The Chinese year of Tiger. Creator: Wufeel Design

Spring Festival, (春节, chūnjié in Mandarin) also known as Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year, is the most important festival for Chinese communities around the world. Think of a western Christmas and New Year combined, then stretched out over a couple of weeks and you might get some idea of what a big deal this time of year is. But when does it take place, how long does it last and exactly how is it celebrated? Well, to find out more - read on!

A bit like Easter or Ramadan, the date of each Spring Festival is calculated according to the lunar calendar (the Chinese lunisolar calendar actually, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day) so it will vary from year to year. This year, Chinese ‘New Year’s Day’ falls on February 1st and ushers in the year of the Tiger in the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. It marks the beginning of a fifteen-day holiday ending with the Lantern Festival (元宵节, yuánxiāo jié). Of course, these days not every day is an official holiday but many workers will take the whole period off for their one vacation of the year. In any case, if you’re doing business in or with China, well, just don't expect to get too much done until after the Lantern Festival!

As you would expect, the day before Spring Festival is called "New Year's Eve” (除夕夜，chúxī yè) and, logically, it will be celebrated on January 31st in 2022. And this is the one everyone’s looking forward to! Traditionally, families like to gather at home, prepare and eat a special meal and see in the New Year together. Of course, due to the sheer size of China, typical Spring Festival dishes vary greatly from region to region. In the north dumplings are an indispensable part of New Year’s Eve, while in other areas different dishes are considered essential - but chicken and fish will generally appear on the table everywhere as a rule. The Chinese word for chicken (鸡, jī) sounds like the word for good fortune (吉, jí). Meanwhile fish (鱼, yú) is a homophone for the word yú (余) meaning having a surfeit or a surplus - always a good way to finish the year! In many parts tāngyuán (汤圆), a classic dessert consisting of balls of glutinous rice dough, is eaten on the last day of the festival in the hope that the coming year will be ‘sweet’.

Dumplings and Tangyuan

 Apart from sumptuous food and happy faces the colour red is ubiquitous - red lanterns, rhyming couplets written on red paper, traditional red paper cuttings, red envelopes for gifting money, red clothing. If the Chinese New Year has a colour it’s definitely red, which in Chinese culture red symbolizes festivity, liveliness and, of course, warmth in the midst of winter.

The red rhyming couplets (春联, chūnlián) consist of phrases to do with good luck and prosperity and are pasted around doors and gateways into homes to add a jubilant, festive atmosphere. Paper cuttings are an art form popular across East Asia and the red ones for Spring Festival are stuck onto windows to be seen by anyone who passes.

One of the most anticipated customs - at least for children - is the handing over of ‘red envelopes’ (红包，hóngbāo) with crisp, new banknotes inside. This gift represents a blessing for the year ahead and the wish that the kids will grow up safe and sound. But nowadays, many families also give envelopes to young adults who haven’t yet started working as those without a stable job or income are often still considered "children".

Red rhyming couplets and Red envelopes. Creator: Qin Chuan

Notebook with ancient Chinese painting

And why not follow the colour of money with the colour of clothing? At the New Year, many Chinese  people like to wear the colour red. A lot. And if the new year coincides with the animal sign you were born under - the tiger for 2022 - then wearing red applies particularly to socks, belts - and even underwear!

In addition to festival red the colour of clothes was also traditionally linked to social status in ancient China. The most noble colour of course is yellow, which symbolised imperial power. Indeed during the Tang Dynasty, around 1400 years ago, it was explicitly forbidden for commoners to wear yellow clothes as the colour was reserved for the emperor. And during the last dynasty, the Qing, being given a yellow coat by the emperor was a mark of honour on a par with receiving a title.

In this colourful hierarchy red was second only to yellow, and the formal wear of most officials and dignitaries was largely red. The same was true of the colour of buildings and walls in Beijing’s Forbidden City where red dominates along with yellow-tiled roofs. And since there are noble colours such as red and yellow, what then is at the opposite end of the (figurative) spectrum?  Well, that would be green.

As long as 2000 years ago, during the Han Dynasty, it was recorded that those who wore green were commoners or outcasts who could not even enter the clan temples. Meanwhile, a green turban indicated that the wearer was a slave. By the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century, it was explicitly stated that men living off immoral earnings (i.e. pimps) should wear green headgear. This symbolic meaning has led to the modern Chinese phrase "wearing a green hat” - meaning one’s wife or partner is unfaithful or having an affair – the most terrible insult in patriarchal, traditional Chinese culture!

Forbbiden City, Beijing

Canvas bag with traditional Chinese painting.

 So, remember, if you are invited to a Chinese friend's house this New Year's Eve, feel free to bring a red coloured gift, hand over a red envelope or wear a red dress. But whatever you do - don’t wear a green hat.

And, of course, if you’re stuck for ideas for that Spring Festival gift for the China lover in your life, why not visit our online shop – at special festival prices! 

Until next time, happy Sring Festival to you all!

Yocha Studio 

The Chinese year of Tiger. Creator: Wufeel Design.