Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new

This is the most direct meaning of the Spring Festival, and is related to the ancient Chinese people's understanding of the rhythm of life.

People from other countries may not know much about the Chinese calendar, and they are puzzled as to why the Chinese Spring Festival falls on a different day every year.

The reason is that China uses two calendars: one based on the Gregorian calendar as the global standard, and the other the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which dates back to the Han dynasty (206BC-220). The Chinese refer to the first day of the lunisolar calendar as "Spring Festival", so if we take the Gregorian calendar as a reference, the first day of the lunisolar calendar each year is not fixed.

Why do Chinese people and Westerners use different calendars? This is closely related to the Chinese people's concept of time that is based on the characteristics of nature.

In the eyes of Chinese people, the passage of time for people directly corresponds to the passage of time in nature. People are supposed to go with nature's time and not against it. This was of utmost importance for ancient agrarian China.

For people then, the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn, and winter – represented the growth and decline of living organisms. If farmers fail to sow, fertilize, harvest, it would result in poor harvest, leading to famine and unrest.

The current Chinese lunar calendar was established in 104 BC by the government at that time. It defined the first month of the lunar calendar as the beginning of the year and the 12th month as the end of the year, and incorporated 24 solar terms—a timeline for agricultural activities—into the calendar (hence the lunisolar nature of the calendar). The creation provided clear guidance for the seasonal order of the Chinese nation, establishing the millennia-old agricultural tradition of sowing in spring, farming in summer, harvesting in autumn, and resting in winter.

In this system of time, the four seasons are regarded as different stages of a life cycle, including birth, growth, decline, and death. Winter represents the stage of decline, where nature and all living things enter a period of aging, and human life also faces challenges. Whether people could survive winter and welcome spring, and whether they could follow the natural time cycle, could not be guaranteed in ancient times with resources and medical facilities available then. Therefore, the ancient Chinese invented various activities to drive away evil and ward off disease, which gradually evolved into customs during the Spring Festival such as dragon and lion dances, and setting off firecrackers. These customs and ceremonies uplifted people's spirits, helping them to enter a new state of well-being.

It is for this reason that the Chinese define the Spring Festival as a pivotal moment of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. By passing through this point in time every year, people and all living things can simultaneously gain new vitality.

Expressing gratitude

In Chinese language, the Spring Festival has a more colloquial name:"Guo Nian". Between the two Chinese words, "Nian" is related to a mythical beast of the same name. The monster called "Nian" is afraid of the color red, firelight, and loud noises. Therefore, on the eve of the Chinese New Year, every household would hang up red paper and set off firecrackers to drive away the "Nian" monster. Over time, it has evolved into a tradition.

However, the true origin of the Spring Festival is related to the ancient Chinese people's reverence for nature and their gratitude toward ancestors. It is commonly believed that the Spring Festival originated from the worship of gods and ancestors during the Shang dynasty (1600—1046 BC) in China.

At the end of each year and the beginning of a new one, ancient Chinese people needed to make offerings to numerous deities, including Nüwa, the mythical creator of mankind, Fuxi, the cultural ancestor who taught people fishing and hunting methods, as well as imagined gods of heaven, earth, wind, rain, mountains, water, fire, and more. The purpose of these offerings was primarily to express gratitude to the deities, thanking them for bestowing sunlight and rainfall and for teaching humanity the skills for survival.

According to the ancient Chinese, human survival and development were inseparable from the gifts and bestowals of the deities. For example, fire, which allowed humanity to eat cooked food, was believed to be a gift from the Fire God. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, there have been many temples dedicated to the Fire God in various regions, where people offer sacrifices.

In modern times, although beliefs in deities have gradually waned, the tradition of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors during the Spring Festival has been more or less preserved in various regions.

Today, the most popular deity during the Spring Festival is the God of Wealth, and people are filled with gratitude and anticipation toward him. In many parts of China, the custom dictates that firecrackers are set off during the reunion dinner, primarily to welcome the God of Wealth. It is believed that setting off firecrackers can attract the wandering God of Wealth and bring people prosperity throughout the year.

During the Spring Festival, along with the worship of deities, there is also the tradition of ancestral worship. Prior to the ceremony, there is a ritual of welcoming and guiding the ancestors. The time for welcoming ancestors is not uniform across regions, but in the vast majority of places, ancestral worship takes place on Chinese New Year's Eve. People would go in front of the ancestral tablets of their ancestors and report every joyous event that has occurred in the family over the past year, express gratitude for the ancestors' grace and blessings, and appreciate the good family and clan traditions established by their ancestors.

To a large extent, the Spring Festival is a grand ceremony of gratitude. From ancient times to the present day, the tradition of worshiping gods and ancestors during the Spring Festival has been preserved because the Chinese people's gratitude has remained unchanged, and their longing for abundance, peace, and harmony has remained unchanged.

Family reunion

Chinese New Year and family reunion have always been linked together. Once the season arrives, the instinct to return home naturally kicks in. In China, the world's largest human migration (referring to the Spring Festival travel rush) takes place during the Spring Festival holiday every year.

Feng Jicai, a renowned cultural scholar in China, once said, "Every time I see the overcrowded airports, train stations, and long queues for tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush, I am deeply moved by the deep-rootedness of the New Year culture in the Chinese people. What other culture can mobilize such a formidable tide of passionate people once a year? What other culture can highlight such a strong affinity for hometowns and families?"

