Parva Pouriamehr/ Staff reporter
Chinese New Year also known as the Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival is just around the corner!
The Lunar New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice and is the most significant among all the traditional Chinese festivals. Even though the exact date of the origin of this festival, hasn’t been recorded, it is said to be over 3,500 years old.
The story and myth behind this festival is about a mythical creature named the beast Nian, which ate people, corps, and livestock on New Year’s Eve; to prevent the beast Nian from hurting people and causing damage; people tend to put food on their doors for the beast and decorate their house and use red Chinese lanterns, paper cuttings, door couplets, red packets, and fire cracks for good luck and to keep the beast away.
This is an annual fifteen-day festival held in China, and its last event of celebration is called the Yuan Xiao Festival also known as the Lantern Festival; on this day people hang colorful lanterns all around the city, and the parade which is accompanied by fireworks and a dancing dragon and lion which symbolizes good fortune.
It is a tradition to clean your house before the new year; this tradition is a symbolic act of putting the bad luck in the past and getting ready for a new start; often people use bamboo leaves for cleaning their houses which is believed to drive out evil spirit, meanwhile, they avoid sweeping the house, especially for the first three days because it is believed that sweeping the house during the first three days sweeps out the upcoming good luck.
The New Year is an important event in China as it is anywhere else in the world because it is a time and opportunity for families to gather around, spend time with each other, and appreciate each other’s presence. It is a time for people to celebrate and enjoy the holiday spirit.
Sources:
The True History and Origin of Lunar New Year
Summary of the Chinese New Year