How Do You Understand Some Of The Chinese New Year Traditions?
Full of symbolism and portent, the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as it’s sometimes called, is an important celebration for a large part of Asia. Here’s how you can understand the significance of what is said, displayed and eaten during this celebration. The Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival because the festival occurs at the beginning of spring. The Chinese lunar cycle is 29.5 days, so the Chinese calendar doesn’t match up fully with our Julian calendar. The Chinese add an extra “leap” month every 7 years in a 19-year cycle. This mismatching with the Julian calendar also means that the Spring Festival always lands on different day for each year. The color red is seen splashed across door frames and in brightly colored streamers flowing off dragon’s backs. Red is an important aspect of the Spring Festival, originating from an old tale about the man-eating beast Nian. Since red is the color the beast feared most, tradition holds that people put up red paper decor
