Chinese New Year Taboos - A Look At The Chinese New Year From A Cultural Perspective

chinese new year taboos

Chinese New Year can be a busy time for many of us, not to mention stressful. You have probably heard a lot of rumors and innuendos about what will happen during the celebrations, but you can make for your family more relaxed if you follow some simple guidelines for Chinese New Year Taboos. New Year's Eve is traditionally a very hectic time for many of us, so it is understandable that taboos have sprung up on the day to help people maintain proper 'journey' throughout the year. For many of the New Year's Eve customs, it is said that you should not eat or drink anything else until midnight. But there are other customs that make eating and drinking during this time much more exciting.

 

For example, Chinese New Year superstitions point to the beginning of Spring by saying that grains and ornaments will start to grow in small grains and buds. Eating these small grains and ornaments early in the morning (when they are least visible in humans) will bring you good fortune and luck throughout the year. At the same time, drinking lots of water will wash away all the toxins from your body and help you overcome any illness or emotional problem. Many of these traditions are also followed during the Spring Festival in China. During this time, many small wooden boxes are brought to homes, which are believed to have bad energy trapped inside them. If inside the box, the owner is supposed to try and break the box and release the bad energy.

 

Another popular chinese new year taboos is the one related to the lunar months. The Chinese believe that the Chinese lunar calendar, the calendar used by the ancient Chinese, never ends. Instead, it goes through 12 phases, each divided into two distinct months. Each month has an associated color and an associated symbolic fruit. It is thought that by observing these colors and symbolic fruits, you will be able to predict the outcome of the next Chinese new year. Some of the colors associated with the lunar months are the color of the elm and of oak, the color of the crane, and of the dragon.

Chinese New Year Taboos - A Look at the Chinese New Year From a Cultural Perspective

 

Many Chinese people believe that the Chinese New Year is very closely connected to the New Year celebrated by the Hindus in India. At the start of the new year, it is said that fortunes will change for everyone, especially for the first person to meet in the year, the new partner. For this reason, many couples pray for the best luck possible for their twenty-first and twenty-second birthdays. They also pay a lot of attention to the Chinese New Year, preparing for it and celebrating it in lavish style. A common item used as talismans, tools, etc at such celebrations is the rabbit, considered to bring good luck and fortune to the twenty-first year of the marriage.

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Other than lucky charms, Chinese new year taboos also include other items. It is usual for Chinese people to decorate the home in various ways. On the first day of the new lunar year, they put up fireworks, so that it will be visible from far away. On the tenth day, the curtains in front of the mirror are drawn, the bedding and towels are replaced by fresh ones, and the wall paper is washed and beat vigorously. At the end of the ninth day, the lacquers of the stove are rubbed and the stove is cleaned.

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Besides these practices of cleansing, decorating, and wishing for prosperity and happiness on the auspicious occasions, Chinese people also make use of the Chinese new year taboos to help them get through bad luck. There are certain special taboos which can only be used for a limited period of time, such as the 'fancy dress' taboos, or the 'one step forward' and the 'three talents' taboos. All these are designed to help people get through certain problems. In fact, one of the main beliefs of the Chinese people is that in order to succeed, one has to be prepared to face problems, and this is why they make use of all these special customs and beliefs in order to make their lives easier.

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The second taboo that the Chinese strongly believe in is using scissors and knives, even for cutting the fruits of trees. They believe that if a branch or a piece of fruit slips off a branch and hits a person on the face, the result can be death. Therefore, they make it a habit not to use scissors and knives in cutting down the fruits. Another thing that the Chinese strongly believe in is the 'ten-finger technique' - a method of cutting fruits using just your thumb and two fingers. If you want to cut a fruit using this technique, then you have to hold it very close to your body, with your thumb on the very tip of your finger and your two fingers going straight into the middle of the fruit.

 

One of the main taboos of Chinese culture is the lunar calendar, which has a very deep meaning for the Chinese people. For example, the first day of the Chinese New Year is called the New Lunar Year and it represents full fertility, good fortune, prosperity and joy. There are various other symbolic meanings of the New Lunar Year but, for the purpose of this article, we will keep our focus on the 'lunar' festival of January.

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