Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is now a celebration of fireworks and loud sounds, dancing dragons and red banners, red dresses, red doors, and red window banners, red hanging decors, well, anything red.

The Chinese New Year is observed on a different day every year. Unlike the Gregorian solar calendar where January 1st is always the New Year’s day, the Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar | 农历｜Nónglì which counts the moon cycle as beginning with Chinese New Year and ends on the eve of the following new year.

This year, February 1st starts the 15-day Chinese New Year festivities. The lantern festival | 元宵节 ｜Yuánxiāo jié on February 15th ends the festivities.

ctto: http://www.chinahighlights.com

In Chinese animal symbolism, 2022 is the year of the (forest) TIGER. Years of the Tiger include 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938.….

The Tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness. Many Chinese, especially the kids, wear hats or shoes with a tiger image for good luck. Ox and Goat, however, are the luckiest Chinese zodiac signs. 

Chinese legend has it that a monstrous Nian is the most important of all Chinese New Year legends and stories. It also explains how red came to be associated with the festival.

Long ago, a horrific monster named Nian (年) terrorized the people of Ancient China. On the eve of every New Year, Nian would descend upon villages and ravaged all crops and livestock. It kidnapped children.

Pasting red paper on doors and windows and having loud noises, like exploding firecrackers and banging of metal pots, have been ways to scare off the Nian and other evil spirits since ancient times in China.

In addition, traditional foods are still prepared to bring luck for the New Year.

Our Chinese friends roll out traditional Chinese New Year food in their celebratory feast that sometimes comes a bit early, like this Friday or the week-ends’ dinner, instead of the official New Year dinner on Monday, February 1st.

Such foods are steeped with meaning or symbolism. There’s going to be noodles of many kinds, which symbolize longevity or long life; whole fish, for abundance; spring rolls, to represent gold bars hence prosperity; dumplings of many kinds, for richness; and eight treasure rice, for sweetness.

There’s also an abundance of desserts made of sweet rice, to signify family unity and harmony; citrus fruits, for happiness and sweetness; nian gao cake, for health and strength; and prosperity cake, for luck; fried flour-coated peanuts for vitality; and walnut cookies, also for happiness. 

So, till this day, the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year by setting off firecrackers, hanging red lanterns, wearing red clothing, and putting up red couplets (posters decorating the main door and walls) expressing hope and happiness for the coming year.

So HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, everybody!

(PS: To read my new write-up on the 2023 Chinese New Year, click on this link: https://sansenleevendiola.wordpress.com/2023/01/18/what-are-some-chinese-new-year-essentials/)