is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Traditionally, the festival was a time to honour deities as well as ancestors. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.

Doble clic para editarme

Doble clic para editarme

Doble clic para editarme

Mythology

According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian. Nian would eat villagers, especially children. One year, all the villagers decided to go hide from the beast. An old man appeared before the villagers went into hiding and said that he's going to stay the night, and decided to get revenge on the Nian. All the villagers thought he was insane. The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. The day after, the villagers came back to their town to see that nothing was destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red and loud noises. When the New Year was about to come, the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again.

Traditional food

A reunion dinner, named as "Nian Ye Fan", is held on New Year's Eve. Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. These packets often contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. Like many other New Year dishes, certain ingredients also take special precedence over others as these ingredients also has similar-sounding names with prosperity, good luck, or even counting money.Here are some examples of Chinese New Year's food:

Chicken: Boiled chicken is served because it is figured that any family, no matter how humble their circumstances, can afford a chicken for Chinese New Year. Mandarin Oranges: Oranges, particularly mandarin oranges, are a common fruit during Chinese New Year. They are particularly associated with the festival in southern China, where its name is a homophone of the word for "luck". Noodles: Families may serve uncut noodles (making them as long as they can), which represent longevity and long life.

Traditions

Red envelopes

Gift exchange

Fireworks

Markets

Music

Clothes

Traditionally, red envelopes or red packets are passed out during the Chinese New Year's celebrations, from married couples or the elderly to unmarried juniors. It is also common for adults or young couples to give red packets to children. Red packets almost always contain money.

They are exchanged between friends or relatives during Chinese New Year. Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes. Common gifts include fruits , cakes, biscuits, chocolates, and candies.

They were once used in ancient China to drive away evil spirits, and now is another tradition of the Chinese New Year.

Markets or village fairs are set up as the New Year is approaching. These usually open-air markets feature new year related products such as flowers, toys, clothing, and even fireworks. It is convenient for people to buy gifts for their new year visits as well as their home decorations.

They sing traditional New Year's songs, like: Happy New Year! Happy New Year!Happy New Year to you all! We are singing; we are dancing.

The color red or bright colors is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it was once believed that red could scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. In addition, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize a new beginning in the new year. Wearing new clothes also symbolizes having more than enough things to use and wear in the new year. Red is a color of good luck.