Celebration of Chinese New Year in Asian Countries

Malaysia is a country that having diverse ethnicity which like Chinese, Malay and India. All of the peoples from different race they are unity to do work or activities together. It is also can help them to develop a spirit of cooperation and to improve their relationship. There are a lot of celebrating festival in Malaysia such as Hari Deepavali, Hari Raya and Chinese New Year all of this festival is the most traditional festival for all the race to celebrate.

Significance of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the most proverbially celebration festival in Asia. The tradition is ordinarily celebrated on the first month of the year on the Chinese Lunar calendar. This tradition has been a centuries-old customers and it have become one of the most important tradition for all the Chinese in Malaysia. This tradition is not just a part of China it is also have been celebrate in other Asian countries like Korean, Taiwan and Singapore. This tradition contains a lot of value and ceremony. For example, people should wear red shirt on the first day of Chinese New Year, decorate the house with the red papers and give all the children’s lucky money in the envelope so that they will be having a peaceful year. In the light of tradition, red can extrude of the bad luck or bad things around them and that is the reason why red is highly underline.

Duration and Festivities

The festival rejoicing will be having about 15 days a years in all of the countries who celebrate Chinese New Year. The New Year is constantly to celebrate with the lion dances, dragon dances and fireworks. This festival end with the lantern activities at the 15th day on the first month of the calendar but this festival only be celebrated in Taiwan every year to the end of the New Year’s festival. This is because in Malaysia Chinese are having the “Bai Tian Gong” celebration which is known to hokkien. The meaning of “Bai Tian Gong” mean as “praying the heaven god”. The Chinese calendar is one month behind the calendar it has 30 to 50 days each years. The Chinese Lunar Calendar has a cycle of 12 years with the zodiac sign and this calendar was start on the astronomical view of the moon. There are 12 types of animal in the zodiac sign such as rat, tiger, ox, snake and rabbit. The zodiac sign is the symbol of the year and the zodiac sign change every year with different zodiac. In 2020, the zodiac sign of the year will be rat.

Traditional Greetings and Customs

Every year of the Chinese New Year people will wish each other to have a wealth, luck and happiness. All of the words that been used it have a good wishes with happiness, flourishing and prosperity. But in the first day of the Chinese New Year there are also a lot of traditional thing should not be due by all the Chinese people like sweeping the floor this is because it mean that people who sweeping the floor on the first day all of the luck will be vanish and they couldn’t speak unlucky word to other people cause they will be having a unlucky year. People eat “propitious food” during the Chinese New Year for example, people will take fishes dishes. This is because fish mean that good luck, wealth and healthy life. Dumpling is also one of the traditionally eaten during the festival and mandarin oranges, dried fruits are having the meaning of luck. All of the food should be prepare a week before the Chinese New Year start because people cannot use knife or fire to cooking on the New Year day. One of the most important food that should be eat at the Chinese New Year is “Yu Sheng”. There are a lot of people eat “Yu Sheng” in the seven days of the Chinese New Year.

Preparation and New Clothes

Before the Chinese New Year start, people will go and buy new cloth with red color cause red is the symbol of the Chinese New Year with luck and buying the new cloth show that a fresh beginning of the year with wearing a new cloth on the first day of the Chinese New Year. During the Chinese New Year there are also a lot of lion dances and dragon dances will be seen around the house area or at the shopping mall. Since some household or shopping mall will invite the dance troupe to their own house or mall to performance the lion dances and dragon dances. Other than that, during night most of the people will put the fireworks cause it show that it bring luck and destiny but many area have been banned to play the fireworks.