Revival Of New Year Traditions In Asia
February 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
find out about the various customs which are celebrated by reviving them during Chinese New Year.
The Chinese people hold on to their age old traditions with their molar teeth. As a community the people of China take a lot of pride in their culture and tradition and have made all possible efforts to uphold their sacredness by keeping them alive at regular intervals.
New Year is one time in China when you will see all types of traditional activities. In fact at this time most of what the Chinese people do is related to their ancient customs. There are a number of things that the Chinese indulge in which are a part of welcoming a New Year. You will witness many strange customs which will bring this fact to light that Chinese are certainly a race who have preserved their culture well.
The celebrations are carried on in large scale during the New Year in China for another reason. The mass media is very competent in reporting all the happenings of this time to the whole world. The western people find these traditions strange with a magical air about them. Their interest heightened they come to China in large number to witness these traditions thus giving a great push to the China’s tourism industry.
The traditional celebrations formally begin a night or two before the actual New Year arrives and go up to the 15th day of the first month of the New Year. This is a great time to have fun and do business in China as people are happy and cheerful and ready to spend their money as well!
Every home receives a systematic cleaning for welcoming the New Year. The ill fortunes of last year are thrown away and the house is decorated and purified for welcoming the good fortune of the coming year.
Doors and windows are painted red as per tradition. Red is the color of New Year in China. The traditional belief is that it wards away all sorts of evil spirits and omens and keeps the house protected from any harm.
If you visit China during the New Year you will find a good number of decorations in all houses. There are couplets as well as paper cuttings which are the signs of contentment and wealth and so on. There are different wall papers, paintings and scrolls which people put up to beautify their homes.
The New Years Eve holds a special meaning in Chinese culture. This day all the family members come together in one place for dinner. A special dish is made for this meal which is known as jiaozi which has dumpling in the boiling water.
Once the complete family is together they eat the dinner and then play a lot of games to keep themselves awake the whole night. In the modern times they even watch television which telecasts special program for New Year. They also believe that if they keep the lights burning the whole night their parents will have a long life.
The New Year day starts with a variety of interesting activities like exchanging presents and greetings, lantern parade, Kung fu, concerts and so on. These celebrations are carried on for full two weeks. At the end of the fifteenth day they have the fireworks and dragon dance which brings an end to the celebrations on a full moon night.
Chinese traditions vary slightly according to geographical regions. If you are interested in learning more about the Chinese New Years dragon click on the preceding hyperlink.
Meanings Associated With Eastern New Year Decorations
January 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Explore how the Chinese people decorate their homes and streets on the New Year with unique art work and crafts.
In the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year plays a vital role and you wouldn’t be surprised to see Chinese families decorating their dwellings with various Chinese New Year crafts prepared for this particular festival. From inside the houses to outsides on the city streets, China shines in color throughout the season.
Few of the New Year decorations seen are pretty flowers to platters of food and some other variety of decorations that arekept for the festival. There are specific decorative items that have become signs to mark this time of the year. The collection of decorating items is wide and colorful.
Plants and flowers play a significant role in the New Year decorations in China. Besides Chinese people are known for their attachment to the nature. During the New Years event, houses of Chinese people are seen blooming with different flowers and plants that symbolize growth and wealth that promise to come in the coming year.
For decorating purposes, the most commonly used plants and flowers are the plum blossoms at such times. This is because, they just start to blossom during this season and they are arranged beautifully together with bamboo and pine springs. This symbolizes a special closeness between families and friends around this time.
Reliability and perseverance are amongst the symbolic virtues the plum blossoms are supposed to represent. The bamboo represents compatibility due to its flexible nature and the evergreen pine is the classic symbol of longevity. Other commonly used flowers include the azalea, narcissus, water lily and the peony.
Certain types of fruits have also established themselves as prominent New Year decoration symbols and are a must in every home. Oranges and tangerines top the list and are often brought over by visiting friends. The tangerines are taken as a symbol of maintaining a long relationship and happiness.
The best portionof the Chinese New Year is perhaps the candy tray; at least this is correct as far as the kids are concerned. The candy tray is a specially designed decoration item for this time of the year. This sweet treat is also known as the tray of togetherness and consists of an interesting variety of some of the most delicious candies.
This candy tray also has another ritual following it up where an adult takes a candy and replaces it by keeping a red envelope in the tray that contains of some kind of good luck icon for the peopleoffering it. Generally the candy tray consists of candied melon of different variety like lychee nut, peanuts, coconut, and cumquat etc. all of which have special meanings.
