On the origin and custom of the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the most important holiday for Chinese people. Excitement and happiness are palpable this time of the year， and they reach the peak on lunar new year‘s eve.
Though the 15-day period， which starts with the first day of the lunar new year and ends on the 15th day （known as Lantern Festival）， is relatively long， it is the busiest time of the year for Chinese people. The arrangements they have to make for family reunions， buying necessities and preparing food keeps them busy throughout the holiday. Many of them travel back home and meet friends over dinner and drinks. The celebrations include decorating the house and setting off fireworks.
But we are talking about a tradition that seems to be fading.
Spring Festival， as it is celebrated today， has undergone many changes， thanks to the country‘s economic development and globalization.Yet no Spring Festival is complete without food. People could not get good food whenever they desired in earlier times， something that does not apply to society today. More often than not， people faced the risk of famine. The best time for people to celebrate was when food was available in plenty， and that was possible in spring，or the beginning of the lunar new year. That was the main reason why Spring Festival acquired such great importance among Chinese people.
But three decades of economic growth has ensured that people in China， except for those who are still poor， can enjoy a good meal whenever they want. Such has been the change in people‘s fortune that some have to be treated for obesity and other health problems associated with excessive eating.
In the past， celebrations were limited to events like song-and-dance duets in North China， dragon/lion dances in South China and fireworks， which required the joint efforts of the entire community. But economic development and urbanization seems to have weakened the social links among people. Many， especially those living in cities， are not interested in celebrating the festival with people they hardly know.
Many customs associated with Spring Festival have changed， too. In the past， people used to visit relatives and friends with gifts and lots of good wishes. Today， many people， especially the youth， use their cell phones or the Internet to send their good wishes and even "gifts" to their relatives and friends. Some may say this a sign that people have become less caring about their near and dear ones， but we should see this development as a time- and energy-saving exercise granted by the information age.
In recent times， many people have started praying for a career promotion or more money instead of invoking God or the Buddha for a healthy and long life and the welfare of their family. But the number of such people is decreasing now， which shows that people are becoming more reasonable.
The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and also the most important one of the whole year. Through the evolvement of thousands of years， a series of customs are spreading far and wide.
Sweeping the Dust

  “Dust” is homophonic with "chen”（尘）in Chinese， which means old and past. In this way， "sweeping the dust” before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life. In a word， just before the Spring Festival comes， every household will give a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new.

    Pasting Spring Couplets

  “The Spring Couplet”， also called "couplet” and "a pair of antithetical phrases”， is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription， usually an auspicious phrase， above the gate. The sentence pasting on the right side of the door is called the first line of the couplet and the one on the left the second line. On the eve of the Spring Festival， every household will paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival. In the past， the Chinese usually wrote their own spring couplet with a brush or asked others to do for them， while nowadays， it is common for people to buy the printed spring couplet in the market.

    Pasting Paper-cuts and "Up-sided Fu”

   Paper-cuts， usually with auspicious patterns， give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows， it is common for Chinese to paste the character "fu（福）”， big and small， on walls， doors and doorposts around the houses. "Fu（福）” shows people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character "fu（福）” to signify that blessing has arrived because "inverted” is a homonym for "arrive” in Chinese. Now many kinds of paper-cuts and "fu（福）” can be seen in the market before the Festival.

   Staying Up Late on New Year‘s Eve

   The tradition of staying up late to see New Year in originated from an interesting folk tale. In ancient China there lived a monster named Year， who was very ferocious. Year always went out from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to devour people. Therefore， on every New Year’s Eve， every household would have supper together. After dinner， no one dared go to sleep and all the family members would sit together， chatting and emboldening each other. Gradually the habit of staying up late on New Year’s Eve is formed. Thus in China， "celebrating the Spring Festival” is also called "passing over the year （guo nian）”。 However， now there are less and less people in cities who will stay up late to see New Year in.

  Pasting New Year Prints

 The custom of pasting New Year Prints originated from the tradition of placing Door Gods on the external doors of houses. With the creation of board carvings， New Year paintings cover a wide range of subjects. The most famous ones are Door Gods， Surplus Year after Year， Three Gods of Blessing， Salary and Longevity， An Abundant Harvest of Crops， Thriving Domestic Animals and Celebrating Spring. Four producing areas of New Year Print are Tɑohuɑwu of Suzhou， Yɑngliuqing of Tianjin， Wuqiɑng of Hebei and Weifang of Shangdong. Now the tradition of pasting New Year paintings is still kept in rural China， while it is seldom followed in cities.

 Having Jiaozi

On New Year’s Eve， the whole family will sit together to make jiaozi and celebrate the Spring Festival. The shape of jiaozi is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure. The tradition of having jiaozi is very important during the Spring Festival. You cannot have a complete Spring Festival without having jiaozi. （See page 82 for more information about "jiaozi”）

The CCTV New Year‘s Gala

The New Year’s Gala is a variety show held by China Central Television （CCTV） since 1983. For every year since then at the turn of the Lunar New Year， the program begins at 8:00PM and lasts five or six hours. It brings laughter to billions of people， creates many popular words and produces lots of TV phenomena meriting attention. For over twenty years， its value has gone far beyond a variety show. It is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. Many Chinese would like to watch the gala while having the dinner on New Year’s Eve.