While the western New Year celebrations have long been done, the Chinese Lunar New Year is just around the corner and will take place this Friday, February 12th.
But what is the Chinese Lunar New Year exactly?
By definition, “Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar.” but what does the celebration look like?
The main festivity of the Chinese Lunar New Year is the annual reunion dinner that takes place on the evening before the new year. The reunion dinner is typically a serving of special meat dishes for the main course, and is often compared to a Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner typically served in western countries. After the reunion dinner is complete, many families will visit their local temples a few hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by burning incense. Afterwards, parties are held in homes of the Chinese people to count down the seconds before the new year begins, much like the traditional new year celebrations in western nations.
But the most important part of the new year celebrations in Chinese culture is to honour and visit the senior and oldest members of their extended family, typically grandparents and great-grandparents.
- Traditional Foods
Some of the traditional foods eaten around the Chinese Lunar New Year include: Niangao (new year cake), turnip cakes, yee sang (raw fish salad) and rougan (salty and sweet dried meat).
- Traditional Festivities
Some of the traditional festivities that are celebrated on the Chinese Lunar new year are: the gifting of red envelopes containing money as well as the gifting of candy, biscuits and cakes, fireworks and firecrackers are set off, and families will gather to watch new year themed films or operas from the Qing Dynasty.
Stig Nygaard / CC Fireworks exploding to scare off potential evil spirts as the clock strikes midnight.
Mae Mu / Unsplash A traditional red envelope (known as hóngbāo) that contains money and is given as a gift to friends or family symbolizing well wishes for the year ahead.
While many of the traditional celebrations may not be possible this year due to health concerns surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, those looking for a way to celebrate can join an online celebration hosted by the Fanshawe College Student Union in collaboration with other student associations across the country. The celebration is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST on the FSU website and will include giveaways, music and sand painting.
Comments