Therefore, understanding the Spring Festival means understanding Chinese people's deep-rooted longing for reunion, like migratory birds returning home.

The concept of home is the strongest traditional notion for Chinese people, and almost all traditional festivals in China have the core theme of family reunion. This has been determined by the social structure in China for thousands of years, which has always revolved around family, clans, and regional affiliations. For any individual or family to thrive and develop smoothly, the first step is to coordinate the relationships within the family and the extended kinship network.

Egyptian Ambassador to China Asim Haneefi finds in the Spring Festival a commonality between Chinese and Egyptian people – valuing family and kinship. He expressed his sentiment that, in today's turbulent world, people from all countries need more happiness brought by festivals. Sitting together with family, listening to each other's stories, and sharing laughter. These precious moments are the most comforting to our hearts.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, a sumptuous dinner embodies the Chinese people's expectation for reunion. In times of scarcity, the dinner on the eve of Spring Festival was the most abundant meal of the year for every Chinese family. Today, although the living standards have greatly improved, the tradition of a grand and sumptuous dinner on this occasion continues.

The dishes of this grand dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve are filled with auspicious meanings of reunion and happiness. In northern China, families make dumplings because of their resemblance to golden ingots (used in ancient China as currency) to symbolize wealth and family gathering.

In southern China, the grand dinner has two essential dishes. One is a whole fish with the head and tail intact, symbolizing "surplus year after year" because the words "fish" and "surplus" are homophones in Chinese. In mountainous areas of China where fresh fish is hard to come by, a carved wooden fish is used as a substitute. Additionally, in certain regions, a dish called "Ciba Fish" is made using glutinous rice as the main ingredient to mimic real fish. This dish is not only visually appealing but also has a deliciously sweet taste. The second dish is meatballs, commonly referred to as "Yuanzi". It symbolizes reunion because the round shape of meatballs stands for "completeness and reunion" in traditional Chinese culture.

As time went on, the grand dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve has taken on increasingly different forms. Many people nowadays choose to dine out in restaurants instead of cooking at home. Nevertheless, what has remained unchanged is the taste of home, the warm and affectionate love, and the timeless bond of family.

Universal celebration, rejoicing together

A few weeks ago, at the 2024 Chinese New Year Concert, a children's choir from Italy performed a Chinese song titled "In the Glow of Lights in China", which instantly became an online sensation. A group of fair-haired and blue-eyed children, with less-than-accurate pronunciation, sang about the warmth and joy of Chinese New Year, with thousands of lights brightening up countless homes.

Many netizens left comments for the video: "What's remarkable is that these children sang with such a sense of happiness.""This is true empathy with us!"

Beautiful things always have the power to transcend culture and language, reaching the softest corners of the human heart.

Going back 400 years, the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci once recorded China's Spring Festival in his writings. He discovered that Chinese New Year was not like most Western holidays that originated from religion, but rather a celebration that transcended ethnicity, religion, and geography. It was a nationwide carnival in secular society.

The lantern was an object that greatly intrigued Matteo Ricci. He observed that, as Chinese New Year approached, people would go out to buy cardboard, bamboo, and candles to make lanterns. They would create lanterns of various shapes and designs. When Chinese New Year's Eve approached, people would hang lanterns above their own houses. Matteo Ricci even raised a question: Wouldn't these lanterns made of paper catch fire and cause a potential hazard?

If Matteo Ricci was astonished by the lanterns, he was even more amazed by the splendid and colorful fireworks during Chinese New Year. He was captivated by the incredible variety of shapes and colors that gunpowder could produce as it soared into the sky.

The Portuguese missionary António André also marveled at the magnificence and prosperity of China. He exclaimed at the brilliance and splendor of lanterns, lights, and fireworks during Chinese New Year when he stood atop a hill to observe the cities of China.

Now the glow of lights in China are lighting up the whole world.

In December 2023, the 78th United Nations General Assembly included Chinese New Year as a UN floating holiday, making it a truly global festival. According to preliminary statistics, nearly 20 countries around the world have recognized Chinese New Year as a public holiday. Moreover, Chinese New Year customs and traditions have spread to nearly 200 countries and regions. Approximately one-fifth of the global population celebrates Chinese New Year in various forms.

In France, on the day of Chinese New Year, the Eiffel Tower is lit up in vibrant red. In the largest Chinatown in France, there is an annual parade of lion and dragon dances that makes its way through the streets all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, and businesses along the route would receive blessings from participants of the parade. Children also dress up in festive attire, contributing to the joyous atmosphere throughout the day.

In Japan, some people hang a small bundle of pine branches, known as "kadomatsu", in front of their homes. This is believed to invite the New Year's deities to pause for a while and bring peace and good fortune to the household.

In Vietnam, as the 12th lunar month approaches, every household starts preparing for the New Year, known as "Tết". One of the most distinctive features is the preparation of special traditional delicacies such as "bánh chưng" and "bánh tét", which are square-shaped glutinous rice cakes. These cakes are large in size and symbolize harmony, inclusiveness, and the harmonious coexistence of "the round heaven and the square earth".

The universal emotions of abundance, reunion, gratitude, and harmony are experienced by people all over the world, regardless of their country or culture. The Spring Festival, is a grand celebration where friends from China and around the world come together to share cultural traditions and create beautiful memories during this joyous occasion.

The author is Liu Xian, editor of DeepChina.