ICYMI: Chinese New Year Basics

We sat down with our Chief Marketing Officer, Josephine Nix , to break down the basics of Chinese New Year and why we've heard more "Lunar New Year" in recent years.

Is it Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?

Both, depending on where you are! Lunar New Year is an inclusive English term to encompass the various East and South East Asian celebrations of the new year according to the Lunar calendar.

Each culture has its own holiday traditions and names such as Chinese New Year / Spring Festival ‘春节’ (Chūn Jié), Korean New Year ‘??’ (Seollal), Vietnamese New Year ‘T?t’, Okinawan New Year ‘旧正月’ (Kyu-shogatsu) etc. Preparations for the holiday include cleaning and decorating the house, preparing snacks and big family meals, plus many other customs.

It is the busiest time of travel in many countries as friends and family gather from near and far for reunion dinners, often in traditional dress, and bring each other gifts and well wishes.?

What's the history of the celebration?

Since Lunar New Year is not a term used by Asians who celebrate it, but a Westernized generic term to include multiple cultural celebrations, I’ll just give the history of Chinese New Year (one of the oldest).

Celebrations of Chinese New Year are believed to have begun in the Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.) marking the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.?

The term ‘Nian’ meaning ‘Year’ was first recorded in the Zhou dynasty (1046 B.C. - 256 B.C.) Along with the word ‘Nian’, came the widely known legend of a beast of the same name that terrorized the Chinese people, destroying land and hunting down townsfolk as food.

An elder villager discovered that the beast was afraid of loud noises and the fiery color of red. To ward off ‘Nian’, he instructed his community to set off fireworks, plaster red banners on their doors, and string up red lanterns to protect their homes and family members. We continue these practises today and over the last 3,600 years, this immensely popular 15-days long holiday has evolved to include many other customs, superstitions, and social activities.?

What are some Chinese New Year traditions?

One of the first steps in preparing for Chinese New Year is a thorough ‘Spring cleaning’ of the home. To sweep away the misfortunes of the previous year and set a clean slate for the next.

To ward off evil and usher in good luck, we decorate the home with banners emblazoned with well wishes and married couples give their single family members and children red envelopes filled with fresh, crisp, new cash!

We travel and visit many of our friends and families for big meals often including noodles, dumplings, hot pot, and bring gifts for the hosts.

Why do we say it's the Year of the Rabbit?

The Chinese zodiac is based on a mythical epic race amongst 12 animals to keep time and represent each passing year in the order in which they reached the finish line. The rabbit placed fourth behind the rat, ox, and tiger. Each animal repeats every 12 years, symbolizing a new energy and some even believe, personality characteristics for those born in its year.

This is the year of the Water Rabbit, for those of you who like astrology and feng shui find your predictions for 2023 according to your birth sign!