How to Celebrate the Chinese New Year
1. Clean the House: Before the New Year arrives, it is very important chunzito give the house a thorough spring cleaning, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year.
2. Decorate the House: Go Red! Since it is considered a lucky color, doors and windows are often painted red. If that sounds a little extreme, then make sure you hang some of those beautiful red paper cuts and red lanterns instead.
(Paper cutting is an ancient Chinese art form dating back to the Han dynasty).
3: Do not Clean: for the first few days of the New Year. If you insist on cleaning, then you risk sweeping away your good luck.
4. Make a sacrifice to the Kitchen God (Zao Shen): Hang a poster of the Kitchen God in your kitchen and offer a ceremonial sacrifice to ensure that he gives a good report on the family's behavior when he returns to heaven. That will result in the family having good luck through out the New Year. Sticky Cake (Nian Gao) is a popular ceremonial sacrifice, or children could rub honey on the Kitchen God.
5. Get together with the family: on New Year's Eve preparing Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi). Hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The lucky finder will be the recipient of good luck in the New Year.
6. Give Children Money in Red Envelopes: New Year is usually the happiest time for children because they will get many red envelopes with YaSuiqian (lucky money) in it.
7. Distribute tangerines and oranges: (symbols of wealth and good luck) to children and guests throughout the New Year season to attract abundance and good fortune.
1 comment:
for #5, what happens when you eat the dumpling with the coin? also, I never knew there was a kitchen god! does he "wash away" our plates?
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