Chinese New Year, otherwise called Lunar New Year or Spring Celebration, is the main celebration in China and a significant occasion in a few other East Asian nations.
Chinese New Year is the celebration that praises the start of another year on the customary lunisolar Chinese schedule. It was customarily an opportunity to respect gods as well as precursors, and it has likewise turned into a chance to eat and to see relatives.
When Is Chinese New Year 2023?
Chinese New Year 2023 will fall on Sunday, January 22nd, 2023.
The date of the Chinese New not entirely settled by the Chinese lunar schedule. The date changes consistently however is in every case some place in the period from January 21st to February twentieth. Peruse more on Chinese New Year dates from 2023 to 2030.
What Is the 2023 Chinese Zodiac Animal?
The Chinese zodiac offers every year a creature hint.
2023 is the time of the Bunny, explicitly, Water Hare.
Every Chinese year is related with a creature sign as per the Chinese zodiac cycle, which highlights 12 creature signs in the request Rodent, Bull, Tiger, Bunny, Mythical serpent, Snake, Pony, Goat, Monkey, Chicken, Canine, Pig. Every zodiac sign likewise has its own component: Earth, Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water.
| Year | Date of Chinese New Year | Animal Sign |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | February 12 | Ox |
| 2022 | February 1 | Tiger |
| 2023 | January 22 | Rabbit |
| 2024 | February 10 | Dragon |
| 2025 | January 29 | Snake |
| 2026 | February 17 | Horse |
| 2027 | February 6 | Goat |
| 2028 | January 26 | Monkey |
| 2029 | February 13 | Rooster |
| 2030 | February 3 | Dog |
| 2031 | January 23 | Pig |
| 2032 | February 11 | Rat |
How Long Is Chinese New Year?
Festivities of Chinese New Year customarily keep going for 16 days, beginning from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the Lamp Celebration. The initial 7 days are a public occasion, from January 21st to January 27th in 2023.
The most eminent dates of the Chinese New Year 2023 are nowadays:
| Solar Date (2022) | Title | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 14th | Little Year (小年 Xiǎonián) |
Thorough house-cleaning and cooking |
| Jan. 21st | Chinese New Year’s Eve (除夕 Chúxì) |
Enjoying the family reunion dinner, giving red envelopes, and staying up until midnight. |
| Jan. 22nd | Chinese New Year’s Day 初一 (Chūyī) |
Visiting/greeting family and relatives, giving presents, and visiting ancestors’ graves |
| Feb. 5th | Lantern Festival (元宵节 Yuánxiāojié) |
Marks the end of the festival. Lanterns, dragon dances… |
Chinese New Year Origin and Myth: Legend of Beast Nian
Chinese New Year has a background marked by more than 3,000 years and is related with a few legends. A famous legend recounts the legendary monster Nian (/nyen/, which sounds equivalent to ‘year’ in Chinese), which appears each Lunar New Year’s Eve to eat individuals and animals.
To drive off the beast, individuals showed red paper, consumed bamboo, lit candles, and wore red garments. These customs have been gone on until now.
Chinese New Year Traditions
Regional customs and traditions vary widely but share the same theme: seeing out the old year and welcoming in the luck and prosperity of a new year. The main Chinese New Year activities include
- putting up decorations,
- offering sacrifices to ancestors,
- eating reunion dinner with family on New Year’s Eve,
- giving red envelopes and other gifts,
- firecrackers and fireworks, and
- watching lion and dragon dances.
Cleaning and Decorating Houses with Red Things
Individuals give their homes a careful cleaning before the Spring Celebration, which represents clearing away the misfortune of the previous year and preparing their homes to get best of luck.
Red is the fundamental tone for the celebration, as red is accepted to be a propitious variety for the Lunar New Year, meaning thriving and energy — which avert detestable spirits and pessimism. Red lamps hang in roads; red couplets and New Year pictures are glued on entryways.
Offering Sacrifices to Ancestors
Respecting the dead is a Chinese New Year’s custom that is kept to the word. Numerous Chinese individuals visit progenitors’ graves on the day preceding the Chinese New Year’s day, offer penances to precursors before the get-together supper (to show that they are letting their predecessors “eat” first), and add an additional glass and put it during supper on New Year’s eve.
Enjoying a Family Reunion Dinner on Lunar New Year’s Eve
Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is a period for families to be together. Chinese New Year’s Eve is the main time. Any place they are, individuals are supposed to be home to commend the celebration with their families. The Chinese New Year’s Eve supper is called ‘get-together supper’. Large groups of a few ages lounge around round tables and partake in the food and time together.
Exchanging Red Envelopes and other Gifts
Chinese New Year is a season of red envelopes (or red packets, lìshì or lai see in Cantonese). Red envelopes have money in, and are often given to children and (retired) seniors.
The red envelope (money) is called ya sui qian (压岁钱 /yaa sway chyen/), which means ‘suppressing Sui [the demon]money’. Those who receive a red envelope are wished another safe and peaceful year.
Other popular Lunar New Year gifts are alcohol, tea, fruits, and candies.
Setting Off Firecrackers and Fireworks
From public displays in major cities to millions of private celebrations in China’s rural areas, setting off firecrackers and fireworks is an indispensable festive activity. It is a way to scare away the evil and welcome the new year’s arrival.
Billions of fireworks go up in China at 12 am and in the first minutes of Chinese New Year, the most anywhere at any time of year.
Watching Lion and Dragon Dances
Lion danceLion dances and dragon dances are widely seen in China and Chinatowns in many Western countries during the Lunar New Year period. They are performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year or event.
There are more Chinese New Year traditions and customs, such as wearing new clothes, staying up late on Chinese New Year’s Eve, watching the Spring Festival Gala.
Chinese New Year Food
Food is an important part of Chinese New Year. Lucky food is served during the 16-day festival season, especially on the New Year’s Eve family reunion dinner.
- Fish is a must as it sounds like ‘surplus’ in Chinese and symbolizes abundance.
- Dumplings shaped like Chinese silver ingots are shared as a sign of the family unit and prosperity.
- Niángāo (glutinous rice cake) is welcome because it symbolizes a higher income or position as it sounds like ‘year high’.
Chinese New Year Superstitions: Things You Mustn’t Do
Chinese people traditionally believe that the year’s start affects the whole year, so China’s Spring Festival is a season of superstitions. It’s believed that what something looks like (color, shape), and what its name sounds like, gives it auspicious or ill-fated significance. There are many things you cannot do:
- Don’t sweep up on New Year’s Day, otherwise you’ll ‘sweep all your luck away’.
- Don’t eat porridge for breakfast, otherwise you’ll ‘become poor in the upcoming year’.
- Don’t wash your clothes and hair (on New Year’s Day), otherwise you’ll ‘wash fortune away’.
How to Say “Happy Chinese New Year” in Chinese
When people meet friends, relatives, colleagues, and even strangers during the festive period, they usually say “Xīnnián hǎo” (新年好), literally meaning ‘New Year Goodness’, or “Xīnnián kuàilè” (新年快乐), meaning ‘Happy Chinese New Year’.
One of the most famous traditional greetings for Chinese New Year is the Cantonese kung hei fat choi, literally ‘happiness and prosperity’. In Mandarin that’s gongxi facai.
新年好 — Happy Chinese New Year
恭喜发财 — Happiness and prosperity
