Chinese New Year Customs Chinese New Years Eve

春节习俗 Chinese New Year Customs

Chinese New Year’s Eve: Family's reunion dinner Chinese New Year’s Eve, falls on the last day of a year according to the Chinese lunar calendar and is called “Chú Xī 除夕" in Chinese. In the evening, people in the north eat dumplings “Jiǎo zi 饺子”while people in the south eat “Nián gāo 年糕” (meaning Year Cake).

Day 1: Celebrates the Beginning of the year On the morning of the first day of Spring Festival, families first set off some firecrackers before going out, in order to drive away evil spirits. In ancient times, the most important thing for Chinese on this day was to "bài nián" (拜年), to wish a happy New Year – people paid visits to relatives, friends, and neighbours and to the older generations

Day 2: Visiting friends and relatives The second day of the Chinese New Year is known as “Kāi nián 开年”, meaning the beginning of a year. People offer sacrifices to the God of Fortune hoping he can give them a great fortune in the coming year. The second day of the Chinese New Year is also the day to welcome sons-in-law. On this day, married daughters will visit the parental home with their husbands.

Day 3: Staying at home On the third day of the Chinese New Year, people usually don’t go out for visiting. It is generally accepted that this day is not a good day to socialize or visit relatives and friends. The third day of the Chinese New Year is an ominous day, so there are many other things people are forbidden to do according to the traditional custom.

Day 4: Welcoming the Gods The fourth day of the Chinese New Year is the day to welcome the Kitchen God, the god of fortune and other gods. Families should prepare abundant fruits, burn incense and light candles to welcome the gods. On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, families can finally clean their house. They collect all the rubbish to one place and throw them all away symbolising that they throw away all the possible bad luck and poverty for this year.

Day 5: Celebrating the Festival of Po Wu The fifth day of the Chinese New Year is known as the Festival of Pò Wǔ 破五. According to the traditional custom it is believed that many taboos can be broken on this day. This day is the birthday of the god of fortune. People will celebrate this day with a large banquet and firecrackers in an attempt to get the attention of the god of fortune.

Day 6: Driving away the Ghost of Poverty On the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, according to traditional custom, families usually send away the ghost of poverty on this day. People will throw away their ragged clothes, rubbish and other dirty things. In addition, they will also light some candles to lighten the road for the ghost of poverty.

Day 7: Celebrating the Day of the Mankind The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is commonly referred to the day of human, because according to the legend, Nǚ Wā 女娲 ( a Goddess in Chinese mythology who is believed to create the world and human beings) created human beings on the seventh day. On this day, people have different ways to celebrate the creation of humankind. In ancient times, some ladies and scholars would go for a spring outing on this day.

Day 8: Celebrating the Creation of Millet The eighth day of the Chinese New Year is believed to be the birthday of millet, an important crop in ancient China. According to folk proverbs, if this day is bright and clear, then this whole year will be a harvest year; however, if this day is cloudy or even rainy, then the whole year will suffer from a poor harvest.

Day 9: Celebrating the Birthday of the Jade Emperor The ninth day of the Chinese New Year is the birthday of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Taoism). According to Taoist legend, all the deities of the heaven and the earth will celebrate this day. And there will be grand ceremonies in Taoist temples.

Day 10: Celebrating the Birthday of the God of Stone The tenth day is the birthday of the god of stone. On this day, it is forbidden to move any stone, including stone rollers, stone mills, and stone mortars, so it is also known as "shí bù dòng" (石不动, meaning "do not move any stone"). In addition, it is also forbidden to cut into mountain rock or to build a house with rocks, or bad things will happen to their crops. On this day, families burn incense and candles to honour stone and offer pancakes to the god of stone.

Day 11: Fathers-in-Law entertaining Sons-in-Law The eleventh day of the Chinese New Year is for fathers-inlaw to entertain their sons-in-law. In Binyang County, Guangxi Province, the eleventh day of the Chinese New Year is the Dragon Dance Festival. The dancing dragon there is larger than other dancing dragons. It is about 40 meters long. The shorter dragons have 7 sections while the longer ones have 11. One of the unique features of the dragon dance in Binyang is that it is accompanied by firecrackers along the streets.

Day 12 - 14: Preparing for the Lantern Festival Families buy lanterns and build a lantern shack to prepare for the Lantern Festival.

Day 15: Celebrating the Lantern Festival The fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year is also celebrated as Yuán Xiāo Jié 元宵节 (Yuán Xiāo is a glutinous rice dumpling) or the ‘Lantern Festival’. This day is celebrated with dragon and lion dancing parades in the streets and lighting the many colorful lanterns. There are riddles on some lanterns for people to guess. Yuán Xiāo is essential on Yuán Xiāo Jié. It is a symbol of reunion in Chinese culture.