How To Respectfully Honor Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is thought to be one of the oldest holidays in the world and has great significance for Chinese culture. This festival, based on the lunar calendar, also called the Lunar New Year, Lantern Festival, or Spring Festival, typically marks the beginning of spring and the end of the winter solstice, and it’s celebrated in many countries in Southeast Asia. In the Gregorian calendar, it occurs on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February.

Every Chinese New Year is associated with an element and an animal from the Chinese zodiac. It can be a time for good fortune, prosperity, and hope for the future. If you want to celebrate the Chinese New Year, there are a few considerations you might examine, as well as respectful practices you can include. It marks a time of renewal, family gatherings, and the beginning of a new lunar calendar. 2024 is the year of the Dragon, which represents power, strength, good luck, and wisdom.

The history of Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)

The Lunar New Year is believed to be based on a legend. The most popular legend describes a beast called Nian who would eat people, crops, animals, and homes the day before the new year. Homeowners would put food at their doors and stay quiet to prevent him from entering. They would also use the color red and firecrackers to scare him away. 

The year of the first celebration of the New Year is unknown. However, scholars believe it may have occurred in the Shang Dynasty era, which lasted from 1600 to 1046 BC. At this time, people were said to have held ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors to bring in the new year. The lunisolar calendar year wasn’t established until approximately 1046 to 256 BC. The new year was then added to the Chinese calendar during the Han Dynasty, which took place from 202 BC to 220 AD. 

Celebrations of the holiday generally weren’t common until 220 to 420 AD, when people began celebrating the new year with extended family members, food, and parties. The Spring Festival was then developed, which typically involved activities like setting off firecrackers and eating dumplings with family. 

Lunar New Year traditions in China and around the world

The Lunar New Year is now a huge celebration and public holiday, especially in China, which holds a 15-day celebration between January 21st and February 20th on Western calendars. These festivals normally last until the next full moon, and the dates of the festival can change yearly, as they tend to follow the cycle of the moon.

In 1990, the Chinese government started giving employees seven days off work to celebrate the Lunar New Year. This can be a week of relaxation and fun, when family members gather, celebrating positive energy, ushering out the old year, and bringing in luck and prosperity. Preparations for Lunar New Year begin week in advance, and some of the most common Chinese New Year celebrations include the following:

• Having a Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner

• Visiting senior members of the family

• Setting off fireworks and firecrackers 

• Staying awake all night until the New Year (Shou Sui) 

• Adding New Year's money to a hongbao, the Chinese word for red envelope 

• Attending a New Year festival 

• Cleaning the home 

• Decorating the house in red to ward off bad luck and evil spirits

• Eating sweet rice balls to symbolize togetherness and family reunion

• Eating spring rolls, a vegetarian food that represents gold bars and symbolizes wealth and prosperity in the year to come

How to partake in a Chinese New Year celebration respectfully 

To celebrate respectfully, learning Lunar New Year traditions from Chinese people who have lived them can be essential. Below are a few of these traditions and suggestions for learning more. 

Clean your home 

One of the most significant traditions of the Chinese New Year may be cleaning your home on the last day of the old year to bring in positive energy for the new year. However, those who follow the traditional beliefs surrounding this holiday may not throw out any items from the first day to the fourth day of the New Year. 

Some people may not sweep during this time, either. For that reason, the last day of the old year can be the best time to clean. 

Attend a festival 

Cities around the US usually celebrate the Lunar New Year at the end of January and the beginning of February. You can attend festivals in New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities. Search online to find events near you. 

When attending a festival, try to remain conscious of whether the Chinese New Year is part of your culture. You can avoid cultural appropriation by not using a festival as an opportunity to put on a “costume” or play around with customs with which you aren’t familiar. 

Learn about Chinese culture 

You can learn about Chinese culture by engaging with Chinese media, learning the history and legends of China, and exploring the history of the Chinese New Year. For example, you might learn about the lion dance performed during the Lunar New Year in Southeast Asian countries' celebrations to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year or the Chinese character for New Year. Some Chinese creators on social media may also show bits of their culture for you to learn about and discuss. Some people may also take classes online to learn more about the Chinese language, culture, and people. 

Consider following Chinese New Year customs 

In a traditional sense, Chinese New Year can involve several strict rules that some families may follow. These rules generally include the following: 

• Avoid wearing white or black clothes. 

• Do not eat porridge, as it may cause poverty. 

• Do not wash your hair on the first day of the new year. 

• Don’t wash clothes on New Year’s Day. 

• Don’t speak about unlucky or negative topics, such as death. 

• Try not to cry during the spring season. 

• Don’t break dishes. 

• Use only even amounts of money, as even numbers are considered “lucky money.” 

• Do not use scissors or knives.

• Do not swear or argue with others. 

• Set your intentions with positive actions and words. 

Note that engaging with superstitions may not be healthy for everyone. People who are prone to obsessive-compulsive symptoms, like those living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), may choose to avoid superstitious rituals, as they can worsen symptoms of OCD and anxiety. 

Wear proper clothing to events

Clothing can be crucial when attending a Chinese New Year event. For those of the Chinese culture or with Chinese heritage, you might consider wearing a Tang suit, which is representative of the Tang Dynasty. Many Chinese families wear red and gold to celebrate positivity, luck, and new beginnings. In addition, people often buy new clothes to celebrate the new year. If you want to wear a dress, you might consider a qipao from the Qing Dynasty. 

If you are not Chinese, consider wearing a fancy new outfit in the colors of red or gold to match the festivities. However, you might avoid wearing traditional clothing if you’re unsure how to wear it properly or do not know the significance behind the clothes. Do not wear traditional Chinese clothing or partake in stereotypes about Chinese attire to “mock” or “joke around” with the culture. 

The mental health benefits of celebrations and holidays

Celebrating a holiday can have mental health benefits. Because holidays are often focused on social interaction, hope, and fun celebrations, they can offer a chance for people to take a mental break from life’s stressors, such as work and finances. Although holidays can also contribute to financial distress and loneliness, having traditions and cultural events to look forward to may be associated with mental health improvement. 

Benefits of online therapy

If you’re experiencing loneliness this holiday season, you’re not alone. Talking to a mental health professional, whether online or in your area, may be helpful. However, online therapy may be more reachable when busy with holiday planning. By working with a therapist through a platform like BetterHelp, you can choose a time slot that works for you and attend therapy sessions from home. 

Effectiveness of online therapy

One study found that online therapy could be more effective than in-person therapy in treating mental health conditions like depression. In addition, many participants reported that internet-based interventions were more cost-effective, convenient, and comfortable than face-to-face sessions.