First Day of Lunar New Year: Significance, Tradition, Celebration

The first day of Chinese Lunar New Year

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New Year is a time when one begins his new life with newly established resolutions in our thoughts there are various totally different cultures for celebrating the brand new year. And it’s actually too attention-grabbing to review the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Chinese New Year is important for the standard Chinese holidays. In China, it’s also generally known as the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the fashionable Chinese identify. Chinese New Year celebrations historically ran from Chinese New Year’s Day itself, the primary day of the primary month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the primary month, making the pageant the longest within the Chinese calendar.

Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar. The Chinese New Year is sometimes called the “Lunar New Year”.

The first day of Chinese Lunar New Year: 'Birthday of Chicken'

First Day of Lunar New Year: Significance, Tradition, Celebration
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The 15th day marks the first full moon after the Spring Festival and of the New Year, also referred to as yuán xiāo jié which means “the first night time of the total moon”. The day is as effectively generally known as the Lantern Festival day. Another reunion dinner is held with lanterns and oranges being a big part of the celebrations.

The day symbolizes as effectively a brand new begin in a single’s life, refreshing hopes for prosperity, wealth and happiness.

The first day of the primary lunar month is characterized by totally different names: New Year: Traditional Chinese:新年, Pinyin: xīnnián. Spring Festival: Traditional Chinese: 春 節 Pinyin: chūn jié.

Agricultural calendar new year, primarily based on farmers’ experiences (Traditional Chinese: 农历新年, Pinyin: nóng lì xīnnián). Historically the calendar was sponsored by the Emperor. Not solely did a calendar serve sensible wants in agriculture as in when to plant to obtain the perfect outcomes, however much more did the calendar exhibits the connection between the Heaven and the Imperial Court, Aveholidays noted.

The first day of Chinese Lunar New Year: Celebrations and Traditions

The first day of the new year is spent visiting family (traditionally, the husband’s side) and friends. Married couples will hand out lai si, red envelopes with money, to children, unmarried people, and the elderly to wish them the best for a new year. Some people also give red envelopes to doormen, waiters, drivers, and other service workers.
First Day of Lunar New Year: Significance, Tradition, Celebration
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On the first day, the oldest and most senior members will be visited, the visits serve to strengthen family ties. Bài nián refers to both, pay a New Year's call as well as 'wishing somebody a Happy New Year'.

There is also the tradition of welcoming guests with tea and sweet treats, such as sugar fruits which are supposed to sweeten one’s upcoming year. Sweets and fruits are served on a round or octagonal tray - the form resembling togetherness and hence the tray is most commonly translated as the "Tray of Togetherness".

Most likely the amount of sweets will be arranged in eight units, as the number eight symbolises luck. At times, an arrangement of nine units can be found, the number represents wealth, good fortune and family unity (note that for the Chinese the number '8' is a lucky one and for the Thai- Chinese it is as well the number '9').

The visitor will bring a small gift to the household which will be visited- usually oranges, tangerines, mandarins or such alike, as the fruit symbolises gold, hence wealth and good fortune, Nationsonline added.

The first day of Chinese Lunar New Year: Taboos

First Day of Lunar New Year: Significance, Tradition, Celebration
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Despite the busy visiting schedule, one shouldn’t rush others by forcing them to wake up early in the morning because it’s believed that will set a tone for the rest of the year—making them feel they’re pushed by external forces rather than taking action for themselves.

It’s also important to avoid killing animals on this day as that’s believed to bring bad luck. Killing a chicken, in particular, is believed to kill one's luck since chicken is a homophone for luck in Mandarin (ji) and Cantonese (gai), so it’s best to avoid freshly slaughtered chicken on the first day, according to Cz blog.

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