Who celebrates the Chinese Lunar New Year in the Serpent and how? | Explanatory news

The Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is a big party in many Asian countries and their diasporas across the globe.

The Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is about a two-week long party that marks the first day of the Chinese calendar year that lands Wednesday this year.

Each Chinese New Year is about a 12-year-old cycle and is associated with an animal in the Chinese zodiac sign, which is then paired with one of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and soil.

This New Year marks the year of the wood hose.

While its origin is in China, and Chinese communities in countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore celebrate under the same name and with similar traditions, others, such as in Vietnam and the Korean Peninsula, have a completely different name for their moon new annual festivals.

How is the Chinese New Year celebrated?

The days leading up to the new year are thoroughly used to clean households to clean the space of any unmplacer from the previous year.

This cleaning is assumed to welcome good luck for the coming year. Decorations also go up, including lanterns, paper plugs and fresh paint – all in a bright red color that also invites good luck.

The celebrations start with a family reunification dinner on the threshold of the new year.

As the first day of the new year rolls in, filled home with family and friends coming with gifts, oranges and red envelopes with small amounts of money, known as Ang Pao or Hongbao, to the little ones.

Greetings and successful wishes are exchanged, including the more common Chinese-linguistic phrases Gong Xi Fa Cai and Xin Nian Kuai Le, who grossly translates to happiness, peace and prosperity in the coming days.

Faith varies with some relinquishment from sweeping their homes or cutting their hair and nails in the first few days for fear of losing good luck that have accrued through the visits of New Year’s well -being, according to Yvonne Goh, a Malaysian of Chinese descent.

Traditional lion dancers are a central part of the festivities as they invite luck and reveal evil spirits from homes, businesses and workplaces.

Traditionally, married women were expected to spend the first day of the Chinese New Year with their in -laws, while the second day was reserved for daughters to visit their parents.

The third day is expected to be quieter, and rest is prioritized, while the fourth and fifth days are dedicated to the god of wealth. The sixth party day is said to see people get rid of old or unwanted belongings and resume work.

On the seventh day, China’s mother’s goddess Nuwa is believed to have created people.

Koreans celebrate ‘Seollal’, Vietnamese Mark ‘Tet’

The Korean New Year (Seollal) and the Vietnamese New Year (TET) are also celebrated in their own unique ways.

The Korean New Year is celebrated over a period of three days when celebrations are traditionally centered around family gatherings, Korean traditional food and rituals. For both South and North Koreans, this will be the year of the green snake that is believed to bring transformation, growth and development.

Some of the more crucial aspects of the Korean festivities include Sebae, a deep bow of respect performed by younger generations to their elders as a way of wishing them a happy new year.

Sebae is typically performed while wearing traditional clothing called Hanbok. In turn, oldest younger people with tokens of cash present in envelopes called Sebaetdon.

Worship of ancestors, known as Charye, is also an important part of the new year. Food is laid on a table as an offer to the ancestors, and deep arches are performed as a sign of respect.

A rice soup known as Tteokguk is also served with other dishes, such as Korean dumplings. However, Tteokguk occupies a special place on the dining table as it is served once each year because of the conviction that eating it would make a person a year older.

The Vietnamese New Year’s celebration of Tet, briefly for Tet Nguyen Dan, meaning “Festival of the First Day”, is celebrated over three days as opposed to the traditional 15 of the Chinese New Year.

TET is one of the most important holidays in Vietnam, where offices and businesses shut down for seven to nine days around the holidays.

Vietnamese also prioritize spending time with family, respect ancestors, pray to gods as well as rest before the start of a new year.

Before Tet, Vietnamese people observe Ong Cong, the day of the kitchen god, a deity assumed to control the affairs of the family. On this day, family altars are cleaned for ancestors, new offers are postponed and incense is burned.

Wrapping the chung cake, also called the tet cake, cleaning and decorative houses with kumquats, peach flowers and apricot flowers is also an integral part of the preparations.

And the day before TET, families prepare five fruit trays that are placed at the altar for ancestors, while visits to the ancestors’ tombs are made with offers.

The first day of celebration is typically reserved for the fatherly side of the family, while the second day is for the mother side.

Vietnamese culture also places teachers with high respect, with the third day of the new year dedicated to honoring teachers.

Tibet’s ‘Losar’ and Mongolie’s ‘Tsagaan Sar’

In Tibet and parts of India, with significant Tibetan Buddhist communities, Losar is celebrated, translating into the new year on the Tibetan Lunisolar Calendar, around a similar timeframe as the Chinese New Year.

However, the dogs are slightly different, with this year’s Losar set to be marked on February 28 and extended over a period of 15 days.

Losar is often observed through traditional and religious rituals performed in monasteries and temples, cultural events and family bonding over shared meals and gifts.

Mongolia celebrates its new year, known as Tsagaan Sar on March 1, based on the Mongolian Lunisolar Calendar.

However, preparations begin in advance, which includes cleaning and preparing a house. Family, neighbors and friends visit each other, offers are dedicated to deities, and the actual New Year’s Day is started by going in a particular direction based on the Zodiac prescription.