Chinese New Year 2010
In 2010 New Year’s Eve – traditionally known as Chuxi – falls on the 14th February and signals the start of the longest Chinese holiday, lasting fifteen days; at this time Chinese families across the world will reunite for parties, present giving and feasts, to herald in the Year of the Tiger.
If you are not fortunate enough to be Chinese, it is still possible to take part in the celebrations by visiting a Chinese restaurant, where special menus are usually on offer and the New Year will be celebrated in typical Chinese style.
The date for the Chinese New Year is arranged around the Lunar Chinese calendar and falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice in November, thus occurring on different days between Jan 21st and February 20th.
But what are the origins of the Chinese New Year?
Origins of Chinese New Year
Traditionally, the Chinese holiday is associated with harvest celebrations and customs formalised under the Han Dynasty from 206 BC to 25 AD, when people gave thanks to the gods for a good harvest.
Every year celebrations are preceded by a frenzy of cleaning in Chinese homes, as it’s believed that sweeping the home symbolically clears out bad luck and evil spirits; in Buddhist and Taoist homes, on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, paper money is burnt to finance the journey of the gods on their way up to heaven where they report on the affairs of the house to the supreme deity, the Jade Emperor; sometimes the lips of the kitchen god statue are smeared with malt sugar, in an attempt to either keep him quiet or sweeten him up to ensure a more favourable report!
Chinese New Year in the 21st Century
Today, Chinese New Year’s Eve is the most important night of the festival when members of the family reunite and stay up for a sumptuous feast, games and Shou Sui, or reminisce about the past year: a process that is believed to extend the lives of parents, if the children of the house take part!
On the stroke of midnight every door and window in the house has to be opened to allow the old year out, then a sumptuous feast is served, before the family goes outside to scare any demons off with firecrackers or maybe visit the temple to light candles and pray for a fruitful year.
On New Year’s Day, children are given red envelopes by their relatives, containing money. This is traditionally the time when the deities are welcomed into the home.
Each following day after the New Year has a special tradition culminating in the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day: when families light lanterns, eat moon cakes, play riddle games and eat sticky rice balls known as yuanxia.