It is only less than 2 weeks before the biggest event for the Chinese community all over the world – welcoming the spring festival. It’s Chinese New Year – the year of the Rabbit!
The Spring Festival begins with the new moon, which occurs between January 21 and February 20. The festivity will fall on a different day every year, and this year’s New Year is on the 22nd of January 2023.
The origin of Chinese New Year stems from many legends that you can read about it from numerous sources on the internet. However, right now, the New Year is a time to honour deities and ancestors, while at the same time it is also a time to celebrate and reconnect with family members.
But before the celebrations, there are many things to do leading up to the big event… such as…
House Cleaning
One of the many rituals that households still follow is the WHOLE house cleaning, i.e. to spring clean the whole house. This action symbolises driving away the energy of bad luck of the previous year and to allow the new and good energy to start the new year.
Making Chinese New Year cookies
Chinese New Year cookies
Another ritual is making lots of sweets, such as kuih kapit, kuih bangkit, cookies, cakes, rice cake/new year cake (Nian gao), “huat kuih” etc. The sweet cookies express the wish for a sweet and prosperous new year.
I remembered when growing up my grandmother and mother would start preparing all the Chinese New Year cakes and cookies a few months before the day; several of our aunties and cousins would join us during the weekends to help out with the preparations as well.
Looking back now, it is definitely wonderful memories of the fun we had with all the cleaning, cooking, and baking. Those shared experiences brought together the amazing special relationships we shared with the whole family.
Gifting
During this festive period, families and friends will exchange gifts with each other such as Chinese New Year’s cookies, cakes and fruits (like mandarins).
As for our family, our gift to friends and families would be Kuih Bangkit (tapioca flour Cookies); we made at least 15-20 plus medium size tins worth of kuih bangkit every year! There were gifts to relatives and friends for Chinese New Year.
I could still remember relatives’ and friends’ faces light up when receiving the kuih bangkit. It was something they looked forward to every Chinese New Year.
Decorating the house with red
Photo courtesy from my Aunty’s home – red chair cover
Red is the colour for Chinese New Year; it symbolises luck, good fortune, joy, and happiness. So, during Chinese New Year, we are encouraged to wear red clothing and decorate everything in the house in red where possible.
It is like setting up Christmas trees, but for Chinese New Year it is time to put up the RED decorations, for example red lanterns, red door curtain/banners (which you hang over the door), and also the decoration on the furniture as well – as you can see from the picture above.
Chinese New Year 2023 is approaching fast. What are your rituals leading up to Chinese New Year? How are you celebrating Chinese New Year?
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