By Eva Stratakis
Lunar New Year is a holiday that is observed in many Asian countries and territories. These
include Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In the past, Lunar New Year was meant to honor household and heavenly deities and ancestors. Today, Lunar New Year is a holiday in the celebration of the beginning of spring and the beginning of a new year in the lunisolar calendar. It is a special time in which friends and family come together for feasting and festivities to celebrate the beginning of the new year. Lunar New Year has a very long history dating back thousands of years ago rooted with many legends. One of these legends is of Nian, in which a horrific beast was said to eat human flesh on New Year’s Day. Nian feared the colour red, loud noises, and fire. Therefore firecrackers and lanterns were lit all night and red paper decorations were pasted to doors in order to frighten the beast away.
Lunar New Year has many titles, including Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Tibetan Losar,
Korean Solnal, and Spring Festival. Lunar New Year starts with the first new moon of the lunar
calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later. The lunar calendar is based off of the cycles of the moon, which varies year to year. It begins between January 21st and February 20th. The official date of Lunar New Year in 2023 was January 22nd. About 10 days before the start of lunar new year, people throughly clean their houses to remove any bad luck that may be lingering inside. This custom is called “sweeping of the grounds.” Typically, on New Year’s eve and New Year’s Day there are family celebrations and
religious ceremonies to honor ancestors. On New Year’s Day, family members receive red
envelopes called lai see, which have small amounts of money in them. Fireworks and dancing are very popular throughout the holidays, as seen in the Lantern Festival which takes place on the last day of the Lunar New Year. The Lantern Festival marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the end of Chinese New Year. During this festival, houses are decorated with colorful lanterns with riddles written on them. If answered correctly, the solver wins a small gift. Celebrations on this day include parades, fireworks, and lion and dragon dances.
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