By Yanni Vourkoutiotis

Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in all of China. It is celebrated by Chinese communities worldwide and starts on 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Chinese New Year is a day for celebrating with family and friends, with red paper lanterns being hung up, red envelopes given to children, and Lion dances with beating drums to scare away the bad spirits. Although it is celebrated primarily in China, it is also celebrated in North America. As it is celebrated so widely, I have written this to show you the origins of this holiday, how to celebrate it, and where to celebrate it.

According to myths and legends, Chinese New Year started with a mythical demon called the Nian(年兽). The Nian lived deep in the sea and would eat villagers at the beginning of each year, terrorizing them and forcing them to flee to the mountains. One day an old man appeared before the villagers went into hiding, and refused to run from the Nian. The villagers thought he was insane, and returned to find the village unharmed. The old man had stopped the Nian by scaring it away with red paper on doors, burning bamboo to make cracking sounds (this was before firecrackers), and wearing red clothes. After that, every year the villagers would do as the old man instructed, and Nian has not shown his face since.

In modern times, however, instead of scaring off a human-eating demon, Chinese New Year is celebrated for the beginning of the year. The holiday follows a 12-year cycle of the 12 zodiac animals in the Chinese calendar. Celebrations vary around the world, but three celebrations in particular are done globally. The first is the Lion dance, where performers will mimic a lion’s movement in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The next is the red envelope, which is a gift of money in a red envelope given to children originally, but is given to anyone nowadays. It is used to ward off evil spirits, and must end in an even number (9 being the only exception) and must not have the number 4 in it, as it is associated with death. The last tradition is fireworks. Bamboo stems filled with gunpowder were burnt to create small explosions back in Ancient China to ward off evil spirits (you can never be too sure). In the modern world, we now use fireworks, which are wrapped in red papers and launched together by the hundreds.

This year’s Chinese New Year, the year of the Pig, will be celebrated on February 5th. To celebrate it this year, Chinatown will be throwing its annual Chinese New Year parade. It will feature a number of attractions, the best of which is the parade. The parade will feature the classic Lion dance and dragon dancers, with many more celebrations taking place. Many stores will be selling red envelopes for friends and family, and restaurants will be serving traditional Chinese New Year food such as noodles and dumplings. Most importantly, Chinese New Year is a time to spend with your family, and to celebrate good fortune for the new year.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!