9 ways on how to bring good luck for Chinese new year
According to Chinese astrology, people who celebrate Chinese New Year in their zodiac year are believed to offend Tai Sui, the God of Age, which can bring bad luck.
Therefore it’s believed you should pay special attention when preparing for the festival to ensure you bring-in good luck and fortune for the year.
1. Have a good clean
In preparation to welcome the New Year, it’s traditional to have a good clean of the house to get rid of the old year.
Once the house is spick-and-span the decorating can begin for the festivities.
2. Decorate
A festival is not a festival without its decorations; so make sure your home is covered in red. Red is believed to be the main colour of the festival which brings in immensely good luck to all.
3. Wear red underwear
Yes, seriously! Red is one of the luckiest colour to wear during the festival, and it’s a must in your zodiac year – red socks, belts, shoes and underwear are highly recommended.
This will give you good luck through out the year and warn off any bad spirits.
4. Round up your family & friends
The New Year is time for family & friends to be together, eat a big meal, exchange gifts and enjoy some quality time together.
The main meal is called the ‘reunion dinner’ and is considered as the most important meal of the festival.
5. Food glorious food!
To ensure the luck continues for the year, certain foods are eaten during the festival, this is because of their symbolic meanings.
The word for fish sounds like surplus; eating fish is believed to bring a surplus of money and good luck! Other typical foods eaten include dumplings, spring rolls and Chinese rice pudding. Yum!
6. The red envelope
If you receive a red envelope, you’re in luck!
This typical gift is given to children and retired seniors, not only as a symbol of good luck, but also as a gesture from the family to maintain ones age and good health.
7. Baby, you’re a firework!!
Fireworks are a long-old Chinese tradition. By setting them off when the clock strikes midnight, you scare away any bad spirits.
It is believed that the person who lights the first firework is said to obtain their good luck for the year.
8. Say a little prayer
Going to a temple for a blessing during the Chinese New Year is a common tradition during the festival.
Families will visit their nearest temple and have a blessing to welcome good luck and fortune for the coming year.
9. New Year’s Day Do’s and Don’ts
To maintain your good luck and fortune, make sure you avoid doing the following on New Year’s Day:
- wearing anything old
- washing your hair, clothes and cleaning – or you’ll wash away your good luck!
- eating porridge as this is connected to poverty
- using knives or scissors as they will ‘cut your wealth’
- lending or borrowing money could lead to debt
- visiting the hospital as this could bring in bad health
- wearing black or white as they are bad luck colours
- crying and breaking dishes is also seen as bad luck too!
Taking these simple steps will help you set the best Chinese New Year celebrations with your family and friends; as well as giving you the best luck and future for the year.
Make sure you wish everyone a ‘chun jie kuai le’ (春节快乐) and keep the good luck and fortune going for another year!
Find out what your Chinese Zodiac sign says about you. While you’re at it, let us try and see if we can guess your Chinese New Year zodiac sign – leave us a comment to tell us if we got it right or wrong!
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