Random Trivia Facts About Chinese New Year
As people around the globe start celebrating the 2021 Chinese New Year, here are some interesting facts about this much awaited event.
Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival
The celebration marks the beginning of spring and the end of winter and is commonly known as chunjie or Spring Festival. This is when agricultural activities commence—plowing, planting crops, and the likes.
There is no fix date for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar rather than the standard Gregorian calendar. It kicks off with the new moon and ends 15 days later on the full moon. The date changes because it is largely based on the lunar cycle. It usually falls between 21 January and 20 February on the Gregorian calendar.
It is the longest Chinese holiday
The celebration of Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days until the Lantern Festival on the night of the first full moon. It is a time for family reunions and most of the stores in China are closed during the duration of the celebration.
The Spring Festival is the world’s largest seasonal human migration
While the celebration is presumed to be silent this year, pre-pandemic it recorded the largest travel rush. Chinese all over the world would travel back home to celebrate with their family. Tourists are not recommended to travel to China during this period.
Firecrackers are supposed to scare off a monster
According to a Chinese legend, a monster Nian would come to the village to hunt people and livestock. Every new year’s eve people will hide in the mountains to avoid the monster. There was one brave man though who fought the monster using firecrackers. From then on, people set off firecrackers to scare off the monster and bad luck.
Some taboos
Sweeping and throwing out garbage is not allowed before the 5th day of Chinese New Year. Sweeping during this time would associate sweeping away the good luck.
Needles, scissors, knives and other sharp tools, which may cause accidents, should be avoided during this period because it is believed to lessen the wealth in the coming year.
Breaking tools may also lead to a loss of wealth.
Saying unlucky words such as death and sickness are said to associate bad luck. /rcg
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