How do the Chinese celebrate the Chinese New Year? new year in china

New Year is a holiday that is celebrated all over the world in a big way. In this regard, China is no exception.

But, the peculiarity of this country lies in the fact that this celebration is celebrated twice, both by Western standards and local ancient traditions. Therefore, it will be very interesting to know how the New Year is celebrated in China.

Winter celebrations in China - photo

Western and Chinese New Year, as well as Christmas, are celebrated at completely different times.

On the eighth day of the last month according to the lunar calendar, many houses prepare fragrant porridge - "labazhou", which includes 8 types of products: glutinous rice, chumiza, grains of Job's tears (bead), dates, lotus seeds, red beans, longyan fruits , ginkgo seed.

The twenty-third day of the last month according to the lunar calendar is called by the people "xiaonyan" (ie "small New Year"). People who strictly follow the traditions make a sacrifice to the deity of the hearth.

Before the holiday, the country literally blooms with a red bag. Everywhere there are posters with the hieroglyphs “fu” (happiness) and “si” (joy) gracefully written on them, garlands of lanterns and other decorations, and all of them are exclusively red, meaning prosperity, luck and prosperity.

Before the holiday, the house is supposed to do a general cleaning, wash and clean all clothes and blankets. After the house is cleaned, all panicles, scoops, rags are put away in a place where no one could see them during the holiday. The reason for this strange behavior lies in the legend: during the celebration of the New Year, the gods fly around the houses of the Chinese and give them dust, which symbolizes happiness. Therefore, if you clean up during the New Year, you may accidentally sweep all the happy moments of the future out of your house along with the dust.

Cleaned to a shine, the houses take on a festive look. All door frames are affixed with paired calligraphic inscriptions made in black ink on red paper. The content of paired inscriptions is reduced to the expression of the life ideals of the owner of the house or good wishes for the new year. Images of guardian spirits and the deity of wealth are pasted on the door in the hope that they will bring happiness and prosperity to the house.

Two large red lanterns are hung in front of the entrance to the house, and the windows are decorated with paper patterns. The walls of the rooms are decorated with bright New Year's paintings, which symbolize the wishes of happiness and wealth.

The night before the Chinese New Year is also called "the night of the meeting after parting." For the Chinese, this is the most important point. The whole family gathers for festive table to the New Year's dinner, which is distinguished not only by the abundance and variety of dishes, but also by numerous traditions. For example, a New Year's dinner is not complete without dishes of chicken meat, fish and "doufu" - bean curd, called "tofu" in Russia, because in Chinese the names of these products are consonant with the words meaning "happiness" and "prosperity".

According to tradition, on New Year's Eve, people do not sleep and stay awake until the morning, so as not to miss their happiness. If someone still lies down on New Year's Eve to rest, then he should get up early. There is a popular belief among the people: "If you get up early on the New Year, you will get rich too early."

With the onset of New Year's morning, people put on smart clothes. Young people congratulate the elderly on the holiday and wish them longevity. It is customary for children to give red envelopes with pocket money. This money in the new year is supposed to bring them happiness. In ancient times, money was given not in envelopes, but in the form of necklaces, which were made up of one hundred coins. It was a kind of congratulation, wishing a person to live up to a hundred years. One hundred coin necklaces are still very popular in China today.

In the north of China, it is customary to eat dumplings for the new year, and in the south - "niangao" (slices made from glutinous rice). Northerners prefer dumplings, because, firstly, in Chinese the word "jiaozi", i.e. "dumplings" is consonant with the words "seeing off the old and meeting the new"; secondly, dumplings resemble traditional ingots of gold and silver in their shape and symbolize the wish for wealth. For the same reason, southerners eat "niangao", symbolizing the improvement of life every year.

A joyful festive atmosphere fills not only every house, but also reigns in every street of every city and village. On the Spring Festival, noisy festivities and fairs are held for several days in a row, where lion and dragon dances are performed.