Many of the New Year decorations are focused around the particular animal symbol of the year. This has been a Chinese tradition for centuries now and still goes on even now.
Chinese new year for kids is fantastic experience . If you want to learn how to make your own Chinese new year decorations click on the hyperlinks.
Simple Facts Of Traditional New Year Greetings From Orient
January 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
In the following article you will get some information about wishing a happy and prosperous New Year in ancient and modern day China.
Are you getting a lot of Guo Nian Hao from people as you near China in the beginning of the year? It simply means Happy New Year in Chinese language. You will also get a number of New Year greetings in February in China as conventional Chinese New Year falls in the beginning of February which is absolutely different from western concept and comes as a surprise to many.
The difference in date regarding New Years is all because Chinese follow lunar calendar. Their New Year depends on the moon cycle rather than the date like 1st of January. The Chinese people celebrate their New Year in a traditional manner where they follow a lot of old customs and it’s a time for joyful celebrations.
Since the beginning of the lunar year is an important occasion you will find everybody to be greeting each other irrespective of whether they know the person or not. Go to any market place and you will have the entire staff wishing you Guo Nian Hao. In fact this is the voice of the nation during the festive season.
There is nevertheless a particular time limit during which the use of this greeting prevails. The time period is the first five days of the New Year. After that the use of this greeting is not considered to be part of the tradition. However Guo Nian Hao is not the only Chinese New Year greeting that surface during this time of the year.
Since it is the beginning of a New Year people are generally wishing and praying for affluence in the year to come, both for themselves as well as others. You will often find people wishing each other congratulations and success which is something along the lines of Gonxi Facai; Hokkien Keong hee huat chye in Chinese.
Another common greeting that has been part of the traditional set of Chinese New Year greetings is one wishing the other person for an plentiful harvest in the coming year.
There is another form of Chinese New Year greeting which is known as red envelop. According to this the children are given some money in envelop instead of saying any greeting. Red envelop is known to keep evil away from your life in future.
Changing times have given birth to new traditions with regards to Chinese New Year greetings. Every one has their own ways of greeting each other. The use of greeting cards has flourished during recent years although this practice has never been part of the ancient tradition.
With the introduction of Internet wishing New Year for people of China has become very easy by sending e-cards. There are huge fireworks shows held for the common people by the government during New Year.
Chinese new year greeting can vary depending on your location. If you would like to read further on Chinese New Years activities please follow the links.
Traditions Related To Oriental New Year Fireworks
January 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Learn about the Chinese thoughts and values in regard to the firework use during Chinese New Year festival.
Noise pollution is the last thing that the Chinese people think about throughout the long festival of New Year. The reason for this is that they burst fireworks in large quantity to give a sound welcome to the year to come.
Chinese New Year is a time when everyone is together with their family and friends in order to celebrate the festival. This festival holds vast importance in the life of the people in China. On the last day of the celebration they burst firecrackers to round off the final day of the festival.
It is a time when ancient customs are brought back into light and age old traditions are revamped and reintroduced so as to keep them alive. The use of fireworks is also amongst one of the ancient traditional practices of China which hold great significance in the eyes of the locals. The history of the use of fireworks goes back to a long time ago and their use is totally embedded in the Chinese culture with regards to the arrival of the New Year.
Traditional fireworks
There are quite a few stories that are embedded in Chinese society in regards to the tradition of the use of fireworks. While using the fireworks what they normally believe is that the dragon brings rain in summer so that the crops can grow. So it is of utmost importance to wake up the dragon which is still sleeping with all the noise.
Everything has a direct relation to the nation’s economy. China being an agricultural country requires ample amount of rains. They have combined this need with a festive belief of cracker bursting to make merry during the New Year and create huge noise without the apprehension of noise pollution.
Warding off Evil Spirits
There are other stories regarding the noise as well. They mean to keep themselves free from the influence of wicked spirits with the noise made by the firecrackers. In the beginning of the year itself they plan to free themselves from evil spirit and make the coming year lucky for them.
Another important activity during the time of Chinese New Year is the traditional parade. The people in the parade have firecrackers which they throw towards the dragon’s feet. The idea is that the noise of the cracker will wake the dragon up.
Another beautiful custom related to the fireworks is the dragon dance. It is a spectacular view for anyone coming from abroad to see a colorful dragon doing dance steps. The dragon dance represents the spirit of Chinese ancient traditions. This amazing show has a dragon dancing at the center and firecrackers bursting all around it.
The concept of firecrackers has to do both with evil as well as good spirits. Some think that the loud noise drives the evil away whereas some feel that all that noise keeps the good spirits from coming in. But the traditional Chinese faith lies in the former concept.
