Today, the holiday prompts major travel as hundreds of millions hit the roads or take public transportation to return home to be with family.Īmong Chinese cultures, fish is typically included as a last course of a New Year’s Eve meal for good luck. The city has hosted a Chinese New Year celebration since the Gold Rush era of the 1860s, a period of large-scale Chinese immigration to the region. In 1996, China instituted a weeklong vacation during the holiday-now officially called Spring Festival-giving people the opportunity to travel home and to celebrate the new year.ĭid you know? San Francisco, California, claims its Chinese New Year parade is the biggest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. It was the occasion to celebrate the harvest and worship the gods and ask for good harvests in times to come," explains Yong Chen, a scholar in Asian American Studies.īeginning in 1949, under the rule of Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong, the government forbade celebration of the traditional Chinese New Year and followed the Gregorian calendar.īut by the end of the 20th century, Chinese leaders were more willing to accept the tradition. “This holiday has ancient roots in China as an agricultural society. Under Emperor Wu of Han (140–87 B.C.), the tradition of carrying out rituals on the first day of the Chinese calendar year began. ChinaĬhinese New Year is thought to date back to the Shang Dynasty in the 14th century B.C. ![]() Other foods symbolize prosperity, abundance and good luck. Foods made from glutinous rice are commonly eaten, as these foods represent togetherness. Some households hold rituals to offer food and paper icons to ancestors. Others post red paper and banners inscribed with calligraphy messages of good health and fortune in front of, and inside, homes. Elders give out envelopes containing money to children. Cleaning is also meant to open space for good will and good luck. In preparation for the Lunar New Year, houses are thoroughly cleaned to rid them of inauspicious spirits, which might have collected during the old year. Lunar New Year Foods and TraditionsĮach culture celebrates the Lunar New Year differently with various foods and traditions that symbolize prosperity, abundance and togetherness. ![]() The year of the dragon last came up in 2012. The year 2024 is slated to be the year of the dragon. Each year is associated with an animal that corresponds to an element. In addition to the animals, five elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal are also mapped onto the traditional lunar calendar. The 12 zodiac animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Though the festival varies by country, it is dominated by themes of reunion and hope.Each year in the Lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals included in the cycle of 12 stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos. Today, Spring Festival is celebrated in China and Hong Kong Lunar New Year is also celebrated in South Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and places with large Chinese populations. Repeating in a rotating basis, these animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Each year in the lunar calendar is named one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, which are derived from ancient Chinese folklore. ![]() ( Learn why some people celebrate Christmas in January.)Īs its name suggests, the date of the lunar new year depends on the phase of the moon and varies from year to year. When the newly founded Republic of China officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1912, its leaders rebranded the observation of the Lunar New Year as Spring Festival, as it is known in China today. Its holidays, however, are governed by its traditional lunisolar calendar, which may have been in use from as early as the 21st century B.C. Modern China actually uses a Gregorian calendar like most of the rest of the world. It is traditionally a time for family reunions, plenty of food, and some very loud celebrations. Lunar New Year falls this year on Sunday, January 22, 2023, kicking off the Year of the Rabbit. And though it is known to some in the West as Chinese New Year, it isn’t just celebrated in China. ![]() Celebrated around the world, it usually prompts the planet’s largest annual migration of people.
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