Are you
fascinated by Asian culture? Well, Chinese New Year celebrations are a good
opportunity for you to know about the Asian culture especially Chinese myths
and traditions of this glorious festival! Here are some interesting facts about
Lunar New Year- Brought to you by PartsAvatar Replacement Auto Parts.
Happy Lunar New
Year! We love Chinese food and almost every city has a famous china town. Of
course you love to visit it right? But apart from food, many other things about
Chinese culture are attention grabbing! One of them is Chinese New Year which
is always celebrated with Zeal among Chinese population across the globe.
Well lunar new
year or commonly known as Chinese new year is not only confined to china but is
also celebrated among other Asian and western countries like Japan, South
Korea, Canada, U.S. etc. It’s a perfect time to immerse in amazing Chinese
traditions of faith and myth. Check out some amazing facts about Chinese New
year.
Lunar New Year is now a Holiday in Many Nations
Although Chinese
new year is not celebrated on the same date as the standard new year (1 Jan)
but in recent years, this holiday has been seen as secular and cultural
celebration among many countries especially in the West.
For example in
Canada, many parades and celebratory processions take place on lunar New Year
day and many different events are also organized in big cities of Canada. For
example Toronto, hosts Lunar Fest to show the young Canadians the Asian art and
culture.
There are many family events in Dharma Drum Vancouver centre like
drumming, lion dancing, craft making, performance of Chinese traditional
instruments and songs and an interactive demonstration of traditional Chinese
tea ceremony.
The major
purpose of the events is to share the diversity of Canada among new Canadians
and those who have been here for many generations.
Sacred Myths of New Year
Still many
people think about building up good luck for the year to come. Families avoid
doing certain things as follows:
1. Avoid wearing
old damaged clothes.
2. They don’t
wash clothes, knives or throw garbage on Lunar New Year.
3. Its mandatory
to stay up late to welcome Lunar New Year.
These things are
done in order to avoid bad fortune into the New Year.
Fireworks and Fanfare are rooted in ancient folklores
and myths!
The Chinese New
Year follows the lunisolar calendar and usually falls between late January and
early February. The lunisolar calendar determines the time based on the
movements of the Sun and the Moon.
It is said that
in Shang Dynasty, people offered sacrifices to god in the beginning of a new year.
A legendary beast was thought to attack the people at the end of old year and
they would use bright lights to scare that beast away. This practise slowly
changed into traditions. Dragon dances and parades often symbolise the
traditional folklores of ancient china.
Traditional Expressions are used
Families and
friends often greet each other with phrases like “Gun Hei Fat Choi” in
Cantonese and “Gong Xi Fa Cai” in Mandirin Chinese. They usually avoid greeting
each other with standard western phrases like Happy New Year even if they live
abroad.
2017- A Rooster Year
Many of us won’t
know but the 2017 year was the year of rooster. The year of rooster will begin
from Jan 28, 2017 and would last until February 15, 2018. The rooster is 10th
of 12 zodiac animals.
Years of rooster
include 1921, 1933,1945,1957,1969,1981,1993,2005 and2017. If
you are born in the year of rooster,
there are certain things that would be lucky and unlucky for this year for you
(purely based on Chinese Folklore and Myths).
Roosters are
said to be hardworking and energetic and have been seen as the ones who herald
the beginning of a new day.
World’s greatest Annual Migration of people
Chinese New Year
is a massive travel season. People return to their hometown or go on Vacations
to celebrate this big day. In 2017, 3 billion tips were made during Lunar New
Year celebrations.
Feast on Symbolic Dishes
Noodles are
Favourite and must have food among Chinese people. Mothers never forget to cook
longevity noodle dish to ensure that all family members would be blessed with a
long life.
Along with
noodles, many other dishes have their significance. For instance: Whole fish
with head and tail intact represents good start and end of the year, Dumplings
represent prosperity and Nian Gao Cake represents achieving great heights in
the upcoming year.
After the meal
don’t forget to serve oranges and tangerines to your guests as it represents
luck and wealth.
Gifts of Red Envelope
The color red is
the symbol of Good luck in Asian culture. Parents give their unmarried children
red envelopes filled with money as a symbolic offering of good luck.
Cleaning House to Shoo bad luck
In many
cultures, it is mandatory to clean houses during festivals. According to
Chinese, sweeping makes room for good luck and washes away the bad luck. People
dispose of the dead plants, buy new dishware and recycle things to clean their
house on New Year.
People will
decorate their homes with lantern and paper scrolls. You can buy small red
items to decorate. Cushions can be changed to bright red color cover. Fireworks
are must you can buy a small firecracker for your festive dinner as a small
celebratory gesture.
Many cities in
Canada host fireworks on Lunar New year.
One more thing
don’t forget to cut your hair before New Year if were thinking of visiting a
hair salon by any chance. Cutting hair on Chinese New Year day is considered
bad luck.
Lantern Festival
The New Year
festivities end with the lantern festivals. Lanterns have their own myths. Some
say they represent Taoist god of good fortune: Shan-Yuan. Chinese people
worship Heaven god of Taoism and many visit temples in daytime to pray for good
luck and wealth. Manys folklores relate them with the Jade Emperor.
People hang light
lanterns around their houses and decorate them with Chinese zodiac and
historical figures of Buddhism and Taoism.
Tray of togetherness
Family has an
important role in Chinese New year. Tray of togetherness is a common gift to
extend to loved ones.
It’s a round or octagonal
tray divided into 8 compartments and filled with treats representing good
fortune.
In the End if
you are invited in china or by Chinese family even if you are living in Canada,
these facts are sufficient for you to know their culture. Enjoy this glorious
festival of good luck and fortune with your friends and family!
PartsAvatar Canada
wishes everyone “Gong Xi Fa Cai”!
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