What are the customs of Chinese New Year?
1. Eating Tangyuan (Glutinous Rice Balls)
Most southern families have the tradition of gathering together to eat tangyuan at the beginning of the Spring Festival. The tangyuan symbolizes family reunion, and eating it means that the new year will be full of happiness and everything goes well.
Tangyuan is rich in nutrition, and its main component, glutinous rice flour, contains fat, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, riboflavin, and niacin. According to legend, tangyuan originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, various places began to enjoy a new kind of food, which was made with various fruit fillings and wrapped in glutinous rice flour into balls, then boiled and tasted deliciously. Because these glutinous rice balls float and sink in the pot, they were initially called "floating yuanzi", and later some regions changed "floating yuanzi" to "yuanxiao".
2. Setting off Firecrackers
Chinese people often set off firecrackers during many important festivals and events. In our hometown, New Year is called "Yang Nian" and firecrackers are set off.
3. Having a Family Reunion Dinner
The traditional way of celebrating festivals is most common in rural areas. Every New Year, every household sets off firecrackers, kills chickens and ducks, and after worshiping various deities, the whole family gathers for a meal.
4. Various New Year's Eve Parties
Some areas organize activities such as beating drums and gongs, and group performances of ethnic dances. Nowadays, it tends to be more like gala parties, cross-year carnival concerts held by major TV stations, etc. For young people, traveling to another place to celebrate the New Year is more popular.
5. Eating "Yuanbao Tea"
In Jiangsu, when eating meals, cooked water chestnuts are placed in the rice, and when eaten, they are dug out, called "digging yuanbao". When brewing tea, two green olives are added, which is called "yuanbao tea".
6. Eating Dumplings
In many northern regions of China, dumplings are enjoyed during festivals. Dumplings symbolize wealth and prosperity, and also represent people's wishes for a safe and smooth new year.
7. Eating Nian Gao (Year Cake)
Nian gao is made from glutinous rice in the south and from sticky millet in the north. Nian gao has a long history, and in the Han Dynasty, there were names such as "rice cake", "cake", "millet", and "zhi". Nian gao is also known as "sticky cake", representing the meaning of "year after year higher".
8. Eating "Chunfan" (Spring Meal)
In Fujian, on New Year's Day, red paper flowers are inserted into the rice, which is called "chunfan". "Chunfan" also represents "abundance every year".
9. Wu Xin Pan (Five Spicy Dishes)
Wu Xin Cai is five kinds of spicy dishes. As a New Year's Day food, it first appeared in the "Fengtu Ji" by Zhou Chu of the Wu and Jin periods, which mentions that on New Year's Day morning, people eat Wu Xin Cai. "To help stimulate the five internal organs" (quoting from "Yuzhu Baodian", Volume 1). On the Spring Equinox of the New Year, people mix and eat five types of spicy tender vegetables, such as leeks, garlic, onions, water spinach, and mustard greens. This is to welcome the new year, and it is called Wu Xin Pan.
10. Giving Tangerines
In Guangdong, when visiting relatives, tangerines are given, and elders also give tangerines to their juniors. It symbolizes good luck and the sign of surplus in the coming year.
11. "Celebrating the Silkworms"
In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, long bamboo poles are tied with grass, then burned, and accompanied by drumming and gong beating, this is called "celebrating the silkworms".
Most southern families have the tradition of gathering together to eat tangyuan at the beginning of the Spring Festival. The tangyuan symbolizes family reunion, and eating it means that the new year will be full of happiness and everything goes well.
Tangyuan is rich in nutrition, and its main component, glutinous rice flour, contains fat, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, riboflavin, and niacin. According to legend, tangyuan originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, various places began to enjoy a new kind of food, which was made with various fruit fillings and wrapped in glutinous rice flour into balls, then boiled and tasted deliciously. Because these glutinous rice balls float and sink in the pot, they were initially called "floating yuanzi", and later some regions changed "floating yuanzi" to "yuanxiao".
2. Setting off Firecrackers
Chinese people often set off firecrackers during many important festivals and events. In our hometown, New Year is called "Yang Nian" and firecrackers are set off.
