Why Chinese Lunar New Year?

Chinese spring festival is the lunar New Year， the first day of the first lunar month， the most important Chinese holi- day. It is a festival season for family gathering and lasts for 15 days， ended as Lantern Festival， the 15th day of the first lunar month. In China， the fluctuating New Year is the real start of the next year rather than the fixed January 1. Chinese new year in 2011 falls on February 3rd， the Year of the Rabbit.There are many customs for Chinese New Year， in which people hope the new start of a year will bring them good luck and prosperity for the whole year.Why firework， lanterns and couplets?Most people stay up late on the eve of the Chinese New Year， watching TV， enjoying snacks and chatting with their family. Even if they don’t， they are woken up by the loud bangs of firework at midnight -- if the sporadic firework sessions before 12 a.m. are not loud enough to stir the sound sleepers.As a legend goes， Chinese ancestors were haunted by a monster named “年nián” (meaning year) that left its mountain dwelling for human communities amid food shortages in winter to prey on men and cattle. In the long run， people found out the monster was afraid of flames， bangs and red color. So they worked out firecrackers and lanterns to scare it away.No one in China nowadays still believes such a monster actually existed， but the legend and customs have survived.Today， Chinese families still hang up red lanterns and put up red couplets with rhymed phrases at their door， light fireworks and stay up late to watch the old year out.Why Jiaozi and Niangao?In northern China， Chinese dumpling(餃子 jiǎo zi) is an indispensable dish on the New Year dinner table. It is an important tradition on New Year’s Eve for families to gather together and spend the evening preparing the dish. Experts say the snack was already popular in the Three Kingdoms period (220 - 280). Many Chinese believe that to eat dumplings at the turn of the year will bring good luck， because the food resembles “元寶 yuán bǎo”， a boat-shaped gold ingot that served for many years in history as China’s currency.Vegetables， meat， fish and shrimps can all make dumpling fillings. And it is common to put something special-from nuts and dates to coins-in just one of the dumplings. He who happens to eat this special dumpling is considered the luckiest person in the new year.In southern China， where people prefer rice to wheat， families eat glutinous rice cakes instead of dumplings for the new year. These sticky rice cakes， whose Chinese name “粘糕 nián gāo” (same pronunciation as “年高”， higher year)， are also symbols of a prosperous new year. As such， eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year (年年高升 nián nián gāo shēng).Why clean house?Before the New Year arrives， the Chinese consider it very important to give the house a thorough cleaning， sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year. However， don’t clean for the first few days of the New Year. If you do any sweeping during this time， you risk sweeping away your good luck this year.Why red envelops?Children enjoy the holiday more than anyone else， largely because they get red envelops (紅包 hóng bāo) of “lucky” pocket money from their parents， grandparents and other relatives. Experts say the custom， at least 1，800 years old， conveys New Year greetings and aims to protect youngsters from ill luck.In Chinese cities， the sum in each envelop can range from RMB 100 up to several thousand， but has to be an even number. It is usually given in exchange of a child’s New Year greetings to adults.Why no haircut?Many Chinese has the superstitious belief that if a person has a haircut during the first month of the lunar year， his maternal uncle will die. As a result， barbershops open almost 18 hours a day in the preholiday rush for haircuts that lasts for at least two weeks until the New Year’s Eve.While women like to spruce up for the holiday， even men with short hair like to take an extra haircut before the new year lest their hair will grow too long before their next haircut， scheduled on the second day of the second lunar month.A Chinese legend goes that a poor barber loved his uncle dearly but could not afford a decent new year gift for him. So he gave his uncle a nice haircut that made the old man look many years younger. His uncle said it was the best gift he had ever had and wished to get a haircut every year. After his uncle died， the barber missed him very much and cried every new year. Over the years， his“thinking of his uncle” (思舅?sī jiù) was interpreted as “death of uncle” (死舅?sǐjiù) because in Chinese， their pronunciations are almost the same.