We will usher in the Lunar New Year in 2023, the WS MOLD factory will be on holiday from January 14th to January 29th, and resume work on the 30th.
The Spring Festival holiday is the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year, but its date in the Gregorian calendar is not fixed. As a traditional Chinese calendar, the lunar calendar has a history of thousands of years,let me talk about the traditional customs of Chinese New Year.
1. What Is the 2023 Chinese Zodiac Animal?
Each Chinese year is associated with an animal sign according to the Chinese zodiac cycle. 2023 is the year of the Rabbit, specifically, Water Rabbit. The sign of Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.
2. Why Is Chinese New Year Celebrated?
First, legend states that the Chinese New Year stemmed from an ancient battle against the Nian (/nyen/, which sounds the same as ‘year’ in Chinese), a terrifying beast that showed up every Lunar New Year’s Eve to eat people and livestock. To scare away the monster, people displayed red paper, burned bamboo, lit candles, and wore red clothes. These traditions have been continued until the present time.
Second, it is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
3. Spring Festival Holiday(Chinese New Year) Traditions
Regional customs and traditions vary widely but share the same theme: seeing out the old year and welcoming in the luck and prosperity of a new year. The main Chinese New Year activities include
putting up decorations,
offering sacrifices to ancestors,
eating reunion dinner with family on New Year’s Eve,
giving red envelopes and other gifts,
firecrackers and fireworks, and
watching lion and dragon dances.
Chinese New Year 2023
(1). Cleaning and Decorating Houses with Red Things
People give their houses a thorough cleaning before the Spring Festival, which symbolizes sweeping away the bad luck of the preceding year and making their homes ready to receive good luck.
Red is the main color for the festival, as red is believed to be an auspicious color for the Lunar New Year, denoting prosperity and energy — which ward off evil spirits and negativity. Red lanterns hang in streets; red couplets and New Year pictures are pasted on doors.
(2). Offering Sacrifices to Ancestors
Honoring the dead is a Chinese New Year’s tradition that’s kept to the word. Many Chinese people visit ancestors’ graves on the day before the Chinese New Year’s day, offer sacrifices to ancestors before the reunion dinner (to show that they are letting their ancestors “eat” first), and add an extra glass and place it at the dinner table on New Year’s eve.
(3). Enjoying a Family Reunion Dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve
Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is a time for families to be together. Chinese New Year’s Eve is the most important time. Wherever they are, people are expected to be home to celebrate the festival with their families. The Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner is called ‘reunion dinner’. Big families of several generations sit around round tables and enjoy the food and time together.
(4). Exchanging Red Envelopes and other Gifts
Chinese New Year is a season of red envelopes (or red packets, lìshì or lai see in Cantonese). Red envelopes have money in, and are often given to children and (retired) seniors.
The red envelope (money) is called ya sui qian (压岁钱 /yaa sway chyen/), which means ‘suppressing Sui [the demon]money’. Those who receive a red envelope are wished another safe and peaceful year.
Other popular Lunar New Year gifts are alcohol, tea, fruits, and candies.
(5). Setting Off Firecrackers and Fireworks
From public displays in major cities to millions of private celebrations in China’s rural areas, setting off firecrackers and fireworks is an indispensable festive activity. It is a way to scare away the evil and welcome the new year’s arrival.
Billions of fireworks go up in China at 12 am and in the first minutes of Chinese New Year, the most anywhere at any time of year.
(6). Watching the Spring Festival Gala
The Spring Festival Gala, usually referred to as “Spring Festival Gala”, is a variety show held by China Central Television on New Year’s Eve every year to celebrate the Lunar New Year. In 1983, it should be said that CCTV held the Spring Festival Gala as an accidental event. But this show has become a “new folklore, new culture” for Chinese people, and it is a must-see TV feast every New Year’s Eve. Since 1983, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, a symbol that embodies the family affection and nostalgia of more than one billion Chinese people, has become the cultural memory of several generations of Chinese people.
From the perspective of cultural development, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala created a precedent for TV variety shows, and triggered major changes in the content and methods of Chinese TV media. The Spring Festival Gala covers skits, songs, singing and dancing, acrobatics, magic, opera, cross talk and other performance forms.
