Celebration

Chinese New Year is on the first day of the first lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between the 21st of January and the 20th of February. The celebrations of Chinese New Year end on the 15th day of the first moon calendar month.

One of the stories of the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a beast named “Nian” (Chinese New Year in Chinese is “Guo Nian“, it means “get through the Nian”) The Nian would eat villagers. One day, an old man appeared and told the villagers that they could use the red colour and firecrackers to scare Nian away. The Nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises. From then on, people would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. After that night on which Nian came, people named the first day “Guo Nian”. People said congratulations to each other on their survival and celebrated it.

The other story of Chinese New Year in Taiwan is about the cooperation between people and gods. Long time ago, people in Taiwan loved to worship during the winter to show their thanks to the gods. One year, people were too busy to worship a god named “Lamp Monkey”. The Lamp Monkey was so angry and told the greatest god that people did not appreciate the blessing of gods. The greatest god decided to sink the island of Taiwan for punishment. At that time, every god in heaven pleaded with the greatest god for mercy. The greatest god was touched and understood that the people in Taiwan were devout; he changed his decision. On the morning after Taiwan did not sink to the bottom of the ocean, people made sure their whole families were safe and met each other to say congratulations.

These stories of Chinese New Year are about “destruction” and “rebirth”. This is why Chinese New Year is known as the “Spring Festival”, and considered is the most important holiday for the Chinese. The evening before Chinese New Year Day is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. People gather with their families before destruction and have the greatest celebration after rebirth.