Because its Chinese new year and I’m Chinese, I’m going to write about the origin of Chinese New Year and its traditions! Each year is marked by an animal. This is called the Chinese zodiac. It consists of the rat, ox, tiger, snake, goat, snake, dragon, rabbit, horse, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Interestingly enough, people call it the spring festival, which I never knew. Also, I decided to write about the origins of the traditions of Chinese New Year because I think its interesting for me to learn more about my culture and to share it with you guys. It’s the year of goat!
Here is what the Chinese zodiac says about people who were born in 1996, if any of you guys wanted to know.
Chinese New Year was mainly tied to the solar lunar calendar, but now it is more about tradition since China adopted the western calendar in 1912. Back in the day, Chinese new year was about honoring your family, elders and the deities alongside of celebrating the new year. There were certain things one had to do for the preparation of the New Year, including throwing firecrackers and putting up messages on one’s door to scare away the evil spirits. I know when I was younger I was never sure why my parents posted up red papered messages on our doors or what they ever meant. Now it makes so much sense…The household also has to make sure the house is clean so to clean away the unlucky matter and so that the gods who come down to Earth will be pleased with the inspection of the homes. From living in a Chinese household, I realized that the Chinese value luck and family highly. Most of these traditions that occur during the lunar new year are about keeping up with the superstitions. For example, adults who were married always give children money to bring luck to the family, specifically the parents. As a child, the day of Chinese New Year meant I feasted with my extended family, eating Chinese New Year foods which were eaten only once a year and are considered delicacies. There, I had to wish everyone a happy new year and say specific sayings that include wishing them good health, good education, good growth, luck, beauty, and many others. After I did that, they would reward me with a red envelope filled with money. Younger you are, the more red envelopes you get from others….but also each envelope contained less. If you are my age, you just get red envelopes from your extended family and family, but the cash is about 20$ each [for your immediate family, I usually 50$ per parent, there is no set amount of how much family and others should give you]. When I am even older, I probably will only get red envelopes from my immediate family, and when I’m married I don’t get anything, but expected to give money to all the littles ones my cousins and siblings have.
I know I didn’t talk much about the origin of Chinese new year….but it was hard to find accurate information regarding it. So I just elaborated on my traditions I encountered as a child.
http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/goat.asp
http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/rat.asp
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year
I was born in 1995, so my zodiac is pig. Therefore, Thai people also believe in zodiac since there are a lot of Chinese people in Thailand -0-. A lot of my friends got a lot of money on these days too. Therefore, this post makes me want to celebrate Thai New Year, which would happen in the next two months.
Really interesting!! I think I was born in the year of the Rat…but I’ll need to double check. It’s neat to hear about the celebrations at this time of the year:)
I was born and raised in China and spent all the Chinese New Years in the past nineteen years but I did not know a lot about its origin and I actually never really thought about it. In my family, we always have a great dinner at the evening before New Year and we will have Tangyuan(rice ball) for the meaning of family reunion and eat Nian’gao (rice cake) for the meaning of good luck in the new year.
Interesting, I (ironically) never really knew where Chinese new year came from. I thought it was just a day to eat good food, get money, and wear red. It’s always fun to learn about the history of holidays.
Hey!
I never really knew what the Chinese New Year was all about until reading your post above. Are there any other special traditions that you and your family do during this special time? Did you do anything to celebrate it at school? I know it must be pretty weird being away from it all while at Penn State. Thanks again for all of the cool information!
Thanks!
-Thomas