What are the customs on New Year’s Eve in 2019? Why do we give out lucky money during the Chinese New Year?

What are the customs on New Year’s Eve in 2019? Why do we give out lucky money during the Chinese New Year?
Introduction: New Year’s Eve is a very traditional but very important traditional festival, and there are many customs and traditions on New Year’s Eve. So what are the customs on New Year’s Eve in 2019, and why do we give out lucky money during the Chinese New Year? For more details about the 2019 Chinese New Year, please visit Shuimoxiansheng.com for consultation.

What are the customs on New Year’s Eve in 2019?

New Year's Eve Customs: Pasting Spring Festival Couplets
Spring Festival couplets, also called "door couplets", "spring stickers", "couplets" and "couplets", are a type of couplets and a unique literary form.
This pair of the world's earliest Spring Festival couplets, "The three yangs begin to spread, the four seasons begin to open", is recorded on the Dunhuang manuscripts unearthed from the Mogao Grottoes. The couplet was written by Liu Qiuzi of the Tang Dynasty in the 11th year of Kaiyuan (723). The custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival began to become popular among the people in the Ming Dynasty, and the trend originated in Nanjing. Nowadays, people in the Jiangnan region pay attention to pasting Spring Festival couplets on the morning of New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve Customs: Pasting the Chinese Character "Fu"
Posting the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing custom among the Chinese people. Pasting the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival reflects people's yearning for a happy life and is also a wish for a better future.
New Year's Eve customs: New Year's Eve dinner
The New Year’s Eve dinner is also called the reunion dinner. According to Zong Yan’s "Jingchu Sui Shi Ji", the custom of eating New Year’s Eve dinner has existed at least since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Because it is winter, people in the north often set up a hot pot in the middle of the dining table, so it is also called "weilu".
New Year's Eve Customs: Traditional Seating
According to old customs, the traditional seating arrangement on New Year's Eve is "the left is more respected, the east is more respected" and "facing the door is more respected". The chief seat at the annual banquet is the elder with the highest seniority, and the last seat is the one with the lowest seniority. If it is a dinner party, the chief guest is the most respected guest and the host sits at the last seat. Before the chief takes his seat, no one else can take his seat; before the chief takes action, no one else can take action.
New Year's Eve customs: food features
The dishes for the New Year’s Eve dinner of northerners often include dumplings, fish, rice cakes, long-term dishes, etc. Because dumplings are shaped like gold ingots, they symbolize wealth; the fish dish cannot be finished because in Chinese, "fish" and "surplus" have the same pronunciation, which has the auspicious meaning of "surplus every year"; rice cakes mean "promotion every year"; and eating longevity dishes implies longevity. In South China, there are more chicken, roast pork, hair algae, dried oysters, etc., because "hair algae and dried oysters" is a homophone for "make a fortune and have a good market." A typical New Year’s Eve dinner in Jiangnan must include fish and a hearty soup pot.
New Year's Eve customs: Staying up all night
The custom of staying up all night to welcome the New Year has a history of nearly two thousand years in China. Zhou Chu of the Jin Dynasty talked about the New Year customs in Shu in his "Fengtu Ji". At the end of the year, people gave each other New Year gifts, which was called "gifting the year"; they invited each other to banquets, which was called "saying goodbye to the year"; and they stayed up all night on New Year's Eve, which was called "keeping the year". This is the earliest record of the custom of staying up all night to see on New Year's Eve. But at that time, staying up all night to celebrate the New Year seemed to be a local custom. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, staying up all night to celebrate the New Year became a common custom throughout the country.

Why do we give out New Year’s money?

New Year’s money is also called “Yasui money” and “Shousui money”. It is one of the important gifts for the Chinese New Year.
There is a widely circulated legend about lucky money. It is said that in ancient times there was a little monster called "祟" who always liked to touch the heads of sleeping children on New Year's Eve. The children would always be scared and cry, and then their heads would start to feel hot and they would become stupid. So on this day, adults with children at home would not fall asleep, and every household would keep the lights on until dawn. This was called "guarding against 祟".
There was a couple who had a child in their old age. They loved their child very much. During the New Year, they took out eight copper coins for the child to play with. When the child was tired and ready to go to sleep, they would wrap the eight copper coins in red paper and put them under the child’s pillow. The couple dared not close their eyes. In the middle of the night, a cold wind suddenly blew open the door. The eight copper coins wrapped in red paper by the couple scared away the "evil spirit". Then everyone followed suit, and the child was safe.

Fortunes in life can be good or bad, and calculating the direction of your fortune in advance can help you nip problems in the bud, reverse unfavorable situations, and make your life smoother and brighter. To calculate your life fortune over the next ten years, please click on the [Premium Calculation] button below for accurate calculation. I wish you all the best in your life!

<<:  What is the most auspicious New Year’s Eve dinner in 2019? What is the meaning of eating New Year’s Eve dinner on New Year’s Eve?

>>:  Do people born on the twelfth day of the first lunar month have a strong life?

Recommend

The lunar calendar for December 18, 2018, is it a good day?

The twelfth month of the lunar calendar is common...

When is Xiaoman in 2021? Will it rain during the Grain Full solar term in 2021?

The Grain Full solar term is one of the twenty-fou...

Where is the God of Wealth on May 1st, 2019?

The "Book of Songs" records that "...

Is a baby born on the fifth day of the sixth lunar month in 2022 a Cancer?

Cancer is one of the twelve zodiac signs. Let’s ta...