Year of the Dog 2006

                    Happy Chinese New Year

Traditions of Spring Festival

Sweeping of the Grounds 

Preparations for the Chinese New Year in old China started well in advance of the New Year's Day. The 20th of the Twelfth Moon was set aside for the annual housecleaning, or the "sweeping of the grounds". Every corner of the house must be swept and cleaned in preparation for the new year. Spring Couplets, written in black ink on large vertical scrolls of red paper, were put on the walls or on the sides of the gate-ways. These couplets, short poems written in Classical Chinese, were expressions of good wishes for the family in the coming year. In addition, symbolic flowers and fruits were used to decorate the house, and colorful new year pictures (NIAN HUA) were placed on the walls (for more descriptions of the symbolism of the flowers and fruits. 

Kitchen God

After the house was cleaned it was time to bid farewell to the Kitchen God, or Zaowang. In traditional China, the Kitchen God was regarded as the guardian of the family hearth. He was identified as the inventor of fire, which was necessary for cooking and was also the censor of household morals. By tradition, the Kitchen God left the house on the 23rd of the last month to report to heaven on the behavior of the family. At this time, the family did everything possible to obtain a favorable report from the Kitchen God. On the evening of the 23rd, the family would give the Kitchen God a ritualistic farewell dinner with sweet foods and honey. Some said this was a bribe, others said it sealed his mouth from saying bad thins. 

Free from the every-watchful eyes of the Kitchen God, who was supposed to return on the first day of the New Year, the family now prepared for the upcoming celebrations. In old China, stores closed shop on the last two or three days of the year and remained closed for the first week of the New Year. Consequently, families were busy in the last week of the old year stocking up on foods and gifts. 

Staying up the New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is the day for people to eat, drink, entertain and enjoy themselves. All members of the family would gather for the important family meal on the evening of the New year’s Eve. To celebrate the New Year, the northerners have 'Jiaozi' and the southerners make 'Niangao' (New Year cakes). 'Jiaozi' is shaped like shoe-shaped gold or silver ingot, used as money in feudal China, while the Chinese characters 'Niangao' is the homophone of 'High Year', meaning getting better year by year". 

On New Year's Eve , all the family sit round the table, enjoying the "New Year's Eve dinner", representing a happy family reunion. At dinner, the fish must not be eaten, for the Chinese character fish is the homophone of "surplus", meaning we have surplus fortune every year. So 'fish' symbols the 'luck and wealth' of the coming year. Fish on the dinner table is not a dish, but a decoration for the sake of good luck and fortune.

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