Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year‏‎ also known as the Spring Festival in modern China, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of several Lunar New Year holidays celebrated in Asia.

History

The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.

Celebration

Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February. In 2022, the first day of the Chinese New Year was on Tuesday, 1 February, initiating the year of the Tiger.

Traditions

The evening preceding Chinese New Year’s Day is frequently regarded as an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly clean their house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors are decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.

Zodiac

The Chinese New Year is associated with the Chinese zodiac, which operates on a 12-year cycle. Each year in that cycle is related to an animal sign. These signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. It is celebrated in full swing in many Asian countries, and is considered a major holiday in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

See also

• Lunar New Year
• Chinese calendar
• Lantern Festival
• Chinese zodiac