The New Year is upon us. The biggest event of Eastern Asia is the Lunar New Year, commonly referred to as Chinese New Year, as it was the Chinese who spread it around Asia. Essentially it is the equivalent to Christmas/New Year in the rest of the world, where it's gone beyond religious implications and transformed into a tradition. As you can see, it's celebrated in lots of countries:- Korean New Year (Seollal)
- Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu)
- Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar)
- Tibetan New Year (Losar)
- Vietnamese New Year (Tết)
Similar Asian Lunisolar New Year celebrations that occur in April:
- Burmese New Year (Thingyan)
- Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey)
- Lao New Year (Pii Mai)
- Sri Lankan New Year (Aluth Avuruddu)
- Thai New Year (Songkran)
- Malaysia Chinese New Year
People in places like the Phillipines, India, and Indonesia, where there are many Chinese immigrants, will celebrate it as well. yes. It is quite a large celebration.
The largest migration of people in the world occurs in China, where people rush from big cities to return to their homes.
History and Background
According to oracle bones, a calandar existed around 14th century BC with the Shang Dynasty in power in China. Calendars were always changing as each new emperor would change it and of course, various regions had different ones. So many things went into the Chinese calendar, as you had the lunar phases, solisteces and quinoxes, and of course, the Yin and Yang that opposed each other.
Of course, who can forget the 12 zodiac animals or ShengXiao(生肖):
- Rat – 鼠 (子) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water)
- Ox – 牛 (丑) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Earth)
- Tiger – 虎 (寅) (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood)
- Rabbit – 兔 (卯) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood)
- Dragon – 龍 (辰) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Earth)
- Snake – 蛇 (巳) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire)
- Horse – 馬 (午) (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire)
- Goat – 羊 (未) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Earth)
- Monkey – 猴 (申) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal)
- Rooster – 雞 (酉) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal)
- Dog – 狗 (戌) (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Earth)
- Pig – 豬 (亥) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water)
The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the annual reunion dinner. Dishes consisting of special meats are served at the tables, as a main course for the dinner and offering for the New Year. This meal is comparable to Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. and remotely similar to Christmas dinner in other countries with a high percentage of Christians.
In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi) after dinner to eat around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape resembles a Chinese sycee. In contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a glutinous new year cake (niangao) and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days. Niángāo literally means "new year cake" with a homophonous meaning of "increasingly prosperous year in year out".[34]
After dinner, some families go to local temples hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new year. Traditionally, firecrackers were lit to scare away evil spirits with the household doors sealed, not to be reopened until the new morning in a ritual called "opening the door of fortune" (simplified Chinese: 开财门; traditional Chinese: 開財門; pinyin: kāicáimén). A tradition of going to bed late on New Year's Eve, or even keeping awake the whole night and morning, known as shousui (守岁), is still practiced as it is thought to add on to one's parents' longevity.
First day
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According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian. Nian would eat villagers, especially children. One year, all the villagers decided to go hide from the beast. An old man appeared before the villagers went into hiding and said that he's going to stay the night, and decided to get revenge on the Nian. All the villagers thought he was insane. The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. The day after, the villagers came back to their town to see that nothing was destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red and loud noises. When the New Year was about to come, the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.
During the festival, people around China will prepare different gourmet for families and guests. Influenced by the flourished cultures, foods from different places look and taste totally different. Among them, the most well-known ones are dumplings from northern China and Tangyuan from southern China.
Modern Day:
With the inevitable diffusion of Westernization and technologization, people are less willing to engage in full festivities, Sure, they will celebrate, but are more inclined to use social media or surf the web or chat with friends. As sad as it is, it is true. More people would rather celebrate the regular New Year based on the Gregorian Calendar and celebrate Christmas. Then again, this really applies to all holidays. Even in the U.S., people are less drawn to Christmas activities and would rather Snapchat or play video games.
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year
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