A very happy chinese new year and may the year of the ox brings good luck, good health and good fortune to all. This is the most important of all the chinese festivals and lasted for 15 days. I will tell you in brief what to do and what not to do during chinese new year especially for the first few days.
On the
first day of chinese new year - For the religious, they would welcome the deities of the heavens and earth and some will head to the temple on chinese new year's eve to be the first to put the first joss stick in the urn of the temple at the stroke of twelve. They hope to be lucky for being the first one.
I will be at home resting after the reunion dinner on chinese new year's eve and watch the live interesting programme on television to welcome the chinese new year at the stroke of twelve...lol.
What not to do: Do not sweep the floor on the first day cause it meant sweeping away all the luck and same for not cutting and washing your hairs on the first day too cause it would meant your luck will be washed away for the whole year but it is not practised in most family nowadays. Of course I will wash my hair, would love to have clean hair when out visiting....lol.
I will not use a broom but I will use the magic clean duster to clear any dust on my floor(a little bit of cheating here)...hahaha.
On the
second day of chinese new year - Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods.
The Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer(hoi=opening Nin=year) to start the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. The prayer is done to pray that they will be blessed with good luck and prosperity for the year.
As late mom is cantonese we, married daughters, are supposed to return for the 'Hoi Nin' on second day for the prayers and rewarded with a big feast....hehehe. Although mom is not around, we still gather at my brother's house.
On the
third day of chinese new year - The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends. On these days, quarrels and arguments are easily aroused.
On the
seventh day of chinese new year - it is everyone's birthday. Legend has it that the goddess (nuwa) created the animals on different days, and human beings on the seventh day after the creation of the world. On this day, we would toss yusheng (raw fish). You can read more information on yusheng in
here. When tossing the yusheng, we need to read the chants for luck and fortune...lol. You can find out more about the chants in
here.
On the
ninth day of chinese new year - it is a important day for the Hokkiens. This is the day they will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Offerings will include sugarcane as it was the sugarcane that had protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago.
Now we come to the last day,
Fifteenth day, of the new year - this marks the end of the chinese new year. This day is also known as Chap Goh Mei or Yuan Xiao Jie. Singles would toss mandarin oranges into the sea, hoping to find a good husband.
I hope you all enjoyed the little stories/myths behind each day of the chinese new year.
Source: Wikipedia.
