For many of removed from Far Eastern tradition, the Chinese New Year is a relatively mysterious celebration that seems to carry little meaning in our life. However, the Chinese New Year is based on some basic principles that carry over into Western tradition and practiced thought. Although it may not be glaringly obvious, the correlations are in place.
The Chinese New Year is a massive celebration, dedicated to the principle of growth and re-birth. By leaving behind the old and welcoming the new, a “shedding” of old thoughts, behaviors, and an embracing knowledge of growth is symbolized by firecrackers and high spirits. The Chinese New Year celebrates that every creation is reborn on this day.
The Chinese New Year falls on different days in different years, as the Chinese calendar is based upon solar and lunar movements that represent time. Most years the holiday is celebrated somewhere in January or February.
In the Far East, the Chinese New Year also commemorates the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Sometimes referred to as the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year is celebrated by farmers with the addition of planting and preparing for another season of life sustaining growth.
Those who celebrate the Chinese New Year believe that an individual’s actions on this day may very well determine the course of the rest of the year, and thus great care should be taken when monitoring one’s behavior and actions. Everything from the foods eaten to the greetings that people give to others may influence the luck and health of an individual for the rest of the year, and of course the aim is to start the year off surrounded in positive energy, thoughts, and actions.
Various traditions can assist an individual in acting in accordance with good fortune. Of course, good fortune is represented differently depending on the circumstance. A young student may not wish to perform acts of good fortune in the hopes of children, but a young family would.
The Chinese New Years Eve is filled with preparations that pertain to finding good fortune. The entire house needs to be cleaned and anything relating to the old year should be thrown away. A home needs to be prepared to welcome the new and positive energy that is bound to arrive just as much as the people who live inside. The brooms and brushes need to be stored away when the cleaning is complete and all household debts need to be paid. The children need new clothes, usually something that is orange or red, and they should be laid out the evening of New Year’s Eve. Old money should be replaced for new money, secures in red envelopes to indicate that it is lucky money, and differences between friends and family members should be resolved.
A host of tangerines or oranges, flowers (particularly water lilies, plum or peach blossoms) and a circular candy tray should find a place in the home to welcome in the New Year. While very modern families may or may not choose to follow the cleaning practices, most of these practices are observed by all who participate in the Chinese New Year celebrations.
A dinner is held that involves all the close family members, including married daughters and their families which eliminates the age old argument about whose family spends which holiday with which family, and the household gods and ancestors are acknowledged. Ancestors are thought to be responsible for the outcome of the New Year, and thus not acknowledging them is bound to lead to bad fortunes. At midnight, every door and window in a house is opened as a physical “airing out” of the old year and then welcoming in the New Year.
The New Year’s Day house decorations are to symbolize happiness and prosperity. Orange and red are the primary New Year colors, and if a family is fortunate enough to have their New Year’s flowers bloom on New Year’s Day, they are likely to be twice as blessed that year. The candies and fruits represent togetherness, sweetness, longevity, children, and prosperity.
Special foods are eaten to ensure these qualities as well, along with a chicken or fish that has been cooked and served intact to represent completeness. Golden cakes, and orange fruits, and uncut noodles help comprise the New Year’s Day meal.
Proper greeting are offered to wish others the same joy as an individual wishes on himself, and two sets of lucky money are given to children, employees, and associates. It is improper to greet an individual that is in mourning. Dropping chopsticks may reduce a person’s good fortune and mentioning the number four or death is a very bad omen. The floors are not swept and hair is not washed on New Year’s Day, and the lending or borrowing of money is strictly forbidden.
The entire holiday offers time for reflection on how to improve on the life being lived, and what qualities an individual may want to work on to better themselves and the lives of the people around them. It is a time of introspection, celebration, joy, honor, and dignity, very much like that of Western New Year’s traditions.