3. Having a Family Reunion Dinner
The traditional way of celebrating festivals is most common in rural areas. Every New Year, every household sets off firecrackers, kills chickens and ducks, and after worshiping various deities, the whole family gathers for a meal.
4. Various New Year's Eve Parties
Some areas organize activities such as beating drums and gongs, and group performances of ethnic dances. Nowadays, it tends to be more like gala parties, cross-year carnival concerts held by major TV stations, etc. For young people, traveling to another place to celebrate the New Year is more popular.
5. Eating "Yuanbao Tea"
In Jiangsu, when eating meals, cooked water chestnuts are placed in the rice, and when eaten, they are dug out, called "digging yuanbao". When brewing tea, two green olives are added, which is called "yuanbao tea".
6. Eating Dumplings
In many northern regions of China, dumplings are enjoyed during festivals. Dumplings symbolize wealth and prosperity, and also represent people's wishes for a safe and smooth new year.
7. Eating Nian Gao (Year Cake)
Nian gao is made from glutinous rice in the south and from sticky millet in the north. Nian gao has a long history, and in the Han Dynasty, there were names such as "rice cake", "cake", "millet", and "zhi". Nian gao is also known as "sticky cake", representing the meaning of "year after year higher".
8. Eating "Chunfan" (Spring Meal)
In Fujian, on New Year's Day, red paper flowers are inserted into the rice, which is called "chunfan". "Chunfan" also represents "abundance every year".
9. Wu Xin Pan (Five Spicy Dishes)
Wu Xin Cai is five kinds of spicy dishes. As a New Year's Day food, it first appeared in the "Fengtu Ji" by Zhou Chu of the Wu and Jin periods, which mentions that on New Year's Day morning, people eat Wu Xin Cai. "To help stimulate the five internal organs" (quoting from "Yuzhu Baodian", Volume 1). On the Spring Equinox of the New Year, people mix and eat five types of spicy tender vegetables, such as leeks, garlic, onions, water spinach, and mustard greens. This is to welcome the new year, and it is called Wu Xin Pan.
10. Giving Tangerines
In Guangdong, when visiting relatives, tangerines are given, and elders also give tangerines to their juniors. It symbolizes good luck and the sign of surplus in the coming year.
11. "Celebrating the Silkworms"
In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, long bamboo poles are tied with grass, then burned, and accompanied by drumming and gong beating, this is called "celebrating the silkworms".
Where does the term "New Year" come from?
"The term 'New Year' first appeared in the "Jin Shu": "The颛帝 took the first month of summer as the beginning, actually the first day of spring." According to legend, the Chinese New Year originated from the颛顼, one of the Three Emperors and Five Kings, over 5,000 years ago. Legends say that the three virtuous emperors of ancient times - Yao, Shun, and Yu - loved the people and did many good deeds for them, earning the people's affection. Later, people regarded the day when Emperor Shun worshipped heaven and earth and the late Emperor Yao as the start of the year, calling the first day of the first lunar month "New Year" or "Yuanzheng". This is the origin of the ancient New Year.
Throughout history, feudal dynasties held celebrations and rituals on New Year's Day, such as worshipping all gods and ancestors, writing door couplets and hanging spring scrolls, writing "Fu" characters, and dancing dragon lanterns. Gradually, the people formed activities such as worshipping ancestors, pasting spring scrolls, setting off firecrackers, staying up late, having a family reunion dinner, and "shehuo" (folk entertainment) celebrations.
After the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen advocated "following the Xia calendar to follow the agricultural seasons, and following the Western calendar to facilitate statistics", taking January 1st of the Western calendar as "New Year", which is what we now call "New Year".
Throughout history, feudal dynasties held celebrations and rituals on New Year's Day, such as worshipping all gods and ancestors, writing door couplets and hanging spring scrolls, writing "Fu" characters, and dancing dragon lanterns. Gradually, the people formed activities such as worshipping ancestors, pasting spring scrolls, setting off firecrackers, staying up late, having a family reunion dinner, and "shehuo" (folk entertainment) celebrations.
After the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen advocated "following the Xia calendar to follow the agricultural seasons, and following the Western calendar to facilitate statistics", taking January 1st of the Western calendar as "New Year", which is what we now call "New Year".
You may also like:
