The most important festival in China, there are many traditions associated with the Spring Festival.
The Red Packets ("HongBao" or "LiShi")
On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, parents will give red packets containing money gifts to their siblings as a form of blessing; the children then place the red packet underneath their pillows when they sleep.
Red packets are every child's delight at Chinese New Year! The tradition of giving gifts in Chinese culture is not the same as practised in European or "western" culture. By and large the giving of gifts is restricted to giving money. Small gifts are given when visiting a home of a friend, and increasingly for weddings, but traditionally money is given.
The way in which this is done in the West would be by putting money in a card, or indeed, giving a gift voucher. The Chinese give money inside red envelopes which are decorated with lucky symbols or Chinese characters. These are known as "LiShi" or "HungBao".
At Chinese New Year these are given by married couples to children/unmarried people. The red is used as the most auspicious colour, while the decoration may have a blessing or good wish. The symbolic giving of the money represents a wish for fortune and wealth in the coming year. The money may also be used to pay off debt, thus allowing a financial clean slate in the new year.
This tradition is derived from the legend of "Nian", where the children are given red papers to protect themselves if they ever come into contact with the beast.
Children stay awake during the night of Chinese New Year Eve to pray for good health of their parents.
This is also derived from the legend of "Nian", where members of the family stayed awake on the night of Chinese New Year Eve to guard the family from the beast.
Chinese people will greet each other with pleasant words like 'Happy New Year', 'Good Fortune', etc during Chinese New Year. The phrase "GongXi" (or "Gong Hei" in Cantonese) means 'Congratulations', derived from the legend of "Nian", congratulating each other to have escaped the harm of the beast.
Worshipping of Kitchen God
On the 24th day of the last lunar month the Kitchen god returns to heaven to give a report to the Jade Emperor (in Chinese mythology the Jade Emperor is the ruler of heaven) about the family's activities over the past year. This day is marked by acts of appeasement to the Kitchen god so that he will give the Jade Emperor a favourable report.
Traditionally images of the Kitchen god are burned as a symbolic act of departure. Often some gold or silver money will also be burned for travelling expenses. In some households the lips of the Kitchen god are brushed with honey or a sugar solution just before the image is burned - this will increase the likelihood that only sweet things will be said by the Kitchen god. From the 24th the Kitchen god will be absent from his shrine in the kitchen, and during this time it will be cleaned in preparation for his return on New Year's Eve.
For more information on Kitchen God, go here.
Chinese people usually set up offering tables right before midnight of Chinese New Year Eve to invite the patronage of the 'Money God'.
On the stroke of midnight, blasting sounds of fire-crackers fills the neighbourhood indicating the arrival of 'Money God' and a fantastic New Year.
During the build up to Chinese New Year Door Gods are placed on the external doors of houses. This is an age of tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD). The Emperor TaiZong is said to have fallen ill, and had a dream in which ghosts came to the palace in search for him. He recounted this tale to his officials the next day, and the story quickly spread through the Imperial Court - such matters were not taken lightly. The emperors top two generals, Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, both of whom had fought to establish the Tang dynasty stood guard outside the emperor's bedroom door.
The emperor slept soundly in the knowledge that he was protected by these two generals, and had no further dreams of the ghosts. However, after a few nights the emperor became concerned for the generals. He ordered that two paintings be made, one of each general. Once completed, the emperor had these hung on the door to his room, and relieved the generals.
This tale soon became widely known, and in their eagerness to share the protection of these "Door Gods" the common people made their own paintings and placed them on their doors. the tradition has continued ever since.
The most spectacular event of the Chinese New Year festivities must surely be the Lion Dance. Lion dances take place throughout the first few days of the Chinese New Year, and bring good luck to the households or businesses which they visit. The Lion Dance itself is performed by two 'dancers' one at the head and one at the tail of the lion. Careful observation of the Lion Dance will show that it is in fact a very careful demonstration of stylised movements performed by skilled performers (generally from a martial arts school or acrobatic company). To enhance the 'life' of the lion, the eyelids, mouth and ears of the Lion's head all move.
The dance is accompanied by loud music played on large drum, gong and cymbals. The use of firecrackers, drums, gongs and cymbals are related to the role of the lion in dispelling evil and bringing good luck - evil being afraid of loud noise (See the legend of Nian).
For more information on firecrackers and the drum bits, go here.
The dramatic climax of the Lion Dance is the "CaiQing" or 'Picking the Green'. The green here refers to vegetable leaves which are tied to a piece of string which also has a red packet attached containing money. The string is hung above the door of the house or business, and the lion 'eats' both leaves and red packet. Lying on the floor the leaves are 'chewed' by the dragon while the musicians play a dramatic rolling crescendo. The lull is broken as the lion explodes back into activity while spitting out the leaves. This is a symbolic act of blessing by the lion, with the spitting out of the leaves signifying that there will be an abundance of everything in the coming year.
