An estimated two billion people celebrate Chinese New Year, aka Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. The 15-day festival begins with the first New Moon of the lunar calendar, sometime between January 21 and February 20. This adheres to the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
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After suffering for years as Nian destroys their crops and eats their children, villagers are visited by a mysterious stranger who reveals that the monster is afraid of loud noises and fire. The villagers use the information to drive Nian out, celebrating their victory every year after with fireworks, feasting, and more.
“Lunar New Year” is a catch-all term that encompasses celebrations in several Asian countries. The date of the new year can vary by location depending on which calendar—lunar, lunisolar, or solar—is being used, but many of the traditions are shared across borders.
In the 1960s, Mao ushered in the Cultural Revolution, an attempt to make China a more modern, industrialized nation. In keeping with this, he banned traditional holiday customs in favor of “revolutionary” actions like chanting Communist Party slogans and a “self-criticism” ceremony. These changes weren’t very popular and were quickly reversed after Mao’s death.
Many countries have attempted ban firecrackers, though some rolled back those restrictions for the sake of the holiday. This tradition, along with numerous other practices, have evolved for decades since the origin of the festival.
The earliest recorded instance of this cleaning ritual is from 241 BCE. By sweeping out dust and dirt and getting rid of clutter and unwanted items, it’s believed that you won’t carry extra burdens into the new year and will have space for the prosperity and fortune coming your way.
Since the bold hue warded off the mythical Nian, the color red has come to represent luck, prosperity, and celebration. If you come across a home or neighborhood preparing for New Year celebrations, you’ll see red lanterns, wall hangings, clothing, and more.
In keeping with China’s long history of Buddhism, which encourages vegetarianism, particularly on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, many people eat a plant-based diet (or at least a plant-based meal) on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The custom is supposed to increase participants’ good karma, bringing them extra blessings for the year to come.
One of the most recognizable symbols in Chinese culture, the dragon is known as a mighty yet often benevolent creature. The dragon is capable of interacting with gods in the heavens; it can turn invisible, shape-shift, and control the weather. These features made the mythological creature hugely significant to the Chinese people because if they could summon dragons, other aspects of their life could improve.
Dragons are considered so lucky in Chinese culture that it's believed some couples time their children’s births to the Year of the Dragon. That’s debatable. Overall, birth rates in the country have fallen, and it’s not clear if a dragon-baby bump could counteract that.
Despite being called Lunar New Year, the Chinese calendar that the holiday is based on is actually lunisolar, or based on both the sun and the moon. Many religious holidays, including Easter, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, and Passover, do not have fixed dates according to the now-ubiquitous Gregorian calendar.
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