Introduction to Chinese New Year
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West.
What does the holiday mean?
Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year, the traditional “New Year”, evolved from the ancient first year sacrifices, is the most solemn traditional festival in China, and it is also one of the most solemn traditional festivals in China. Four traditional festivals in China. The Spring Festival generally refers to the first day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month(the Lantern Festival). The main content of the activities is to remove the old and welcome the new, to welcome the Najib, to worship the gods, and to pray for a good harvest, etc., with strong national characteristics. .It not only reflects the beliefs, ideals, aspirations, life entertainment and cultural psychology of the Chinese nation,but also a carnival display of blessings, food and entertainment.
The term “pass year” is used for the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). Theword “Year” in Chinese characters used to mean a horrible beast.To combat thebeast, the Chinese hang “good luck” wishes on red paper on the door and usefireworks in the belief that the beast fears red and fire.This tradition in manyways resemble the Western belief of using garlic and crosses to fight vampires.
Why New Year is so special?
The Chinese zodiac features 12 animals in the sequence of Rat, Ox, TigerRabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.This year isthe year of Rabbit. Each animal represents a different “personality”.According tolegend, people held a conference with all the animals, informing them that theywould pick the 12 to represent the zodiac.However, in spite of being fast, the catwas not picked as its then-close friend, the rat, did not wake it.This actionsparked off a rivalry that continues till this day.
What do people do?
Eat, eat again, and then eat some more! As the old Chinese saying goes: foodis everything.The tradition is to have different main courses everyday from the 1st day ofthe New Year to the 15th day of the New Year,from Jiao Zi (dumplings), noodles,spring rolls, sticky rice cakes, and Tang Yuan (stuffed rice balls). Besides culinarysatisfaction,each food has a meaning as wel: for instance, Jiao Zi looks like gold,implying a wealthy year ahead.