"PenChun" in Chinese, means the performances of lion and dragon dances on the streets to greet everyone.
Business owners usually appoint performers to perform lion dance in their premises to chase away bad spirits and bring in good spirits.
Dragon Dance
The Dragon Dance, also called "Dragon Lantern Dance", is a traditional performance of the Han people. Dragon Dance is performed in almost all special festivals.
Dragon Dance originated from Han Dynasty and the tradition never fades. It was originally performed to please the ancestors and to plead for enough rain for crops, it has gradually become a cultural activity. Since the Tang and Sung Dynasty, Dragon Dance can be seen in every festival.
A fairy tale tells the legend: One day, the Dragon King felt some terrible pain around his waist. After consuming all medication he could find, the pain persisted. Without any other option, he turned into human form and sought for doctor's advice. After the inspection, the doctor claimed, "You are not a human." Realising that he couldn't pretend anymore, the Dragon King turned into his original form. The doctor helped removed a scolopendrid from his waist and applied medication on the wound. The Dragon King felt relieve immediately. In appreciation to the doctor's help, the Dragon King said this to the doctor, "Dance in gears in the form of a dragon and you shall be granted with smooth weather and great harvests." The news quickly spread and people began to dance in gears built to the form of a dragon to plead for rain in drought seasons.
Rules for Dragon Dance include: Green for spring season, Red for summer, White for autumn
and Black for winter.
 | It's a Chinese
custom to display banners in red colour with lucky wordings like 'Get Rich',
'Advance in Career', 'Advance in Studies', etc. This custom derived from
the legend of "Nian", that the display of red colour expels the beast. Couplets means pairs of banners, usually written in vertical format consisting of two relating phrases.
The example here carries the meanings: - | 
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Chinese people are very superstitious in many ways, the superstitions played major parts in forming the Chinese customs.
During Chinese New Year, cuisines are carefully selected and named to only carry good meanings. Below are several examples of Chinese New Year ingredients: -
| Lettuce | - | lettuce in Chinese sounds like 'making money' | |
| Lettuce roll | - | the action of wrapping food in lettuce leaves carries the meaning of 'Definitely having a baby soon', good for newly-weds. | |
| Seaweed | - | the special hair-like seaweed sounds like 'Get Rich' | |
| Bamboo shoot | - | indicates 'New Start', also means 'Advancing in Career' | |
| Fish | - | this is a must in every New Year meals as it indicates 'Having leftovers of Money' | |
| Prawns | - | the pronunciation of prawns in Chinese sounds like the laughing sound, and thus carries the meaning 'Happiness' | |
| Abalone | - | carries the meaning 'Definite Good Fortune' | |
| Lotus seeds | - | carries the meaning 'Getting Many Siblings' | |
| Walnut | - | carries the meaning 'Happiness of the Entire Family' | |
| Cashew Nuts | - | its shape symbolises the 'Gold Bar' of ancient times |  |
| Mandarin orange | - | its pronunciation sounds like 'Gold' |  |
The Chinese New Year Eve family reunion meal is the most important meal for the family in the entire year - similar to Christmas dinner for westerners. Therefore, Chinese families usually serve expensive cuisines like shark-fins and abalones during this day. Traditionally, the meal is prepared by all adult female members of the family, which helps binding a close relationship amongst the female members. As more women join the work-force, the responsibility is passed to whoever available on that day. Nowadays many families opt to dine out for this special meal and reservations must be made months before to ensure availability.
The sound of firecrackers chases away evil spirits. Due to safety reasons, most countries had banned the burning of fire crackers except during specific occasions.
Click on the button to your left to listen to the sound of firecrackers along with the bitting of drums for lion dances. Enjoy!
Music of Chinese New Year
Chinese people love playing joyous music during Chinese New Year. All the songs carry
joyful messages like "good health" etc.
While some people may think the songs are too noisy, it is a custom for Chinese New Year songs to be played during the celebration.
Please click on the buttons below to listen to the Chinese New Year midi clips.
| Da Di Hui Chun (Spring Returns) | |
| Feng Yang Hua Gu (The Drum Song) | |
| Gong Xi Gong Xi (Congratulations) | |
| He Xin Nian (New Year Greeting) | |
| Xin Nian Hao (A Good New Year) |
| Paper Arts |
It is a tradition for Chinese people to cut red colour papers into beautiful paper arts during Chinese New Year.
Chinese people use these paper arts as display and decoration in their homes. Sometimes a small red paper art will be put on the rice on New Year Eve dinner to pray for continuous supply of food. |
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