Yay... I finally start to write my own blog. After reading others blogs all this time, it is time for me to write my own. Hope everybody can enjoy.
My first topic is about the upcoming Chinese New Year festivals. People especially Chinese throughout the world are celebrating the Chinese New Year every year. It represents the beginning of spring in China. It usually falls in the month of late January to mid February. This year (2010) it falls on February 14, the same day as the Valentine's Day. :D
Some Chinese do not really understand and applied the customs and traditions of celebrating Chinese New Year in their house. So here, I will try to share some of the traditions and customs to be done and the meaning behind it. What is New Year without the traditions to follow..?
What to do before the festivals:
1. You need to start cleaning your house few days before the festival.
Make everything fresh-looked, clean and tidy before celebrating the spring festival as it is the day of joy of welcoming the season to start planting corps. How can we celebrate with dirty and messy house?
There is a saying about the prohibition to clean the house during Chinese New Year especially at the first day. It brings bad luck. Cleaning the house would mean to sweep all the prosperity away and it will bring bad fortune to the family for the entire year.
2. Decorating the house with red ornaments.
Chinese believe that red can drive the bad omens away. It starts with a story from ancient China that use red color to exile the bad omens. So decorating the house with ornaments of red color such as lanterns, accessories, etc are meant to banish the bad and let in the good.
Chinese would prepare red clothes to wear at the first day of the year with the same intentions.
3. Clear all your debts
Debts or payable should be cleared before the Chinese New Year. This is actually to avoid people knocking your house asking for money during Chinese New Year. It brings bad luck as you will need to spend/waste money at the very first day of the year.
4. Keep away all brooms and dustpan.
No brooms and dustpan means no sweeping floor which means no “sweeping fortunes away”.
After you did all the above things, then you should start preparing for the biggest events of the year, Chinese New Year eve. This is the most important occasion where one whole family should gather together and have dinner together. Families of married daughter are not included in this. The menu is very special and each dish represents meanings for entire year.
What meals for Chinese new year Eve:
Actually there are many kinds of foods to represent goods for new year depending on the races (Cantonese, Mandarin, etc) but I can provide the general foods that every Chinese should be serving:
1. Fish
Fish should be cooked whole. There cannot be broken heads, tails, or other parts of body. Knives should not be used to cut fish into several pieces as well. Fish have the same pronunciation as "abundance" in Mandarin language. So cutting fish into pieces or broken part of body should ruin the family abundance of wealth, health and others.
2. Noodle
Noodles are not allowed to be cut as well, the longer the noodle the better. When there is/are old people in the family, noodle is a compulsory dish. It brings longevity to the elderly and health for youngsters.
3. Dumpling
Dumpling is fried until golden color. Dumpling takes the shapes of ancient Chinese gold, so it brings prosperity to the family. It is usually eaten around midnight.
4. New Year cake
The New Year cake is made sweet and sticky. It is usually eaten by the family and some are given to relatives and friends. It shows good relationship to each other to be sticky and sweet.
During the Chinese New Year eve, family should eat the dinner slowly. No need to rush because it is the only time where all family can gather together and eat on the same table. The longer the dinner time, the better it is.
I shall come with the traditions at Chinese New Year day1 to day15 ceremonial soon.
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