23 Amazing Chinese New Year Facts For Kids

Chinese New Year commences well with the new moon, which falls between January 21st and February 20th on Western calendars.

The celebrations occur until the next full moon. Several of the nations that commemorate Chinese New Year will do so on February 1, 2022.

For many nations, such as South Korea, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, the Lunar New Year is a significant public holiday and national birthday for everyone.

The Chinese New Year occurs on February 1, 2022 this year, however, this spring festival celebration traditionally continues for 16 days, beginning on Chinese New Year's Eve (January 31st) and ending on February 15th.

The Lantern Festival is marked on the last day of all festivities.

Chinese populations rejoice in the city's 'Chinatown' areas in many other nations. The Lunar New Year celebrations in various nations may also have unique names, such as Tet, which is the term for the Vietnamese festivities.

For millennia, this significant event in the Chinese calendar has indeed been commemorated. Ancestors are honored throughout the festivities, and traditional ceremonies are conducted when people gather to welcome the new year with practices that are said to bring good luck, money, fortune, success, and happiness.

In most nations, the new year's spring festival celebrations last 15 days. New Year's Eve is frequently marked by dragon and lion dances, gift exchanges, and fireworks. Upon the 15th day of the first month of the calendar, lantern celebrations are traditionally held.

During the Chinese New Year, you want to avoid borrowing money. Cash should never be lent on New Year's Day.

Furthermore, all debts must be paid by New Year's Eve. If you owe someone money, do not go to their home to demand payment on this day. It is believed that anyone who does so will be unfortunate for the rest of the year.

Cleaning of any type is also absolutely prohibited on the first day of the new year. Do not even bother with the dishes.

Before the new year, many have already cleaned their home to get rid of any bad luck. On the first day of the new year, you want to make sure you don't wipe, sweep, or wash and get rid of any of the good fortunes that have come your way.

On Chinese New Year, all meals and reunion dinners are consumed. Noodles, dumplings, spring Rolls, niangao, and sweet rice balls are some of the delicious foods people like to consume on this day.

Origins And History Of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also called as Lunar New Year, is an annual 15-day major festival that happens in China and Chinese societies throughout the entire globe during the winter solstice.

• Many nations enjoy a new year according to the Chinese calendar, which begins on January 1st.
• The Chinese New Years's origins are shrouded in legend. According to tradition, a monster named Nian ('Year') would attack peasants at the start of each new year thousands of years ago. The monster seemed to be frightened of loud noises, flashing lights, and also the color red, so all those aspects were used to chase the creature away.
• The Chinese New Year seems to have a long and illustrious history dating back over 3,800 years. The festival's origins can be dated back to ancient China's agrarian society's worshipping activities. The ceremony's date wasn't set until the first recorded celebration during the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD).
• In the past, the origin of Chinese New Year would be intimately linked to agrarian life. From their farming experience, ancient people inferred the disciplines of seasons cycles, and the Shang Dynasty's calendar resulted in the creation of a yearly festival.
• The event arose from the first religious practices. People linked their food, clothing, and produce to the god's and ancestor's will, therefore at the conclusion of each year, they staged sacrifice rites to ask for blessings and peace.
• In the Zhou Dynasty, the word 'Year,' or 'Nian' in Chinese, appeared, and worshipping became a communal ritual to mark the start of farming activities during the spring festival. People have started to enshrine Kitchen god, Gate god, Joy god, Wealth god, and Well god, in addition to honoring ancestors and hoping for a prosperous crop and good luck.
• The turn of the year's cycle was known as Shangri, Yuanri, and Gaisui during the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), and the 10th lunar month was considered the start of a new year cycle. The event was known as Suidan, or Zheng Ri, during the Han Dynasty.
• Chinese people had largely abandoned their trust in gods and goddesses and ancestors, focusing instead on the festival's link to life.
• Since the Han Dynasty, the festival has been celebrated on the first day of the lunar month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which was of immense importance in Chinese New Year history. The date has been used for thousands of years.
• The festival had grown in popularity to the point that it was now a national event. The government organized a large carnival, and governmental servants gathered to celebrate and usher in good luck.
• Staying up late, burning bamboo, which is similar to setting off fireworks nowadays, and hanging peach boards, which subsequently have become the Spring Festival couplets, were all new pastimes.
• The Lunar New Year was known as Yuandan from the Song Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD), and the ceremonies were more focused on social interaction.
• People began to pay visits to friends and family, enjoy a reunion dinner, and exchange presents in order to share blessings and extend wishes for good luck. During this time, more intriguing activities such as the dragon dance, lion dance, stilt walking, and She Huo performances were popular.
• The Lunar New Year and the lunar calendar were abolished by the government in 1912, and the Gregorian calendar was adopted instead. Because people were hesitant to break with Chinese culture, the plan did not succeed.
• Both calendar systems were preserved as a compromise, with the Gregorian calendar being used in government, factories, schools, and other institutions, and the lunar calendar being utilized for traditional festivals.
• The first day of the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day was known as Yuandan, whereas the first day of the lunar calendar, Chunjie (Spring Festival), was known as Chunjie (Spring Festival), which became the most commonly celebrated Chinese New Year.
• Following 1949, the Spring Festival was declared a national holiday, and individuals were given time off from work and school. It is now China's most significant traditional holiday, with many old rituals retained from the country's long history of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Customs And Traditions Of Chinese New Year

People all across the world come together to celebrate Chinese New Year in a variety of ways, from wearing new clothes to spectacular pyrotechnics.

