If You Love Someone, Take Care of Them: Ten Customs of the Lunar New Year that Bring Good Luck
Happy Lunar New Year! On this day, offerings and firecrackers are a familiar sight for most Chinese descendants, right? The family usually has breakfast together on this day and some visit a temple in the afternoon. But did you know that there are more customs that help bring good luck on this New Year’s Day?
Worship ancestors and pay respect to other spirits.
The offerings to ancestors consist of various savory dishes, desserts, and an assortment of fruits, all of which have profound meanings. Usually, household deities/spirits are worshipped in the morning, then followed by ancestor worshipping, and lastly worshipping of other spirits around noon. Once the worshipping is done, the Chinese set off firecrackers to ward off evil.
Worship Caishen, the God of Wealth.
Caishen is the Chinese god of wealth. The worship of Caishen is usually done after noon, but it is common to be done any time between noon and midnight. It is believed that the god will bring wealth to those who worship him.
Have a vegetarian breakfast.
Start off the year with a vegetarian breakfast. Going vegetarian, in the Chinese context, means sparing the lives of animals, which is considered to be an act of great merit.
Put up antithetical couplets.
Antithetical couplets, or known in Mandarin as duilian, are usually hung flanking the entrance of the house. Auspicious words such as poems or phrases are written on the couplets to bless the household. Some of the most popular phrases are the Chinese characters for “travel safe and sound”.
Show respect to your elders by giving them four oranges.
The mandarin orange is an auspicious fruit in Chinese beliefs. Giving four oranges to your elders is a way to show respect and to bless them. The custom is, once the elders receive the oranges, they give back two from their own household. This means a sharing of wealth and prosperity.
Eat dumplings with your family.
Traditionally, on New Year’s Eve, the whole clan gathers to eat together and one of the most important dishes on the table is dumplings. The reason dumplings are consumed on this auspicious day is because the shape of dumplings resembles that of ancient Chinese currency.
And this custom is believed to bring wealth to the whole clan.
Wear color.
Wearing colorful clothes on this day means the whole year will also be as bright and as colorful as the clothes. The color that represents this tradition so iconically is none other than red, the color of propitiousness and stability.
Receive or give red envelopes.
It is customary for elders to give red envelopes to the junior members of the family to bless their New Year. Usually elders put money inside. But the importance lies with the envelope itself.
Worship the gods.
Some families worship the gods on New Year’s Eve and their ancestors on New Year’s Day. In many cases, the worshipping of smaller deities is also common. People pray to these gods to ask for a blessing and good luck for the year to come.
These are the nine things the Chinese do on Lunar New Year for an auspicious year and a fulfilling life.
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