Chinese Culture > Chinese New Year > Chinese New Year History
The Chinese New Year Festival
is the most significant holiday for Chinese people around the world, regardless
of the origin of their ancestors. History of Chinese New Year also goes back
centuries. Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year Festival because
it is based on the lunar calendar as opposed to the Gregorian calendar. Chinese
New Year holiday is a very jubilant occasion mainly because it is the time when
people take a break from work to get together with family and friends.
The
history of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years
through a continually evolving series of colorful legends and traditions. One of
the most famous legends is that of Nien, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast,
which the Chinese believe, eats people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nien away,
red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are
set off throughout the night, because Nien is said to fear the color red, the
light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph
and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nien away for another year, the
most popular greeting heard is kung-hsi, or "congratulations."
Even though Chinese New Year celebrations generally only last for several days,
starting on New Year's Eve, the festival itself is actually about three weeks
long. It begins on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day, it
is believed, when various gods ascend to heaven to pay their respects and report
on household affairs to the Jade Emperor, the supreme Taoist deity. According to
tradition, households busily honor these gods by burning ritualistic paper money
to provide for their traveling expenses. Another ritual is to smear malt sugar
on the lips of the Kitchen God, one of the traveling deities, to ensure that he
either submits a favorable report to the Jade Emperor or keeps silent.
Next, "spring couplets" are hung up around the house. Spring couplets are paper
scrolls and squares inscribed with blessings and auspicious words, such as "good
fortune," "wealth," "longevity," and "springtime." The paper squares are usually
pasted upside down, because the Mandarin Chinese word for "upside down," tao, is
a homonym of the word "arrival." Thus, the paper squares represent the "arrival"
of spring and the "coming" of prosperous times.
On Chinese New Year's Eve, family members who are no longer living at home make
a special effort to return home for reunion and share in a sumptuous meal. At
that time, family members hand out "lucky money" in red envelopes to elders and
children and stay up all night to welcome the New Year. Chinese people have long
believed that staying awake all night on New Year's Eve would help their parents
to live a longer life. Thus, lights are kept on the entire night--not just to
drive away Nien, as in ancient times, but also as an excuse to make the most of
the family get-together. Some families even hold religious ceremonies after
midnight to welcome the God of the New Year into their homes, a ritual that is
often concluded with a huge barrage of firecrackers.