• People still utilize the festival to find which 'animal' of the Chinese zodiac they belong to. The Chinese zodiac animal for the year 2022 is the Tiger.
• While most westerners connect 'Chinese New Year' with marches in Chinatown and a delectable meal, regional traditions vary. The celebration is better known as 'Lunar New Year,' since it marks the beginning of a new lunar cycle and is one of Asia's most important holidays.
• The Door gods, also called mén shén, dating back to the Tang Dynasty, are the protectors of an entry and were formerly among the most prominent gods in ancient China. They are considered the protectors of dwellings from evil spirits and appear in twins, usually facing each other.
• During the Chinese New Year festivities, many people wear new clothes and hang deity portraits on their doorways to bring good luck and protection for their families in the new year.
• When the Lunar New Year approaches, it's easy to tell since every street, business, and home is decked out with colorful Chinese New Year decorations, mostly with red paper cuttings. Red decorations, which are connected with riches and good fortune, are displayed to fend off Nian, a lion-like creature that is scared of the color red, per the Lunar New Year legend.
• Bright floral displays and fruit trees fill houses and streets in areas of China, in which the event is known as Spring Festival- peach and apricot blooms hold special importance for the celebrations in Vietnam. Birds are used in these decorations in Korea- ornamental cranes are symbolic of the country.
• Chinese New Year's Eve wouldn't be complete without fireworks, even if they aren't the more hangover-friendly of customs. Firecrackers for the Chinese New Year are created from strings of rolled red paper holding gunpowder that, when lit, leave crimson paper shreds in their path.
• The loud boom of the firecrackers is said to scare Nian, the lion-like monster that, according to tradition, that rises from of the seas for a feast of human flesh on New Year's Eve.
• As part of ancient Chinese culture, residents in northern China make and consume jiaozi (dumplings). The nature of their cooking lets the family enjoy a reunion dinner, spending time together, whereas their similarity to old money portends good success in the next year.
• A thorough cleaning of one's house is one of the many Chinese New Year practices to rid oneself of any remaining bad luck. On specific days throughout the celebrations, some individuals make and eat special dishes.
• The Lantern Festival is the concluding event of the Chinese New Year, in which people hang luminous lanterns in temples or transport them in a nocturnal procession.
• A dragon dance is a feature of the festivities in many locations because the dragon is a Chinese sign of good fortune. A tall, bright dragon is dragged through the roads by a large number of dancers in this procession.

Who is the Chinese New Year celebrated by?

For Spring Festival 2022, the world's population will indeed be 7.76 billion, and more than 2 billion people will celebrate it in some form, even if it's simply a national recognition.

• China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, North Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Brunei all have public holidays for the Chinese New Year.
• In recent years, more and more Western countries, such as London, New York, Vancouver, and Sydney, have participated in this event.
• In mainland China, Chinese people attempt to spend nearly the first several days of the vacation with their families. Because of the vast number of Chinese citizens and the high number of people who travel for work, all of this 'spring traveling' (chunyun) is the world's largest annual movement of people.
• The majority of events and customs in Taiwan are similar to those in China. The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival is the most significant special event, with fireworks being launched directly into the audience.
• In the Philippines, Chinese New Year is indeed a national holiday. People don't get paid if they do not work, but those who must labor mostly on 'special non-working days' receive 30% of their regular income.
• In Indonesia, Chinese New Year (Indonesian: Imlek) is a one-day national holiday.
• For Chinese New Year, the majority of Malaysians are given two days off work: the day of the new year holiday and the day following. The biggest celebrations take place at Kuala Lumpur's Petaling Street, George Town's Kek Lok Si Temple, Ipoh's Jonker Street, and Malacca's Jonker Street.
• Brunei celebrates Chinese New Year, the day before, the day after, and the Lantern Festival as a statutory holiday. Korean New Year is the name given to the festivities in North Korea.
• Tet is the Vietnamese name for the Chinese New Year celebrations. It might take place on a different day than the Korean New Year.

Chinese New Year Significance

The significance of the Chinese New Year is deeply founded in history, and it continues to be the most significant opportunity for a family reunion and spending quality time together now.

• The Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is city's most famous cultural and historical event. As per the Chinese lunar calendar, the event marks the beginning of spring and the beginning of a new year.
• The holiday is observed throughout the country, as well as in numerous nations and ethnic communities descended from China.
• The Chinese New Year is said to have originated in an old war against the Nian, a frightening beast that murdered people and ate children, according to folklore. To scare the beast away, the locals fired pyrotechnics and firecrackers. The festival serves as a time to gain good fortune, and this custom has been carried on to the present day.
• In its oldest form, this holiday was intended to provide farmers and laborers a break from their year-long toil, allowing them to return to work rejuvenated and well-rested.
• Due to employment choices, educational possibilities, and general urbanization, most Chinese families may well be separated, and this holiday serves as the ideal chance for everyone to reunite.
• The festival is also said to be crucial in ensuring good fortune for the future year, and it includes numerous religious traditions and beliefs.