Celebrate Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2010

Chinese New Year is celebrated in every country where there is a large Chinese population; when the streets of many cities are filled with colourful processions, acrobats, lion and dragon dances, red lanterns and dancing, accompanied by a cacophony of drums and firecrackers.

In 2010 New Year’s Eve – traditionally known as Chuxi – falls on the 14th February and signals the start of the longest Chinese holiday, lasting fifteen days; at this time Chinese families across the world will reunite for parties, present giving and feasts, to herald in the Year of the Tiger.

The date for the Chinese New Year is arranged around the Lunar Chinese calendar and falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice in November, thus occurring on different days between Jan 21st and February 20th.

With two cycles running alongside each other, the shorter cycle of 12 years is denoted by an animal zodiac with a 10 year cycle associated with one of the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water linked alternately to either yin or yan, and repeated every 60 years.

Chinese New Year in the 21st Century

Today, Chinese New Year’s Eve is the most important night of the festival when members of the family reunite and stay up for a sumptuous feast, games and Shou Sui, or reminisce about the past year: a process that is believed to extend the lives of parents, if the children of the house take part!

On the stroke of midnight every door and window in the house has to be opened to allow the old year out, then a sumptuous feast is served – usually comprising whole steamed fish, chicken or pork, uncut noodles for a long life, and Jiaozi dumplings piled high on plates to symbolise money and prosperity – a New Year cake or Niangao may be handed out, before the family goes outside to scare any demons off with firecrackers or maybe visit the temple to light candles and pray for a fruitful year.

On New Year’s Day, children are given red envelopes by their relatives, containing money. This is traditionally the time when the deities are welcomed into the home.

Each day after the New Year has a special tradition culminating in the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day: when families light lanterns, often ornately shaped into animals, eat moon cakes, play riddle games and eat sticky rice balls known as yuanxia.

But what are the origins of the Chinese New Year?

Origins of Chinese New Year

Traditionally, the Chinese holiday is associated with harvest celebrations and customs formalised under the Han Dynasty from 206 BC to 25 AD, when people gave thanks to the gods for a good harvest.

According to mythology however, a ravenous and evil predator called the Nien used to stalk villages on the first day of New Year, when locals were at risk of being devoured unless they put out food in front of their doors to satisfy the creature; the legend says that on one occasion the Nien was seen to be frightened off by a child wearing red, which gave rise to the traditions of decorating doors with red lanterns and setting off firecrackers in an attempt to scare the beast away with deafening noise.

Every year celebrations are preceded by a frenzy of cleaning in Chinese homes, as it’s believed that sweeping the home symbolically clears out bad luck and evil spirits; in Buddhist and Taoist homes, on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, paper money is burnt to finance the journey of the gods on their way up to heaven where they report on the affairs of the house to the supreme deity, the Jade Emperor; sometimes the lips of the kitchen god statue are smeared with malt sugar, in an attempt to either keep him quiet or sweeten him up to ensure a more favourable report!

If you are not fortunate enough to be Chinese, it is still possible to take part in the celebrations by visiting a Chinese restaurant, where special menus are usually on offer and the New Year will be celebrated in typical Chinese style.