中國新年：春節

Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, has more than 4,000 years of history. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for the whole families to get together, which is similar with Christmas Day to the westerners. Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th - 11th century BC), Spring Festival, which celebrates family reunion, is full of rich and colorful activities, and hopes with the advent of spring and flowers blossoming. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.

Festival Time

It comes on the first day of Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for almost half of a month. But in folk custom, this traditional holiday lasts from the 23rd day of the twelfth month to the 15th day of the first month (Lantern Festival) in the lunar calendar. Among these days, the New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year is the peak time. The exact days are different in every year according to the lunar calendar. Schedule of Spring Festival in recent years is offered in the following table.

Year
Date
Holiday
Chinese Zodiac

2012
January 23
January 22 - 28
Dragon

2013
February 10
February 9 - 15
Snake

2014
January 31
January 31 - February 6
Horse

2015
February 19
February 19 - 25
Sheep

2016
February 8
February 8 - 14
Monkey

2017
January 28
January 28 - February 3
Rooster

History

It is said that the custom of Spring Festival started in when people offered sacrifice to ancestors in the last month of Chinese lunar calendar. At that time, people prepared the sacrifice by doing thorough cleaning, having bathes and so on. Later, people began to worship different deities as well on that day. It is the time that almost all the farm works were done and people have free time. The sacrificing time changed according to the farming schedule and was not fixed until the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). The customs of worshipping deities and ancestors remains even though the ceremonies are not as grand as before. It is also the time that spring is coming, so people held all kinds of ceremonies to welcome it.

Legends

There are many legends about Spring Festival in Chinese culture. In folk culture, it is also called “guonian” (meaning “passing a year”). It is said that the “nian” (year) was a strong monster which was fierce and cruel and ate one kind of animal including human being a day. Human beings were scared about it and had to hide on the evening when the “nian” came out. Later, people found that “nian” was very scared about the red color and fireworks. So after that, people use red color and fireworks or firecrackers to drive away “nian”. As a result, the custom of using red color and setting off fireworks remains.

Festivities Schedule

Preparing the New Year starts 7 days before the New Year’s Eve. According to Chinese lunar calendar, people start to clean the house on Dec. 24, butcher on Dec. 26th and so on. People have certain things to do on each day. These activities will end Jan. 15th of the lunar calendar.

Customs and Practices

Every family does a thorough house cleaning and purchases enough food, including fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, all kinds of candies and fruits, etc, for the festival period. Also, new clothes must be bought, especially for children. Red scrolls with complementary poetic couplets, one line on each side of the gate, are pasted at every gate. The Chinese character 'Fu' is pasted on the center of the door and paper-cut pictures adorn windows.

Taboos

The Spring Festival is a start for a new year, so it is regarded as the omen of a year. People have many taboos during this period. Many bad words related to “death”, “broken”, “killing”, “ghost” and “illness” or “sickness” are forbidden during conversations. In some places, there are more specific details. They consider it unlucky if the barrel of rice is empty, because they think they will have nothing to eat in the next year. Taking medicine is forbidden on this day, otherwise, people will have sick for the whole year and take medicine constantly.

Festival Food

Food during this happy event has its characteristics, which is the representative of Chinese festival food culture. Dumplings and the reunion dinner are indispensable at this time. Cold and hot dishes are all served. Fish is always an important dish then, which expresses people’s hope of having a wealthy year.

Best Places to Go

In China, different places have their own traditions and activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian and Pingyao are some good places to go if one intends to come during the time period. If one does not want to travel so long, but still want to enjoy the atmosphere of Chinese New Year, the local Chinatown is the best place.中國春節又名農曆新年，已有四千多年曆史。作爲傳統中國節日之一，春節是中國人最盛大、最重要的節日。春節與西方的聖誕節類似，是全家相聚的日子。春節起源於商朝（公元前17至前11世紀），旨在慶祝全家團圓，節日期間活動豐富多樣，滿溢着春暖花開的美好憧憬。不同地區、不同民族的人們以各種獨特的方式慶祝春節。

節日時間

春節起自中國農曆新年第一天，歷時半個月左右。但是按照民間習俗，春節從農曆12月23號持續至第二年的農曆1月15號，也就是元宵節那天。在此期間，春節在大年三十和大年初一達到高潮。按照農曆，每年的具體日子有所不同。近幾年春節的具體時間如下表所示。

年份 日期 節日中國生肖

2012 1月23號2月28號龍

2013 2月10號2月9-15號蛇

2014 1月31號1月31號-2月6號馬

2015 2月19號2月19-25號羊

2016 2月8號2月8-14號猴

2017 1月28號1月28號-2月3號雞

歷史

中國人在農曆最後一個月祭祀祖先，據說春節習俗由此而來。當時，人們在準備祭祀時會進行大清掃、洗澡等。後來，人們也開始在那一天祭拜不同的神 靈。此時幾乎所有的農活都已收尾，人們有了空閒時間。祭祀時間隨耕種時間而變，直到漢代才固定下來（公元前202年至公元220年）。祭祀神靈和祖先的習 俗至今仍有，但是並沒有以前那麼盛大。又因爲此時正值冬春交際之時，所以人們會舉辦各種慶祝活動迎接春天的到來。

傳說

中國文化中關於春節的傳說有很多。在中國民間文化中，春節又被稱爲“過年”（意爲“過了一年”）。據說“年”是一頭兇猛殘忍的強大的怪獸，每天都會吃一種動物，包括人類。人們都很害怕它，晚上“年”出來活動時，大家都不得不躲起來。後來，人們發現“年”很怕紅色和煙花。所以人們從此都用紅色和煙 花或鞭炮來驅趕“年”。因此，使用紅色和放煙花的習俗就流傳了下來。

節日安排

春節的準備開始於大年三十前的第七天。按照中國農曆，人們在12月24號掃屋，26號殺豬割年肉。人們每天都有特定的事做。各種活動在農曆1月15號結束。

習俗慣例

每家每戶都會全面地打掃房子，並採購足夠的食物包括魚、豬肉、炒貨、各種糖果等，供節日所用。同時，還要辦置新衣，尤其是小孩的新衣。大門兩側貼着寫有對聯的紅色橫幅，每個門上都有一副對聯。門正央貼着漢字“福”字，窗上裝飾着剪紙。

禁忌

春節是一年的開始，被認爲預示着一年的運氣。節日期間有很多禁忌。很多與“死”、“破碎”、“殺”、“鬼”和“病”有關的不吉利的話都是禁止談 到的。一些地方的禁忌更爲具體。在那些地方，空米桶被認爲不吉利，因爲他們覺得來年將無米可食。吃藥也是禁止的，否則整年都會生病、都得吃藥。

節日食物

春節的食物有自己的特色，是中國節日食物文化的代表。團圓飯必定離不開餃子，冷盤熱菜皆有。魚一直是一道重要的菜，體現了人們希望來年有餘的願望。

最值得一去的地方

在中國，不同的地方有各自的傳統和慶祝春節的活動。如果想在春節期間遊中國，北京、廣州、西安和平遙是值得一去的幾個地方。如果無緣來中國，但仍然想感受中國春節氣氛的話，當地的唐人街是不錯的地方。