Date of the Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the biggest and most important holiday in China. It starts from the first day of the year calculated according to lunar calendar, It may fall any day between late January and the middle of February of the solar calendar.
Almost everyone in the city will take at least three days off to celebrate it. In the countryside, the festival lasts longer. The Spring festival ends when the Lantern festival comes.
What would people do in Spring Festival
- On the eve of the festival, people will paste couplets at their doors’ sides.
- Family members will unite, no matter how far away from each other, they will come together.
- On the eve of the festival, family would watch special TV shows until the next day. The ceremony show on CCTV channel one special for the festival is the most popular one.
- People eat a lot. There would be lots of different delicious foods. People like to treat friends, relatives with deliberately made meal. Dumplines are indispensable for northerners, southerners like to eat Nian Gao.
- People play a lot. Kids like to set off firecrackers, play games etc; Adults like to play poker, Majiang etc.
- People would exchange gifts, visit each other and greet each other. This special greeting in Spring Festival is also called Bainian. Hongbao is popular, especially when children pay the senior a visit and make new year’s greeting. Hongbao is also called “money for an added age”, it is simply a red packet or envelope with money inside.
chinese culture, Chinese Lunar New Year, Chinese tradition
What is Chinese lunar calendar?
Except the world wide solar calendar, Chinese use the traditional calendar as well. The lunar calendar is also called Yin calendar, Xia calendar or the old Chinese calendar. It can be dated back to 2600 BC.
Difference between solar calendar and Chinese lunar calendar
The solar calendar is mainly used for official and business purpose. However, all traditional Chinese festivals are calculated with the lunar calendar. For example, the Chinese new year, the Latern festival, the Clear and Bright festival, the Dragon boat festival, the Mid-autumn day, the Double Ninth festival.
The use of Chinese lunar calendar
- The lunar calendar is also linked with natural sciences such as astronomy, agriculture, solar terms, the four seasons.
- Each lunar year is associated with one of the twelve zodiac animals, they are rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chiken, dog and pig. In ancient times, Chinese thought there is a special relationship between human and the twelve zodiac animals. Even nowadays there are a lot of Chinese still believe that the zodiac can largely determine a person’s character, physical and mental attributes, ability, achievement thoughout his or her lifetime.
- Yin Calendar actually mixed lunar elements with solar elements. Solar terms is an example. Solar terms is a calendar of 24 periods and climate to guide agricultural arrangement for very long time and they are still functioning until now.
chinese culture, Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese tradition
