Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world.
How do you wish someone "happy new year" in Chinese? It depends on who you're talking to. In China, the official language is Mandarin. Gong xi fa cai is how Mandarin-speakers wish you a happy new year—literally "wishing you to be prosperous in the coming year." Many overseas Chinese communities speak Cantonese. Gung hay fat choy is how Cantonese speakers wish you a happy new year—literally "wishing you great happiness and prosperity."
The two-week celebration includes family and friends, feasting and fireworks, parties and parades.
For more than 3,000 years, Chinese New Year was just what it sounds like—the beginning of a new year in the Chinese calendar. The historic Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning dates are determined by both the moon (lunar) and the sun (solar). Months begin with every new moon, when the moon is not visible in the night sky. The new year starts on the new moon nearest the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, sometime between January 21 and February 20.
China officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, used by the West, in 1912. In the late 20th century, however, the holiday was re-introduced as the “Spring Festival.”
Although there is rarely a set “program” for Lunar New Year celebrations, some days are associated with specific rituals or festivities. Read through some highlights below. Use the questions in the Questions tab to understand the significance of some of the sumptuous foods associated with the Lunar New Year.
Before New Year
Prior to the official start of the holiday, Chinese households are thoroughly cleaned. Cleaning symbolizes ridding the household of the previous year’s bad luck and making the home welcoming to good luck in the coming year. (On the first several days of the festival, tradition holds that brooms be stored, so that the newly arrived good luck will not be swept away.)
The days or weeks leading up to Chinese New Year are also when communities begin to decorate with red: fresh red paint on the doors of businesses and homes, red paper cut-out decorations, red lanterns. Red is the color of joy and good fortune in Chinese cultures, and is most strongly associated with new year celebrations.
One of the traditional ways to begin celebrating the Lunar New Year is the “reunion dinner,” when families gather to celebrate hopes for the new year.
During the New Year Celebrations
Some of the most common celebrations during the Lunar new year festival include parties, firecrackers, and the famous lion dance familiar to Western audiences. During the first days of the Lunar New Year younger family members may begin receiving bright red envelopes full of money. These envelopes, known as hong bao (Mandarin)or lai see (Cantonese), are traditionally given to unmarried adults and children.
The third day of the Lunar New Year is often quieter and more somber than those preceding it. It is considered bad luck to visit friends or family, or play host to visitors yourself. This day is usually reserved for honoring deceased relatives by visiting graves or lighting incense or paper offerings in memory of loved ones.
Often times the seventh day of the Lunar New Year recognizes renri, the creation-day of human beings. To honor humanity’s connection to all living things.
The ninth day of Chinese New Year is recognized as the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven in Taoist belief.
The beautiful Lantern Festival signals a close to the Lunar New Year festival. Paper lanterns light the way for lion dances and all-day parades and festivals. The bright lights of the Lantern Festival celebrate the first full moon after the Lunar New Year. The colorful lanterns, displayed outdoors as well as inside temples, are associated with guiding lost souls’ home and were originally created by monks to honor Buddha.
Questions
1) Why do you think dumplings are an important part of Chinese New Year feasts?
Dumplings are a popular Chinese food year-round! But two types of dumplings are especially associated with Chinese New Year.
a. Jau gok are the half-moon-shaped dumplings most associated with Chinese New Year in Cantonese-speaking regions of China and Chinese communities. The crimped, tapering shape of the edges of jau gok are similar to the shape of ancient Chinese gold ingots. These ingots, called yuanbao, were used as currency in China for more than 1,000 years.
b. Tang yuan are often eaten during the Lantern Festival that marks the final days of Chinese New Year. These ball-shaped dumplings are similar to the shape of the full moon, which rises on the final day of the holiday.
2) What is nian gao, and why is it a part of Chinese New Year?
a. Nian gao is a sweet, sticky rice cake simply called “new year cake” in many Mandarin-speaking regions of China and Chinese communities. Nian gao is a homonym for “higher year.” Tradition holds that eating nian gao encourages the consumer to lift oneself up to a higher income, higher professional position, higher education, or higher self-worth with the coming year.
Chinese New Year traditionally closes with the Lantern Festival, which welcomes the new year and good fortune for the community. These lovely lanterns are decorating a street in Sabah, Malaysia.
Photograph by Dcubillas, courtesy Wikimedia. CC BY SA 3.0
the art and science of cultivating land for growing crops (farming) or raising livestock (ranching).
large feast, or to eat at a large feasting party.
to present or give as a gift.
to prepare and nurture the land for crops.
process of planting, tending, and harvesting crops.
money, good, or service owed by one person or organization to another.
dead.
to design, garnish, or adorn with festive additions.
act or accomplishment.
series of organs and glands responsible for the ingestion, digestion, and absorption of food. Also called the alimentary canal.
sculptural representation of a disliked public figure.
person or organization that hires people for wages and salaries.
period in which daylight and darkness are nearly equal. There are two equinoxes a year.
to understand how something works or operates.
land cultivated for crops, livestock, or both.
day or other period of time set to celebrate or commemorate an event, usually with a series of parties, ceremonies, or observances.
noisemaking device made of a tube filled with explosive material.
to disallow or prohibit.
phase of the Moon when its entire disc is visible.
specific place where a body is buried.
modern calendar used throughout most of the world, introduced in 1562. Also called the Western calendar or the Christian calendar.
substance that produces a sweet odor when burned, often used in religious ceremonies.
being influenced by, or having to do with, both the moon and the sun.
dark phase of the lunar cycle when the moon is invisible or barely visible, occurring when the moon passes between the sun and earth.
earlier, or the one before.
before or ahead of.
thick outer covering on foods such as citrus fruits, cheeses, or meats.
series of customs or procedures for a ceremony, often religious.
importance.
dark, sad, or serious.
luxurious or well-supplied.
to represent an object, idea, organization, or geographical region.
people and culture focused on the teachings of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, advocating a life of simplicity and harmony between the natural and social worlds.
building used for worship.
beliefs, customs, and cultural characteristics handed down from one generation to the next.
person who does not eat meat or any animal product.
person who does not eat meat.
to carry or convey lightly and smoothly, usually through air.
to decrease in strength or intensity.
(December 22 in the Northern Hemisphere, June 22 in the Southern Hemisphere) longest night of the year and the beginning of winter.
series of 12 constellations corresponding to certain times of the year.
