Tag Archives: Spring Festival

Things Chinese

What is Chinese New Year?

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Chinese New Year is a special festivity based on the lunar calendar not the solar calendar. It’s celebrated on the first moon of the lunisolar calendar and marks the beginning of spring. Therefore, Chinese New Year is sometimes also called the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival.

Although here in the US, we typicaly call it Chinese New Year, there are other Asian countries that celebrate this time of the year. Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia do, too. And, of course, it is a time of festivities across the globe—due to the widely spread Asian diaspora. While western nations celebrate the beginning of the solar New Year for one day, the lunar New Year is celebrated over the course of several days in Asia.

Typically, the Lunar New Year begins with the Spring Festival on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and goes through the Lantern Festival on the next full moon of the lunar month.  That means this year, 2024, people begin their festivities on February 10th and enjoy a holiday period through February 24th. This two-week period is especially important for family and friends to be together; people travel great distances to be home with their family and share in the New Year’s festivities.  

photo from Depositphotos

Things Chinese

The Lantern Festival

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The Lantern Festival, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the end of the two-week celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

All of the New Year decorations are taken down and the New Year taboos are lifted. These taboos include things like not scolding children, not mentioning illnesses or using unlucky words (ex., the number 4), don’t ware old clothing, avoid breaking things like a mirror or bowl, and avoid sweeping or taking out the garbage.

Do you wonder why people avoid the last two—sweeping and taking out the garbage? It’s so they don’t accidentally throw out their good fortune. Yet, the house needs to be clean. What to do? People have a simple solution to this problem: reverse how they clean the floor, go from the outside to the inside of the house. Clever!

And, of course, there are special, tasty foods to eat. Tangyuan, a ball of sticky rice wrapped around a sweet filling, is a number one favorite, along with dumplings, sweet rice cakes, and spring rolls (with or without meat).

The lion dance is performed everywhere. Since the lion is strong and brave, it ensures a secure and safe life by chasing away possible disasters.

In the Spring Festival’s night sky there is a full moon, making it a perfect time for a moon-gazing party. People can view the full moon set in the dark sky or enjoy the moon’s reflection in a pool of water.

And, of course, the night is filled with lanterns. Lanterns everywhere and of all types. Their light in the darkness symbolizes chasing away evil, assuring a good, prosperous year ahead. Many lantern owners make a game for on-lookers by pasting a riddle to their lantern. Something to have fun with while enjoying the festive day.

To quickly learn more about this fun holiday, here are a few internet sources to look at: https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/chinese-new-year-taboos.htm; https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/festivals/chinese-new-year-taboos.htm; https://blogs.furman.edu/chinamyths/2016/10/26/foods-of-the-spring-festival/; https://hashtaglegend.com/culture/6-must-eat-lucky-foods-during-chinese-new-year-spring-festival/; https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/lantern-festival.htm; https://cn.hujiang.com/new/p446587/