2014 is the Year of the
Yang Wood Horse (Jia Wu). In preparation for the start of Chinese New Year,
Chinese lanterns and other decorations have been popping up and displayed in
most Chinese countries and Chinese community areas around the globe to herald
the new year.
Chinese New Year is
known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival which usually lasts 15 days.
This year, the date of the Chinese New Year 2014 is on Jan. 30, 2014 (Chinese
New Year's Eve) to February 13, 2014 (Lantern Festival). As a tradition, weeks
before the New Year celebration, enormous preparations has been made as the
Chinese people consider Spring Festival accompanied by good fortune.
The Lunar year
celebration involves not only decorations, food and dragon dance celebrations
but of century- old rituals, social customs and beliefs as well.
Customarily, people
clean their entire house before the New Year to get rid of the negative energy
and bad luck gathered by the previous year. On New Year’s Day, they will not
sweep nor clean their house or else the new luck and good fortune will be brushed
off.
Decorate in red and 8. In
the Chinese culture, red is the symbol of good luck, happiness and vitality in
life while number 8 symbolizes prosperity and wealth.
Before the New Year and
on New Year’s Day itself, Chinese celebrators head to the temples to pray and
burn incense sticks. They also bring food to offer to the spirits of the
departed - their way to pay respect to their ancestors and such act they
believe will bring good luck to their lives.
Traditional Dinner and
Custom outfit. Traditional foods are served and eaten on the family table at
this time of year. Foods that have traditional meanings like shrimps to bring
abundance, apples to bring peace, oranges to bring money, sweet rice cakes to
bring harmony and close family ties, meat dumplings to bring wealth and more.
Wearing the traditional Chinese clothing is also still practiced these days. Some
wear the all red traditional outfit, while others wear a combination of red and
gold clothing, not only for an elegant look but to bring happiness and luck as
well.
Feng Shui masters
recommend wearing red undergarments for those who are born in the Year of the
Horse turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 and 96 this year.
The second day is
considered the beginning of the year; Chinese people visit and hang out with
their family, friends and relatives.
Loud noises from the spectacular
fireworks display is believed to entirely drive away all the bad luck from the
previous years.
The colorful lion and
dragon dance that roar on the streets is believed to scare off the bad spirits.
Giving off Ang paw or
red packet envelopes with money enclosed to your children will bring continuous
prosperity.
It is only a couple of
days ahead and the festivity begins – “Gong Xi Fa Chai”
I'm not overly familiar with the Chinese zodiac/their beliefs. Sometimes I skip reading them for fear I'd fall under the bad luck category. Lol
ReplyDeleteCarlo: I hope that I will be lucky this year. Financially, Relationship, Good Health and Career
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see the elaborate Chinese tradition come this Chinese New Year.
ReplyDeleteSince we are not Chinese, we do their traditions during Dec 31. haha. like cleaning the house.. the fruits, the red clothes, the fish dishes..
ReplyDeleteWe are Chinese and practice all these traditions and practices throughout the years. It's never too bad to follow them. Gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai. :P
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful Sis :-) I like the design, it's simple yet classic as well :-)
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I used to work in a bank owned by Chinese and now I miss the kainan and celebration we always had. Sadly I don't see anymore of Chinese celebration here. :/
ReplyDeleteWe inherited too many beliefs from Chinese. Although I don't really believe in most of them, I practice some of them like cleaning the house before New Year, wearing red and serving traditional food. By the way, it's only now that I learned about the red underwear.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Chinese, but today, I bought fruits and tikoy here at home.
ReplyDeleteLovely! I love the unique nautical idea that's perfectly put together :-)
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seen a lion dance last thursday... as it entered the resto where we were dining. there' just a lot of chinese practices we filipinos are doing. Yahweh bless.
ReplyDeleteBelated Kung Hei Fat Choi, mommy Joy! We don't really practice anything during Chinese New Year.. pag January 1 lang.
ReplyDeleteI'm not Chinese pero we practice some of the Chinese beliefs besides wala naman mawawala and malay mo swertehin pa nga diba.
ReplyDeleteLove the design. Perfect for my new house. Thanks for inspiring! :)
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