Chinese New Years fireworks are a fantastic experience to be enjoyed by everyone . If you would like further info on the Chinese new years zodiac please click on the links.
Eastern New Year Rat And Its Virtues
January 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The rat holds a special place in Chinese tradition. Find out about the Chinese New Year of the rat and why it is considered to be so special.
People wouldn’t happily accept any associations made with the rat in particular because it is an animal that is associated with filth,shadiness and small structure. Westerners wouldn’t really go with getting linked to a rat. On the contrary, Chinese thinkers who are famous for their observational skills would completely prove you wrong and give a different character analysis of a rat.
Intelligence is an important the attributes of the rat. The Chinese philosophers have observed that the rat is not only hardworking but also extremely creative creatures who love absolutely like to control things. It has been realized that rat people go for perfection. These are but a few of their characteristic traits that have been observed.
As has been the Chinese tradition for centuries that each year has a special animal assigned to it. There is a whole system and a legend behind the assigning of the animals to the years. Basically there are 12 animals that function on a twelve year rotation according to the lunar calendar that the Chinese use.
In the Chinese cultural heritage, the rat holds a position of honor and reverence. According to the Chinese history, the twelve animals that rotate based on the lunar calendar were made to contest in a race. From the beginning of the race, the ox was leading but he was unaware of the fact that the rat was riding on his back all the while. When the ox was about to finish the race first, the rat hopped off his back and took the victory.
The year of the rat marks the beginning of the whole animal myth. Hence, when the year of the rat reappears, it is rare occasion because it means that an entire cycle is completed and a new one has started.
The rat is thus famous for his creative personality and stewardship. The cunning animal is admired for its ability to dig through all sorts of trouble and find a way to achieve its purpose. Sharpness of mind is a key feature of the rat’s personality.
Chinese thinkers have come up with a personality sketch of the rat symbol and thus people now are more in favor of accepting any comparison to the Chinese perception of the rat’s persona. However, it is definitely simple to picture why the idea is difficult for the westerners because, the west have their own perception of the tiny creature.
Yet another feature about the twelve animals of the lunar cycle that might be contradictory and interesting is the compatibility question. What led to these connections is still quite unfamiliar, but the Chinese thinkers do have reasons for their beliefs about which animal is compatible to which one or whether they will have fights
It’s amazing to know that the rat has great compatibility with the monkey. But where do the philosophers get this conviction is still unknown. However, these beliefs prevail in China. From the ancient era, the year of the rat is believed to be the sign of protection and wealth.
The original Chinese new year rat has important symbolic significance. To read further on Chinese new year crafts follow the hyperlinks.
Welcoming Songs Of Oriental New Year
January 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Here is a synopsis on how Chinese traditional songs are chosen and sung during the season of the Chinese New Year.
The moon’s signals indicating that the year is coming to an end and the new one is about to start excites the Chinese people. As they follow the lunar calendar moon cycles are important to them. New Years never has a full moon night but you could hear people singing traditional songs that are made for the New Year.
The Chinese New Year plays an indispensable important role in the life of Chinese people. During this time they lose all the negativity from their lives by burying their past and waits with open arms to embrace good fortune and prosperity in the New Year. The spirit is high and they wish each other good at this time so the entire atmosphere is positive.
It is no surprise that they have a list of Chinese New Year songs that have been created for the purpose of celebrating the coming of the New Year. For your information the Chinese New Year is considered as the most important event of the year according to their lunar calendar. And this is not just now, rather the Chinese New Year celebrations have been going on for many years in the same fashion.
With regards to the songs that the Chinese people have composed in order to address the New Year, they are basically termed as an emotion of happiness and love. The songs clearly show the affection that the people of China still have for their ancient rituals and their nationalistic spirit and the pride that they take in their country.
China, since centuries have been involved in wars but this is not what constitutes the characteristics of a Chinese man. Chinese people are known to be in love with peace and nature. The wide range of Chinese New Year songs speak about their patriotism and spirit for their nation and some songs speak about their concept of life and their life-styles.
These traditional New Year songs are sung in praise of the Chinese people and hence they give a boost to their pride. They love to boast about their rich tradition and heritage. Songs are heard from streets to corners and even from indoors. During this festive time, relatives and friends gather in a particular place and sing popular songs together with high spirit.
When songs and dances are performed, people also invest on costumes and dressing in a traditional manner. People who do not belong to the Chinese culture might find it weird, but it’s a package which comes along with the Chinese culture.
