Celebrating luck, life, and lanterns this Chinese New Year
(Editor’s note: The author explains the 15-day long festival that starts on the first day of the Chinese New Year, January 29, and culminates at the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival on February 12)
Day 1 (January 29): Everyone gets up early and wears their new year clothes to visit friends and relatives. The Chinese visit temples to offer incense and pray for a safe and prosperous year. Red packets are given to children and by employers to their staff. Slaughtering animals and eating meat are avoided.
Day 2 (January 30): Traditionally, the second day is when married women usually return home to visit their parents, along with their husbands after celebrating New Year’s Eve with their in-laws.
Day 3 (January 31): This day is believed to be inauspicious for house visits because evil spirits roam the Earth on this day. Hence, it would be bad luck to be outdoors. The air is filled with the potential for disagreements among family and friends so it is best spent in your own home.
Day 4 (February 1): This is basically a continuation of Day 3, and still not a good day to leave home. It is also believed that heavenly spirits like the Kitchen God visit Earth on the fourth day. Thus, it is considered auspicious to prepare a feast and make offerings of incense, food and spirit money to welcome these deities and ensure a prosperous year ahead.
Day 5 (February 2): The so-called Festival of Po Wu is celebrated on the fifth day to welcome the God of Wealth. It is believed that the God of Wealth is the God of Five Directions, namely east, west, south, north and center, through which good fortune can come in. Thus, people would open their doors and windows, burn incense, and set off firecrackers and fireworks to attract money luck and many forms of blessings. Local businesses will reopen.
Day 6 (February 3): After welcoming the God of Wealth the previous day, the sixth day is used to discard old clothes, clean out the garage, and discard trash around the house. This is done to drive away the Ghost of Poverty and to give way for a better life during the New Year.
Day 7 (February 4): The seventh day commemorates Man’s Day or the creation of mankind. On this day, Chinese people eat different healthy foods symbolizing abundance, prosperity and long life, including raw fish to promote success, and noodles for longevity. This day is marked by reflecting on the blessings and respect for all human beings.
Day 8 (February 5): This day is used to celebrate rice, the most essential Chinese staple food. Children are taught the importance of agriculture and where their food comes from.
Day 9 (February 6): This day marks the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the supreme deity of Taoism. Food offerings and sacrificing live chicken are done in his honor.
Days 10 to 12 (February 7 to 9): On these days, more visits among family and friends are done. This means more feasting, drinking, and sharing happy moments with them.
Day 13 (February 10): This day is for cleansing and detoxing bodies that have been filled with rich food on the previous days. To help cleanse the digestive systems, vegetarian dishes are served. It is also spent preparing for the Lantern Festival, which happens two days after.
Day 14 (February 11): This is the day before the Lantern Festival. People prepare colorful lanterns and food. Dragon and lion dance teams practice for the big event.
Day 15 (February 12): The traditional Chinese Lantern Festival ends the Chinese New Year celebration. Streets and houses are decorated with lanterns, fireworks are set off, and people stroll along the streets to admire the lanterns and join in the public singing and dancing. Sticky rice balls called tang yuan, again to symbolize family cohesiveness, are the common fare in Chinese homes on this day. This is also to celebrate the birthday of Tian Guan, the Taoist ‘Ruler of Heaven,’ who is responsible for providing good fortune and wealth. Tian Guan is believed to like all types of entertainment, thus various kinds of activities are done in his honor to attract auspiciousness.
