Happy Chinese New Years (CYN) everyone! It’s the year of the Rabbit! Another year has gone by and now it’s 2024. Just kidding. It’s still 2023. I hope you got a chance to celebrate it with family because that’s an important aspect of CYN. This blog will be a little different than my usual approach to writing one in that I’ll be talking more about this holiday than an interesting event or story that took place this week.
If you don’t know what CYN is or what it’s all about, come and read more! I’ll introduce you to one of the most important and biggest holidays in all of Asia. I’ll also provide some of my thoughts on what CYN means to me because it’s becoming a more important holiday in my life.
What is Chinese New Years?
Chinese New Years is one of the major, if not the biggest, holiday in Asia. Unlike the normal new years date on Jan 1, CYN doesn’t have a fixed date because it’s based on the lunar calendar. The holiday falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (source). Long story short, the lunar calendar is based on the moon phases while the solar calendar is based on the sun. CYN is also called Lunar New Years. For 2023, CYN is on January 22.
Since I don’t live in Asia, I don’t get 7 days off work, which is what people in China get for this holiday. I could use another 7 days after my two week break for Christmas myself…but I digress.
Here are some fun facts and themes about Chinese New Years. There are so many themes so I list the ones that I’ve sort of put into practice or think are the key ones to know.
Clean your house…especially before the New Year!
Aside from doing this on a monthly basis, cleaning your house before New Years symbolizes sweeping away the old and bad luck in order to make room for good luck. So if ya’ll got that dusty floor or old junk, clean clean! Make some room for good luck 🙂
Red red red
I would’ve typed this entire blog in red but I feel like that would’ve been too hard to read. Try to incorporate the color red as much as you can into your New Year celebrations is big! Red is supposed to symbolize luck and prosperity. It also has to do with warding off evil – this is according to ancient folktale. People commonly dress up in red, hang red lanterns, and give out red envelopes. Speaking of red envelopes…
Red Envelopes = MONEY MONEY MONEY
People exchange red envelopes. They often contain money and children, unmarried adults, and the elderly often receive them. That’s why I stay single…to get that $$$. Just kidding. I didn’t know this until now but the red envelope money is called 压岁钱, which translates to suppressing the demon money. Before I receive red envelopes, I bow in front of my parents and grandparents and say some pleasing sayings or phrases. Stuff like 恭喜发财 (wish you prosperity and good fortune) and 身体健康 ( body good health).
Setting Off Firecrackers and Lion & Dragon Dancing!
Setting off firecrackers is supposed to scare away the evil and welcome the new year. When my parents & grandparents immigrated to the states, they didn’t set off firecrackers anymore, but they used to do it back home in Asia. I’ve never done it personally but hope to do it soon :)…if I can find a place to buy some….
Lion & dragon dancing are often performed during the New Year celebration. I’ve seen some performances in person and it’s intense. The costumes look so heavy and the fact that you have to sometimes do acrobatics in it is nuts. Mad props to those who practice and perform.
Family Reunion!
Chinese New Years is a time to reunite with family. For the ones who may be far from home, this holiday is a time for you to get back together with family. It’s especially important to be together on New Years Eve because that’s when the reunion dinner happens.
REUNION DINNER FOOD
It’s typical to see tons of food on the table for the reunion dinner, but there are some food specifically made for this holiday’s celebration. These dishes symbolize key themes like luck or surplus.
Some of these foods include:
- DUMPLINGS – associated with wealthiness
- NIANGAO – associated with yearly improvement
- FISH – associated with abundance
- SWEET RICE BALLS – associated with unity
What does Chinese New Years mean to me?
In the last couple of years, I’ve been making more of an effort to immerse myself in the festival traditions surrounding Chinese New Years because it’s helped me appreciate and cultivate more quality time with my family. That being said, CYN never really meant a lot to me growing up. I always lived and saw my family everyday so being with family on CYN felt normal. Even when I moved away for college, I didn’t feel it was anymore special because I couldn’t afford to go home to see my family for the holiday (and any other holiday aside from Thanksgiving & Christmas).
It wasn’t until I started working did I begin to appreciate the time I had with my family during this holiday. The appreciation was the result of not knowing how long my grandparents were going to be around for. By the time I started working, my grandparents were hitting their late 90’s. Health issues became more prominent so I started going home more often. The chance to see them on a special occasion like CYN felt more special. I’d spend the afternoon with them visiting other festivals. I’d get more involved in setting up the reunion dinner. The stories I’d hear during dinner about how my grandparents celebrated CYN was another chance for me to learn about my origins (because when I heard it as a kid, I couldn’t understand jack squat because my Chinese was so bad…and it still sort of is…:))
I feel more privileged to see how happy my parents & grandparents are when I come home to celebrate Chinese New Years. My hope is to fully embrace the traditions that surround this holiday because I hope to celebrate this holiday with my future kids.
