Chun Jie, or Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival), falls on the first day of the first lunar month, when winter is ending and making way for spring.
The Spring Festival has a history stretching back more than 2,000 years and the customs associated with it have undergone many changes in that time. It began in the period just before the Qin dynasty, when people celebrated the end of agricultural matters, as a thank you to the gods for their generosity throughout the year. Records go back as far as they Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BC), thanking the gods for a good year and praying for another one. As different states used different calendars, there was no set date for these celebrations, though the period when agriculture slowed down in winter was generally the time everyone marked the day.
The Han dynasty was when the New Year celebrations were settled upon. The adoption of the Taichu calendar came after the turbulence between the Warring States and the Qin government and, using this calendar, it was possible to fix the first day of the first lunar month. Over time, this date came to be used by people all over China.
The celebrations developed with the changing dynasties; these included drinking tusu wine, lanterns, fireworks, etc, and ended up being the most important festival in the Chinese calendar.
During the Tang dynasty, customs changed again. Instead of superstition being the dominant theme, entertainment and celebrations took over, and the focus shifted from the spiritual to the personal. This means it is accepted New Year became what it is today during this time.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, things changed again, the focus on ceremony being increased, including gift-giving and visiting friends and relatives. The focus on fun also expanded. Dragon and lion dances were performed, stories were told, plays were staged, and everything was colourful and bright. Different areas of the country celebrated in different ways, but everyone joined in. Thousands of years of Chinese history came to life as people celebrated the Spring Festival.
At the end of the lunar year, people migrate from all over China back to their families as it is a time for reunion. The festival continues throughout the first lunar month, only finishing on the 15th day, when it’s time for the Lantern Festival.
Preparations for this festival include house cleaning, making food, writing couplets, hanging New Year posters, etc, all in readiness to brush off the old year and welcome in the new one. New Year’s Eve is when people stay up all night in what is known as Shou Sui, or waiting for the New Year. The origins of this custom come from the story of a wild beast called Nian (‘year’), which would eat everything including people. After a time, people realised that every 365 days, Nian would morph into human form and entered a community to eat people. It would appear just after sunset and would return to the forest or the mountain at dawn.
This night became one to see through to sunrise; dinner was made early; livestock was locked in; the fire was extinguished. The dinner was especially grand, as the people did not know whether or not it would be their last. Before eating together, they would pay respect to their ancestors and ask for their blessing and no one dared go to bed.
In the Southern and Northern Sing dynasties, this custom was already being practised, and Liang period scholars wrote poems commemorating it. People lit candles to drive away evil, disease and plagues, and this custom has survived to the present day.
People eat jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) at midnight. They have this name because the sound is similar to Zi Shi, which means midnight. They are shaped like ingots and symbolise good fortune, there to attract gold and silver ingots into the house the following year.
Ya Sui money is given to children at New Year, placed in a red paper envelope. The word Sui means both ‘year’ and ‘evil spirit,’, thus these envelopes protect children and brings them good fortune for the next year.
On New Year’s Day itself, people visit friends and relatives (Bai Nian), a way to express good wishes while seeing off the old and welcoming in the new and for reasons of both respect (for the elder people) and friendships.
Tie Chunlian is the custom of sticking up couplets for the New Year; these first appeared during the Zhou dynasty in order to drive evil from the door. There is said to be a mountain in the world of ghosts where there is an enormous peach tree with a gold rooster on top. When the cock crows, the ghosts return and, if they have done evil, it will be discovered and they will be caught by two men who stand either side of the entrance to this ghost world, which is in the northeast of the peach tree. People carve shapes into peach wood and place these at their front doors to keep evil away.
The custom of writing couplets on the peach wood shapes arrived in the Song dynasty, to suppress evil and send wishes into the world. Later still, couplets were written on red paper. Couplets are a large part of the celebrations because they have played such an enormous role throughout history.
Another way to dispel evil is to stick up door gods; these all have ugly faces as the ancient Chinese believed ugly people possessed special powers to drive away demons. There are usually two gods because of the traditional two-part doors in China, and they are depicted holding weapons.
Firecrackers are favourites with children. Setting them off is yet another way of driving demons and evil away, so many firecrackers are lit on New Year’s Eve.
As with many festivals in China, different areas have different traditions; among the most common of these are lion and dragon dances, and many regions hold temple fairs which generally last a week from New Year.
Now, some areas do not set off firecrackers because of pollution or the risk of fire, but this does nothing to dampen spirits.
Beyond any doubt, Spring Festival is the most important day in the Chinese calendar.
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