These New Year old songs are all classics that have been sung for ages. But modern day songs especially composed for the New Year by renowned artistes are only sung in especially organized concerts. This belongs to the Chinese tradition as well and people try to preserve it.
Singing Chinese new year songs are a traditional way of welcoming in the new year. If you want to read further on Chinese fireworks follow the hyperlinks.
Eastern New Year Crafts
January 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Explore the creative streak in Chinese people in form of art and craft items that are made during the arrival of the New Year.
The Chinese people as ancient history reports, follows the lunar calendar. Many important dates are recorded in this Chinese calendar. But the celebration of New Year is the important date for the Chinese.
As per the knowledge we have of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year event is not held on the first of January. Their New Year is absolutely dependent upon the revolution of the moon and hence we see that it falls on a completely different date on the Gregorian solar calendar.
The festival of the Chinese New year is a time of celebration for the Chinese. The festive spirit is on high during the season and there is lots of activity going on in the streets of China. Over the years the Chinese have developed many traditions associated with the coming of the New Year and amongst them is a vast collection of Chinese New Year crafts.
Amongst the fireworks and feasting are also seen a range of Chinese New Year crafts which are added to show the creativity and innovation present in the master craftsmen of China. They add color and diversity to the on-going festival.
The New Year has a variety of special events such as the fireworks demonstration, the giving of gifts and the lantern festival. Each of these days has its own choices of Chinese crafts that represent the nature of the event. These crafts sell like hot cakes during the New Year season.
Every Chinese New Year is recognized by an animal symbol and hence it’s natural to see New Year crafts to revolve around the animal of the year. It fulfills serves purposes of the Chinese community.
First and foremost, this is a way of keeping the ancient Chinese culture alive. Besides, there are a lot of artists and craftsmen who get a chance to expose their skill and also get a good market to make their works commercially viable and do a lot of business during the festival.
One of the primary purposes that Chinese New Year crafts serve is that they make great gift items for those who are part of the culture. Not only do the crafts inspired by the animal of the year make a great new year’s gift rather people often use these gifts to give to people who were born in the year of the same animal.
The New Year crafts are not just stuck to the animal of the year. Besides that, a wide range of these crafts are specially prepared for the festive season. The fireworks created for the celebrations are innovative as well as beautiful and are supposed to an important New Year craft.
You will find a special range of craft during Chinese New Year in form of lanterns. The Chinese are majorly into fortune predictions and various crafts pertaining to it are sold in the markets. There are also a separate set of craft items that are made especially for the kids during the New Year.
Everybody enjoys making Chinese new year crafts. If you want to know about other Chinese new year activities click on the preceding links.
Oriental New Year Dragon Tradition
December 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Find out about the most honorable Chinese symbol and its connection to the important events of the Chinese New Year.
The images of the Chinese dragon and the occasion of Chinese New Year have been two eventful components of the Chinese Tradition. For thousands of years now they have still captured the same importance for themselves and exclusive presence even till date. Moreover, interestingly they are deeply engaged with each other.
The dragon has become a symbol which is immediately linked to the Chinese culture. The west has come to know of this dragon symbol from martial art flicksand art work from China. For the Chinese people, this symbol of dragon is a highly honorable mythical animal that is respected for its rarity, magnificence and spiritual powers.
However, keeping honor of the Chinese traditions, one must acknowledge that the Chinese New Year event is not celebrated on the same day as the western world or for that matter when the entire world celebrates. This is because, the rest of the world goes-by the Gregorian solar calendar whereas the Chinese always followed the lunar calendar. Hence, the New Year day follows the cycle of the moon and falls on a different day from the western New Year day.
New Year is a special time in China. It is a time when the festive spirit is high and there are all kinds of celebrations going on. As has been the ancient tradition of the country they have animal signs associated with the change of time. There are twelve animals that are repeated after every twelve years. So the year of the dragon returns with all its might and power after every twelve years.
The Chinese New Year of the dragon represents great power. As it is the image of the dragon is taken as a symbol of auspicious power and anger if you will. The anger of the Chinese dragon is somehow always justified hence it has to do with correcting the erring. In that sense the angry dragon is not exactly evil. Rather the symbol is meant to be inspiring for society.
Chinese people think that the streets have rights over you. When you are walking on the streets and come across evil the task of stopping it falls on you if you have the strength or with your speech if nothing else. If you are unable to stop it then at least recognize the evil act to be wrong.
The image of the angry dragon seeks to suppress the wrong doers. It does not represent wrong doing. Rather quite the opposite. The best of deeds is to avoid evil and discourage it while engaging in good deeds and encouraging them. Hence the Chinese New Year of the Dragon is all about bringing about a revolution through peaceful and festive means.
