DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Even in Kyiz, Ukraine, they are getting ready for Chinese New Year:

“Chinese New Year is also known as Spring Festival and Lunar New Year and is the most important Chinese holiday. The celebrations last for 14 days, ending with a lantern festival.

There’s an interesting myth about the origins of Chinese New Year. According to a legend, there was a man-eating beast – “nian,” from the mountains, who would silently break into houses and prey on humans. Later, however, people learned its weaknesses – it was sensitive to loud noises and the color red. So, the people scared it away with firecrackers and displays of red. These customs inspired the first New Year celebrations.

The firecrackers and the color red remain important to modern New Year celebrations, as are family dinners. Prior to New Year, Chinese families clean out their houses – sweeping away the bad luck of the preceding year. Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of well-known Chinese proverbs.

A traditional New Year’s meal includes chicken and fish dishes, the latter being the most significant element of the meal. It symbolizes a surplus and is not eaten up completely – the rest is stored overnight. In fact, in pronunciation the words “surplus” and “fish” sound almost the same. So wishing each other “surpluses in the upcoming year,” is basically wishing each other to have a bounty of fish. In the Northern part of China, dumplings are the main dish to be served during the festive season. While preparing dumplings you are symbolically packaging luck inside them. There is also a dish called Buddha’s Delight – a vegetarian dish using 18 ingredients – to be served on the first day of the New Year. Finally, to ensure the upcoming year will be “sweet,” you need to eat sweets – such as sweet rice balls and candy.

Equally important at the Lunar New Year are gifts, especially for kids and young ones. The gifts are presented in red packages and may contain toys or, more traditionally, money in even numbers (odd numbers are given at funerals). The packages are usually slipped under children’s pillows, where they find them in the morning.

While quite a few New Year traditions focus on dispersing good luck, you also need to make sure you don’t do anything which is considered “bad luck.” You shouldn’t buy shoes, pants, or books. You shouldn’t cut your hair, which symbolizes cutting away your prosperity. Neither should you sweep the floor or take a bath. On the contrary, opening windows and doors is good luck, as is turning on the light at night to scare away ghosts and spirits of misfortune.”

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