The dance of lions, according to legend, traces its history back to the events of the era of the Southern and Northern dynasties, when in a decisive battle one of the parties disguised itself as lions (which were never found in China) and won the battle because the enemy’s war elephants were frightened scary masks and ran, dropping their riders. Since then, on solemn occasions, Chinese soldiers have performed the lion dance. In the XIV-XVI centuries, this dance spread throughout China and began to be performed during the Chunjie festival. It is designed to scare away all evil forces that can bring misfortune in the coming year.

The dance of dragons also has a long history. It was included in festive ceremonies as early as the 12th century and expressed people's admiration for the dragon and requests to him to tame the wind and pour rain for a good harvest. The dragon, made of paper, wire and wicker, can reach 8-10 meters. His body is flexible and consists of a different, but necessarily an odd number of parts (9, 11, 13). Each part is controlled by a single dancer with the help of a pole, the undulating, writhing movements of the dragon require great coherence of the participants.

The first five days of the new year are for meetings. Relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues visit and congratulate each other on the New Year, give gifts.

New Year's festivities end after the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiaojie or Dengjie), on the fifteenth day of the first month of Lunar calendar. Today, exhibitions and competitions of lanterns organized in large city parks are very popular in the capital. Lantern exhibitions continue for several days and form an integral part of the New Year's holiday.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The Chinese celebrate the New Year in a completely different way than the Russians imagine. They don’t dress up “in the favorite colors of the Yellow Mouse”, they don’t put cheese on the table. But everything is in order.

The scariest holiday of the year

In China, there is a popular legend: a long time ago, a huge terrible dragon lived in a forest on a mountain. At night after the first day of every spring, he came down from the mountains to feast on people. People did not know if they would live until morning. Therefore, by this night they tried to put their affairs in order, put on the best clothes in order to meet death with dignity. The members of each family gathered together that night to protect each other, and arranged the most luxurious dinner they could, because it could be their last. Once people noticed that the dragon is afraid of red, light and noise. Therefore, on the eve of the night when he came, everyone began to dress in red clothes, hang red decorations on the houses, turn on a lot of lights and arrange noisy fireworks. The monster descended from the mountains, but, frightened, ran back without touching anyone. And people noisily congratulated each other.

Unlike us, the Chinese do not celebrate the change of the year, but the onset of spring and getting rid of adversity. Chinese New Year also called the Spring Festival.

Cleanliness is the key to good luck

For the Chinese, it is important that the house shines with cleanliness. Order is put in place a day or two before the holiday. By no means on New Year's Day - you can sweep your luck out of the house. They also remove knives, scissors and other cutting tools so as not to cut off the path to happiness and good luck.

It is considered bad luck to meet Chinese New Year in bed or bedroom, so even seriously ill people, as well as small children, should be appropriately dressed and present at the New Year's meal.

There are a lot of “bad” New Year signs in China. On a holiday, you can’t quarrel and speak in a harsh tone, get angry and be dissatisfied, and say swear words. Punish children. Cry or complain. Wash and cut hair. Borrow or borrow money. Mention the number "four" or numbers containing it (in Chinese, the word "sei", that is, "four", is consonant with the word "death"). You can not talk about death, misfortune, illness. Tell stories about spirits and ghosts. Mention old year. Use negative forms in speech - for example, "I will not eat this" or "I do not like this." It attracts misfortune. What should be done in chinese new year night? To rejoice in ourselves and to please others, to bring others as much positive as possible. Then the whole next year will be happy and successful.

Red girls and well done

They choose the best clothes that are in the wardrobe. Traditional outfits for the celebration Chinese New Year- red.

However, modern Chinese believe that any color is good for New Year's Eve, except for white (it symbolizes death and sorrow). The main thing is to be beautiful, clean and tidy. The fact that every year you need to meet in clothes of a color corresponding to the symbol of the coming year has never been heard in the Celestial Empire. Those who have heard consider it a cute European custom.

The house is also decorated in red tones. The most popular decorations are the so-called "red couplets", wishes of happiness written in calligraphy on red paper. The most standard - "Peace and tranquility all year round"," May there be peace and tranquility everywhere. Wishes can be bought in specialized stores, or you can make it yourself - if you have beautiful handwriting, of course.

Everywhere in the house they arrange dishes with tangerines and oranges, dried fruits and sweets.
Very important detail- Natural flowers. They are grown especially for the holiday.

The Chinese try to organize as much light as possible in the house. All available lighting devices are lit, special New Year illuminations are used.

From one pot

Some families have New Year's sets, but most people in Hong Kong, for example, use disposable tableware - it's easier, cheaper and saves time. Candles, flowers and other decorative elements are never used. The table in a standard tiny Chinese apartment is very small, and at least twenty people gather at it - the families here are large. There just isn't enough room for decorations.

IN new Year's Eve most Chinese people eat fondue. Fondue is a great dish for a family evening, it promotes communication like no other. A pot with meat broth is placed in the middle of the table. A fire is lit underneath. Meat (beef, lamb), fish, squid, shrimp are cut into paper-thin slices, laid out on plates. When the water boils, each guest takes a slice of meat, fish or any other food, dips it into the boiling broth, then dips it in soy sauce and puts it in his mouth.

The Chinese love symbolism. Dishes are served on the New Year's table appearance or by name reminiscent of something good.

For example, dumplings that look like old gold bars (gok jai) symbolize wealth. Long noodles, which are forbidden to be cut, signify longevity. A dish of grass that looks like long black hair - fat choy, which is consonant with the word "prosperity", symbolizes financial well-being and stability.

Money and no sentimentality

On New Year's Eve, the Chinese give money to each other. There is simply no place to store anything in the apartments. The gift is supposed to be put in a small red envelope.

There must be an even amount of money (and evenness is determined by the first digit, not the last - for example, the number 52 in China is considered odd). Also, the figure should not contain the ill-fated number four. It is best if the amount of money is small, but includes the number "8", since the word "eight" ("fat" in Chinese) is consonant with the word "wealth".

Traditionally, the Chinese wish each other prosperity in the new year. The traditional Chinese New Year greeting is: "I wish you financial prosperity!" (Kong hei fat choy)

On the streets

No country in the world knows how to arrange such salutes as in China. And, probably, there is no fireworks more beautiful than New Year's fireworks over the Victoria Strait in Hong Kong.

Imagine - thousands of lights fly into the sky, which crumble into multi-colored stars, ribbons, dust, take the form of mythical characters and wishes of happiness. Before one volley has time to go out, a new firework is already lit in the dark sky, repeated many times by reflection in the water of the strait. All boats, boats and ships passing through the strait are festively and brightly lit. Small homemade boats float in the water, on which burning lamps are installed. Such a fairy tale on New Year's Eve lasts several hours.

22.12.2016

It is worth asking any Russian what is his favorite holiday, and almost certainly the answer will be: “New Year!” And how are things with this holiday in other countries - for example, how is the New Year celebrated in China? How do the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire relate to the solemn moment of the transition from one era to another? The traditions of celebrating the New Year in China are very interesting - let's get acquainted with some of them.

History of New Year's Eve in Ancient China

Once - an ancient Chinese legend says that it was a very long time ago - a terrible monster named Nian lived in the country. For most of the year, it did not bother the Chinese with its appearance, hiding in the underwater depths, but once a year it crawled out of its shelter to raid settlements and villages.

Apparently, the monster was not very gluttonous - until next year, the annual portion of several dozen Chinese and the food supply that it discovered by ruining their homes was quite enough for it. But still, no one wanted to get into Nyan's teeth. Therefore, on the eve of the dangerous date, everyone who was able to move around hastily packed up and went high into the mountains. Nian ate and hid, and the Chinese returned, counting their losses.

Once, on the eve of the New Year, a beggar old wanderer looked into one village. His mustache was silver, and he held a sack in his hands. He asked for food, but no one in a hurry paid attention to him, and only one grandmother fed the wanderer, inviting him to her house. The old woman persuaded the beggar to leave the village, but out of gratitude to her, he replied that he would stay to drive Nian away. The residents fled, and when they returned the next day, they were amazed: not a single house was destroyed, the old man was alive and unharmed.

It turned out that he frightened the Nian by painting the doors of the house with red paint and making a terrible noise with bamboo sticks. So the Chinese learned that the monster is afraid of the scarlet color and loud sounds. Since then, the ancient Chinese gathered together before the New Year, dressed in bright red robes and made as much noise as they could, scaring away the Nian and minor evil spirits.

New Year's Eve in modern China

Today, the Chinese still dress in all shades of scarlet, get together as a friendly family and do not refuse to make a little noise. But this happens during the Chinese New Year, the date of which never coincides with the European one.

December 31 in China passes almost unnoticed. Well, maybe large stores install artificial Christmas trees at the entrances - everything is limited to this. But on the first spring new moon, the real fun begins. This date is floating, so in different years the New Year is celebrated in China in different days January or February.

The family gathers at the table (most often with the oldest members of the family). If someone is not at home - for example, a person is away - this is not a reason to forget about him: a separate device is installed for the absent person. All family members try to bring some kind of red element into their clothes.

After congratulations and eating festive dishes, a detour around the house begins - this is a tribute to tradition: earlier, in this way, the Chinese checked if someone close to Nian had eaten. Explosions of firecrackers are sure to sound, firecrackers rattle, bright lights burn. There are street dances of a lion and a dragon (moreover, crowded - at least 10 people are required to perform the latter).

People exchange modest gifts - envelopes "for good luck" with small sums of money. The celebrations last 3 days, during which you have to visit relatives and friends. A total of 2 weeks are considered holidays.

Chinese New Year's Eve

The Chinese have a lot of New Year's dishes. Meat, poultry and fish dishes must certainly be present. Especially often you can find fish and chicken - stewed, baked, boiled. "Fish" in Chinese is consonant with the word "prosperity", so it is prepared in almost every home.

If you are invited to a Chinese feast, try the vegetarian "Buddha's Delight". It is difficult to accurately name all its ingredients, but it certainly contains black algae (by the way, there is also a consonance with the word “prosperity”).

They can also offer you leeks (it sounds like the phrase “money account”, which is pleasant to hear), or dumplings (they looked like gold coins to the ancient Chinese, for which they were honored to replenish the New Year's table).

Small square radish cakes, rice flour cake, and, of course, tangerines - nowhere without them! In Chinese, their name is consonant with the word "wealth". Maybe this main New Year's delicacy of Soviet children migrated to our country from China?

New Year Traditions and Customs in China

On the eve of the New Year, there is a commotion in every house - you need to have time to clean up before the next day, and then remove all the brushes and rags away from prying eyes. In no case should you sweep the house on the New Year itself! Why?

The fact is that the grace that the coming year gives the family settles in the form of ordinary household dust. But what if the gods generously bestow grace on you, and you inadvertently brush it off with a broom? Give yourself a disappointment for the whole year ahead.

Another tradition is as follows: when guests come to the house, they give the hosts two tangerines. Here again, everything is connected with consonances. The phrase "two tangerines" in Chinese is similar to "gold". Naturally, the owners do not remain in debt - they also give guests two tangerines, but they are different.

The Chinese prefer modest, almost symbolic gifts. Watches should not be presented to the elderly, and children's things to expectant mothers. For a couple, the gift should be shared.

Chinese Santa Claus

There is a Santa Claus in China. He has several names, including: Shan Dan Laozhen, Dong Chen Lao Ren. All these varieties of fairy grandfathers look alike, and all wear red robes reminiscent of traditional Chinese robes.