The Chinese new year parade dragon is considered to bring good luck in many Asian cultures. If you are interested in reading more on Chinese new year parade decorations click on the hyperlinks.
The Chinese Symbolism And Their Meanings
December 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The set of Chinese symbols consists of an overwhelming number of symbols that goes over the count of eighty thousand. This assortment includes all Chinese characters, signs and alphabets that have been used for thousands of years. With regards to the Chinese symbols per se, their use has become highly restricted in modern times.
Since the Chinese language has evolved over time the application of the symbols has declined. Nevertheless the symbols serve another purpose and that is related to the arts. The physical form of the ancient Chinese symbols seems to have a timeless aesthetic appeal which has earned them world wide acclaim.
The use of the Chinese symbols in China is as popular as ever. You can see them in many places especially in expressions of art and architecture. The Chinese people are using these symbols to mark their products like kitchenware etc. There is another aim to these symbols which are connected to superstition which is still followed in Chinese culture.
The Chinese symbols are shaped so artistically that they are extremely attractive whatever their meaning might be. In reality every symbol has deep philosophical connotation behind them which has rich history and is also used traditionally.
The Chinese symbol meanings cover a wide spectrum of meanings ranging from the most positive to the extremely negative. The traditional belief is that by including positive Chinese symbols in your life you can expect good thing to come your way. They truly believed that these symbols had the power to attract good fortune.
The truth of the subject will depend entirely on what you believe and the faith you have on the Chinese symbols. Even today the symbols are valued throughout China for their beauty as well as the power to influence the life of the people by incorporating them.
The ancient Chinese symbol that represents five bats collected together is one of the most popular motifs known as the five good fortunes. The five elements represent wealth, health, love, longevity and virtue. When used with the color red this symbol is considered to be even more powerful.
Another popular symbol is the sunset symbol which exists in many places in modern Chinese society. For the Chinese the sun is the most portent symbol and is also taken as the source of Yang energy.
Believed to energize as well as purify the symbol of the sun is highly respected in Chinese culture due to the profound meaning that it has for them. The same symbol is also meant to represent balance which has been derived from an ancient Chinese legend.
Chinese symbols are a great way to learn more about Chinese culture. If you want to know more about Chinese dragon drawings follow the links herein.
Asian Dragon Symbolism
December 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Dragon has always been a strange mythical creature which has been a part of life in eastern Asia. Originally it was taken from the Chinese folk lore. Ancient dragon has been described and given a form of serpent with a scaly body except for the fact that unlike a serpent it has four legs and each foot has five claws.
In terms of its physical features the Chinese dragon is quite different from the traditional European dragon which also stands on four legs but is believed to have a negative connotation.
The Chinese dragon on the other hand has assumedadopted both roles of good and evil throughout Chinese history. But more than anything else the symbol of the dragon represents divine power according to ancient folklore and art from China.
The Chinese dragon takes on various qualities which the Chinese people have credited to it. It is rarely known that the Chinese dragon is the male symbol representing yang. Then again it is taken as a symbol to bring rain and water where the people are doing agriculture for a living.
The Chinese dragon also has a female counterpart who is not featured very often. The female side of the Chinese dragon is known as the phoenix. Many westerners believe the Chinese dragon to be the official symbol for the country of China. However this is untrue to the fact.
You will find that in ancient Chinese history the dragon symbol was restricted to be used solely by emperors. It is well known that the common people were not allowed to use the Chinese dragon symbol during the rule of Yuan dynasty. Only during the Qing dynasty rule that the Chinese dragon was brought to be used on the national flag.
China has intentionally and badly tried to disassociate itself from the dragon symbol due to the negative political connotations associated with it. Because the image of the dragon had a threatening war like perception in the eyes of the west the Chinese wanted to replace that image with a softer symbol. The alternate was the giant panda which is now taken as the emblem of China.
Chinese Dragon plays an important part in giving ethnic identity to Chinese people even today when some of them feel that they are the descendants of the Dragon and they truly have faith in the powerful symbol. The identification of a nation with an animal is a tendency which started in 1970s when the Mongols felt that they have characteristics of wolf and Tibetans felt that they are descendants of monkeys.
The Chinese people still use the Chinese Dragon symbol a great deal even if it is not for religious purpose. The Chinese Dragon today has a particular use in China entirely for decoration. The use of Dragon on T-shirts or posters or tattoos or advertisement is a common sight throughout China.
Chinese dragon signs are are thought to bring good luck in Chinese culture. To learn more about Chinese kanji symbols click on the hyperlinks.