Photo Essay: Chinese New Year
The two children set up small fireworks on the road on New Year’s Eve to welcome the coming New Year. The two children put on hats because they were afraid of the sound of firecrackers, and chose to greet the New Year in a quieter way in a place far away from the crowd.
The family makes dumplings together on New Year’s Eve, rolling out the dough and making the filling. These green dumplings are stuffed with chives, and the light-colored dumplings are stuffed with meat.
Before the family reunion on New Year’s Eve, the elders first put the spring couplets and door god stickers on the door frame. As the gods who guard the door of folk beliefs, people stick their gods on the doors to drive away evil spirits and protect their peace.
The bell rang at zero o’clock, and people on the street picked up their phones to take pictures of the bright fireworks. The father and son in the center of the photo just finished setting off their own box of fireworks.
Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year), refers to the time when each lunar year alternates. In China, every 12 years is a round of representing animals, namely rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. 2021 is the year of the ox, and for people born in every year of the ox in the past, this year is their “birth year (zodiacal year)”. The “birth year” is said to be a difficult year for people of this zodiac animal, and people usually wear red things on their bodies in order to spend the year more smoothly and easily. New year’s money (also called red pocket) is one of the customs of the year. After the New Year’s dinner, the elders have to distribute the prepared New Year’s money to the younger generation. It is said that the new year’s money can suppress evil spirits, and the younger generation can spend the year of the year in peace.
CNY is one of the four traditional festivals in China, and it is known all over the world as a time to eat dumplings and set off fireworks. Dumplings have now become an indispensable food for the Spring Festival. Dumplings are shaped like ingots. People eat dumplings during the Spring Festival with the meaning of recruiting wealth and treasure; second, dumplings have fillings, which makes it easy for people to pack various auspicious things into the fillings, to place people’s hopes for the new year. Setting off firecrackers can create a festive atmosphere and is a kind of entertainment in festivals. It can bring joy and good fortune to people. However, if you trace the origin of firecrackers, you will understand the original intention of setting off firecrackers and the history of their evolution. It is said that in ancient times, there was an animal in the mountains that was neither afraid of people nor fire. To deal with this animal, people burn firecrackers to keep them away, expel the evil spirits, and achieve good luck and peace.