In China, they love the New Year and celebrate it on a grand scale. True, the Chinese people did not want to fully accept European traditions - the most important thing for the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire is still their New Year - the Spring Festival.

New Year in China is celebrated twice. On January 1, the European New Year is celebrated, and during the new moon, the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (Chunjie). AND New Year traditions in China depends on what kind of new year they celebrate.

European New Year in China

Yuan tribute (European New Year) is very quiet and modest. There is no sparkle of lights on the streets, no magnificent feasts at home, no decorated Christmas trees. Only in large shopping centers they put artificial Christmas trees and little Santa Clauses. The Chinese do not consider this time to be festive, preferring native Chinese Holiday Spring.

Spring Festival

The history of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) has more than one century. However, he does not have a specific date. It is celebrated between January 21 and the last days of winter. Warmth comes, a new life cycle begins, hopes for well-being, happiness, and health come.

The traditions of the Spring Festival are very rich. On the eve of a significant day, the Chinese fasten five strips of paper to the door lintel, which symbolize honor, good luck, wealth, joy and longevity. By ancient tradition New Year should be celebrated noisily and cheerfully, with firecrackers and fireworks. In this way, the Chinese cast out evil spirits so that they do not bring grief and illness. If the spirits find a quiet home, it becomes their haven. Then the owners will be unhappy.

Many, many years ago, before the invention of firecrackers and firecrackers, the Chinese made noise with whatever objects they had at hand. And from the 14th century, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire threw bamboo sticks into the oven, which burned and made a loud crack. Further, pyrotechnics came to replace the chopsticks. According to beliefs devilry afraid of red. Therefore, these holidays are colored in red. In the villages, the tradition is still preserved to tightly close all doors and windows so that evil does not penetrate through them.

Before the Spring Festival, the Chinese clean the house, utility rooms, and yard. Everything should be sparkling clean. On the days of the festival, sweeping and washing the floors is considered a bad omen.

Instead of a Christmas tree, the Chinese install the Tree of Light, which they decorate with flowers, bright ribbons, flashlights.

Festive New Year's table

In China, as in many other countries, believe that how you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it. Therefore, a lot of hearty and tasty dishes are served on the table. The whole family sits down at the table a few hours before the New Year. In the north of the country, dumplings are especially loved, in the south - soup with dumplings and noodles. Long noodles symbolize long happy life. After dinner, “money of happiness” is distributed to everyone. They are given in red envelopes, which are supposed to bring wealth and good luck. Until the morning no one sleeps, so as not to miss their happiness.

two tangerines

Since ancient times, there has been a beautiful and interesting custom in the Celestial Empire. Guests should give the owners of the house two tangerines. When the invitees went home, they were presented with a couple of tangerines as a gift, but already different ones, those that were prepared in advance for the guests. This custom arose due to the fact that in Chinese the phrase "two tangerines" is consonant with the word "gold".

The Chinese love to give paired gifts, as they denote harmony in the family, common interests. It is not customary to give watches to the elderly, toys or children's things to couples who are expecting a baby. Gifts are presented before leaving, sometimes they are simply put in a secluded place so that the owners find them on occasion.

Three holidays

After the New Year comes three holidays- chui, chuer and chusan. This is the time to connect with friends and family. Everyone goes to visit each other, exchange gifts, have fun from the heart. The fun continues for another 14 days.

Dances of lions and dragons

In China, dances of lions and dragons are danced during the festivities, which are considered traditional and sacred. The dance of the lions brings protection from adversity and grief. It has come down to our days from the 14th century. No less ancient dragon dance, which came from the 12th century. He expresses admiration for the dragon.

In every country, the New Year is celebrated according to special traditions. The Chinese New Year is interesting for its ancient rituals, strict observance of traditions, faith in their power. The one who honors the ancestors and their will will always be healthy, rich and happy.


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