The most classic food eaten during the Korean Lunar New Year is tteokguk, or rice cake soup. When the food is set out, family members perform bows around the table to praise their ancestors and show them respect. Charye combines food and worship, which are two significant aspects of Korean culture, to honor ancestors. Another tradition during Korean New Year is known as Charye. In return, those receiving the bow will give money to the younger family members as a Seollal gift. Children and students will bow to elder family members and wish them a happy and healthy new year, as a sign of respect. Sebae is performed by kneeling on the ground and deeply bowing to the floor. Sebae is the most important tradition during Korean New Year. Worshiping and paying respect is a common theme during Korean New Year, but other festivities include playing games and enjoying traditional food made specifically for the occasion. Traditionally, the home of the eldest male relative is where families gather to celebrate in order to pay their respect to both their elders and ancestors. Seollal, or Korean New Year, is a holiday marking the first day of the lunar calendar. The contents of nian gao are sticky rice, nuts, sugar, Chinese dates, and lotus leaves. Eating nian gao means having hopes for success and general improvement in the upcoming year. Both dumplings and spring rolls symbolize wealth and are filled with meat and chopped vegetables. The head of the fish is placed towards elders to represent a sign of respect. Fish signifies prosperity and is the most traditional dish at the table. The most common foods eaten during the New Year include fish, dumplings, spring rolls, and savory rice cakes known as nian gao. Not only are the dishes symbolic, but the preparation and how the food is presented is just as meaningful. Other activities involve lighting firecrackers, watching lion and dragon dances, and exchanging money in red paper envelopes.ĭuring the Spring Festival, certain foods are eaten based on their symbolic meaning of good luck and fortune. Family members gather around a big table to enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner, known as Nian Ye Fan. Everyone will change into new outfits for the festive period.Ĭhinese New Year is a family-centered holiday, so those living far away from their families return home before the holiday. A popular custom is decorating windows and doors with red paper couplets. They will set up a variety of new decorations throughout their homes, using calligraphy, poetry, plants, and banners, to express hopes for happiness, wealth, and prosperity. Families have a tradition to clean their houses a few weeks before the holiday, which symbolizes dusting away the bad luck from the previous year and starting the new year with a clean slate. As the year comes to an end, there is a tendency for people to organize and to declutter in hopes of a fresh start. Preparations for the New Year begin well in advance before the actual date of the holiday. Chinese New Year is dedicated towards honoring ancestors casting out evil spirits and praying for good fortune. This holiday marks the dawn of a new year based on the lunar calendar and corresponds with many myths and rituals. CHINESE NEW YEARĬhinese New Year, otherwise known as Spring Festival, is the largest holiday throughout China and has been commemorated for thousands of years. The lunar calendar is used to determine the major holidays that are celebrated in China and in other areas of the world that follow the Lunar calendar. Learn more about the Lunar New Year in our January Special. A full lunar year is approximately 354 days. The length of a one lunar month is 29 or 30 days, which is the completion of a full moon cycle. A new lunar month starts when the moon becomes aligned with both the Earth and the Sun, and a year is when 12 lunar months are completed. In contrast, the Lunar calendar is based on how the moon orbits around the Earth, as compared to the Gregorian calendar where it is based on Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Gregorian calendar is determined by the movement of the sun, which has 30 or 31 days per month. It is a solar calendar that is split into 12 months, with 365 or 366 days per year. The most commonly used calendar around the world is called the Gregorian calendar.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |