The customs of the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) have a long history, centered around the themes of clearing out the old and introducing the new, family reunion, and ancestor worship for blessings. The main activities last from the 23rd of the previous lunar month to the 15th of the new lunar month, including cleaning, pasting New Year red decorations (door couplets, lucky characters), having the New Year's Eve dinner, staying up late, giving lucky money to children, visiting relatives, setting off firecrackers, performing dragon and lion dances, and celebrating the Lantern Festival. These activities are rich in ethnic cultural characteristics.
Here are the main customs during the Spring Festival:
1. Preparations before the festival (after the 23rd of the previous lunar month)
Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God: On the 23rd or 24th of the previous lunar month, the Kitchen God is sent up to heaven to pray for a peaceful year.
Cleaning (sweeping the house): Around the 24th of the previous lunar month, the whole family cleans up, symbolizing "getting rid of the old and bringing in the new", and sweeping away bad luck.
Buying New Year goods: Purchasing new clothes, food, and decorations.
Pasting New Year red decorations: Pasting couplets, lucky characters, window flowers, and upside-down "Fu" characters to add joy.
2. New Year's Eve (New Year's Day)
Offering sacrifices to ancestors: Before the New Year's Eve dinner, offering sacrifices to ancestors to pray for protection.
New Year's Eve dinner (family reunion dinner): The most sumptuous dinner of the year, with family reunion. In the north, people eat dumplings (symbolizing "success in the new year"), while in the south, they eat rice cakes (symbolizing "year of growth") and tangyuan (symbolizing "reunion").
Staying up late: Sleeping through the New Year's Eve night, lighting lamps, and bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new.
Lucky money: Elders give red envelopes to their children, expressing wishes for longevity.
3. During the festival (from the first day of the new lunar month to the 15th)
Visiting relatives: In the morning of the first day, younger generations visit their elders, and then relatives visit each other, exchanging blessings.
Setting off firecrackers at the door: Setting off firecrackers in the early morning of the first day to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new, and to drive away evil spirits and epidemics.
Returning to the parents' home on the second day: Married daughters bring their husbands and children back to their parents' home to visit their elders.
On the fifth day, welcoming the God of Wealth: Folk believe that on the fifth day, the God of Wealth descends to earth, and businesses will hold welcoming ceremonies.
Lantern Festival (the 15th of the new lunar month): Lighting lanterns, eating tangyuan, and performing dragon and lion dances, marking the end of the Spring Festival celebrations.
Differences in customs between the north and the south:
North: Emphasizing "eating dumplings", making New Year's Day porridge, visiting temple fairs, and setting off firecrackers.
South: Paying more attention to rice cakes, tangyuan, visiting gods, and having a more solemn atmosphere of ancestor worship.
