The Fifteen Four Days of the Lunar New Year!
(Because Im not Chinese/don't celebrate it/refuses to type for fifteen days straight)
--I scraped up the following information based off of Wikipedia because writing too much for each day will kill me, so if anyone is offended that details are not up to snuff or wrong entirely, I apologize and please dont hate me. :cFirst Day: The First Day begins off a few meanings to start off the New Year. It honors the elders of families, and if they are still alive, the elders of the elders. They would visit the oldest and the most senior members of their families, extending to their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
At midnight, they welcome the spirit deities of Heaven and Earth by the use of lighting material such as fireworks, firecrackers, and burning bamboo sticks. This practice is simultaneously used to chase off evil spirits, often represented by the
Nian (年兽). In the mythological times, the Nian was a lion-like beast, which on the first day of the New Year, came out from its hiding to attack villages and eat all the livestock, crops, and people it could find, especially the children. It is said that one day, it was discovered the Nian had weaknesses, such as being afraid of sudden loud sounds, controlled fire, and more mentionable, the color red. Since then, on each New Year that came, the people set out food in front of their homes and businesses, prepared fireworks or burning bamboo sticks, and decorated everything in the color red to keep the Nian permanently away. In time, this became a tradition on the New Year.
In the old tales, the Nian represented "Bad Things", an omen that was to come again to haunt and terrorize the people. These days the Nian represents "Poverty". In this century, this tradition is still practiced. You know of those long paper-made dragons people cloak themselves in and dance on the streets? Those aren't dragons, those are representations of the Nian. This, as well as the aforementioned means, is a way to scare off the Nian, or poverty, so that the people can live another year with opportunity and prosperity.
Second Day: The Second day of the Chinese New Year, also known as
kāinián (開年/开年, "beginning of the year"), recognizes the good fortune for those around them. This is a day when married daughters come to visit their birth parents and other related family members as they rarely get opportunity to visit otherwise. This is also a day when fortune is spread around. In the days of Imperial China, beggars and unemployed people once roamed the streets from family to family, holding a sign that stated "
Cai Shen Dao!" which translates to "The God of Wealth has Come!" Householders would respond to them with what is called "lucky money". Its regular cash, but in their case, it is blessed to give the poor good luck and prosperity for the New Year.
It is also believed dogs are recognized on this day too; A day all dogs were born on. This is not believed by everybody, but dogs are given plentiful treats on this day.
Third Day: The third day is known as "red mouth" (Chinese: 赤口; pinyin: Chìkǒu). Chikou is also called "Chigou's Day" (Chinese: 赤狗日; pinyin: Chìgǒurì"). Chigou, translated as "red dog", is an epithet of "the God of Blazing Wrath" (Chinese: 熛怒之神; pinyin: Biāo nù zhī shén). Rural villagers continue the Chinese New Year by burning paper as offerings over trash fires. It is considered an unlucky day to have guests or go visiting. Hakka villagers in rural Hong Kong in the 1960s called it the Day of the Poor Devil and believed everyone should stay at home. This is also considered a optimistic day to visit the temple of the God of Wealth and have one's future told.
Fourth Day: For those who celebrate the Chinese New Year for only two-three days, the fourth day consists of celebrating with a buffet of spring dinners, and life for them goes back to normal.
