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Chinese New Year is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the modern Chinese name. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar. The first day of the New Year falls between January 21 and February 20.
Chinese New Year 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 celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, and the Philippines. 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.
The festivities surrounding Chinese New Year were known as the Nian festival (Chinese: 年节 ; pinyin: Nián Jié ), which may be understood to as "Festival of the Year", or "New Year Festival". A derivative term, Guo Nian (traditional Chinese: 過年 ; simplified Chinese: 过年 ; pinyin: guò Nián ; literally: "to pass the year"), is still commonly used to refer to the act of celebrating the arrival of the new year. An alternative name for Chinese New Year is "New Year in the Agricultural Calendar" (Chinese: 农历新年 ; pinyin: Nónglì Xīnnían ), the "Agricultural Calendar" being one of the more common Chinese language names for the Chinese calendar in China.
New Year's Day itself was traditionally named Yuandan (Chinese: 元旦 ; pinyin: Yuándàn), literally "the first sunrise", but in 1913 the recently established Republic of China government appropriated that name to refer instead to New Year's Day in the newly adopted Gregorian Calendar, with Chinese New Year instead being called "Spring Festival" (Chinese: 春节 ; pinyin: Chūnjié), which remains the official name for the New Year's Day public holiday in both mainland China and Taiwan. Now, Yuandan refers to the first day of one year according to solar calendar[9] and it is the same day with western New Year's Day in spite of the time difference. Prior to 1913, "Spring Festival" instead referred to lichun, (February 4 or 5), the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year, which marked the end of winter and start of spring.
A reunion dinner, named as "Nian Ye Fan", is held on New Year's Eve during which family members gather for celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and sumptuous and traditionally includes dishes of meat (namely, pork and chicken) and fish. Most reunion dinners also feature a communal hot pot as it is believed to signify the coming together of the family members for the meal. Most reunion dinners (particularly in the Southern regions) also prominently feature specialty meats (e.g. wax-cured meats like duck and Chinese sausage) and seafood (e.g. lobster and abalone) that are usually reserved for this and other special occasions during the remainder of the year. In most areas, fish (traditional Chinese: 魚 ; simplified Chinese: 鱼 ; pinyin: yú ) is included, but not eaten completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" (traditional Chinese: 年年有餘 ; simplified Chinese: 年年有余 ; pinyin: niánnián yǒu yú ) sounds the same as "let there be fish every year." Eight individual dishes are served to reflect the belief of good fortune associated with the number. If in the previous year a death was experienced in the family, seven dishes are served.
In 1928, the ruling Kuomintang party in China decreed that Chinese New Year will fall on 1 Jan of the Gregorian Calendar, but this was abandoned due to overwhelming opposition from the populace. In 1967 during the Cultural Revolution, Chinese New Year celebrations were banned in China. The State Council of the People's Republic of China announced that the public should "Change Customs", have a "revolutionized and fighting Spring Festival", and since people needed to work on Chinese New Year Eve, they didn't have holidays during Spring Festival day. The celebrations were reinstated 13 years later after the Chinese economic reform.
- Traditionally, red envelopes or red packets (Cantonese: lai sze or lai see ; 利是 , 利市 or 利事 ; Pinyin: lìshì ; Mandarin: hóngbāo 红包 ; Hokkien: ang pow; POJ: âng-pau; Hakka: fung bao) 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.
- During this period, red packets are also known as 壓歲錢/压岁钱 ( yàsuìqián , which was evolved from 壓祟錢/压祟钱, literally, "the money used to suppress or put down the evil spirit").
- Red packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals ( 帛金 : báijīn ). The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for "wealth"), and $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes in the US. The number six ( 六 , liù ) is also very lucky as it sounds like "smooth" ( 流 , liú ), in the sense of having a smooth year. The number four ( 四 )is the worst because its homophone is "death" ( 死 ).Sometimes chocolate coins are found in the red packets.
Bamboo stems filled with gunpowder that were burnt to create small explosions were once used in ancient China to drive away evil spirits. In modern times, this method has eventually evolved into the use of firecrackers during the festive season. Firecrackers are usually strung on a long fused string so it can be hung down. Each firecracker is rolled up in red papers, as red is auspicious, with gunpowder in its core. Once ignited, the firecracker lets out a loud popping noise and, as they are usually strung together by the hundreds, the firecrackers are known for their deafening explosions that are thought to scare away evil spirits. The burning of firecrackers also signifies a joyful time of year and has become an integral aspect of Chinese New Year celebrations.
