Lunar New Year - Symbolic Meanings and Good Omens



Lunar New Year of the EARTH PIG
5 Feb 2019 to 24 Jan 2020


Note: Lunar New Years usually start any date between the 19th of January and the 19th of February of any Gregorian calendar year.


Rat 2008 – Ox 2009 – Tiger 2010 - Rabbit 2011 – Dragon 2012 – Snake 2013  – Horse 2014 – Goat or Sheep 2015 – Monkey 2016 – Rooster 2017 – Dog 2018 – Pig 2019.   Apply multiples of 12 to identify past and future years.


No sweeping of the broom or cleaning the house or doing laundry for at least the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year, lest good luck is inadvertently lost.   Get a haircut before New Year's Eve and avoid doing so in the first lunar month.

The Yee Sang is a raw fish salad that nurtures the stirring of positive vibes.  Banquet dishes are chosen carefully to be consumed for positive vibes and play on Chinese language pronunciation:
Lively prawns Prawns or Ha sound like laughter!   Steamed fish is served whole, for its connotation is to be well off.    Chicken sounds like luck.   Lettuce, or Sang Choy in Cantonese, refers to growing money.
Dried oyster, or Ho Si, means good things.  Zyu Dau, or pork knuckles in Mandarin, suggests of good things being achieved effortlessly.  Black moss or Fatt Choi alludes to wealth and prosperity.    Pork represents strength, wealth and blessings.    Scallops and clams served encourage the opening of new horizons.
Lotus seeds, pomegranates and duck in the menu wish young couples of fertility and to multiply.
Spring rolls represent gold bars for wealth.     Melons are signs of family unity.   Noodles signify a long and fulfilling life.    Mandarin oranges represent gold and are especially exchanged between relatives and friends. Pomelo gifts signify abundance and prosperity.   Dumplings look like gold ingots.

The tangerine plant or Kat is placed proudly in the front of houses, especially modified miniature shrubs, as its name in Chinese refers to good luck.   The Li or plum blossom stands for hope and renewal.  
  
It is a must to obtain a new wardrobe for the Lunar New Year. New Year means a new start. Maybe commercialism has added pressure to this philosophy.   Avoid buying shoes during the traditional first 15 days of the Lunar New Year. In Cantonese, the word for shoes also suspiciously sounds like having a regretful sigh!

Red packets (Hong Bao or Lai See) are filled with money and given for good luck by married members of a family to younger relatives and children of good friends.

Sweetness is exemplified by the making of a variety of snacks and cakes. The glutinous sticky rice cake or Nin Gou means tall cake, emphasising one getting to higher achievements or growing taller in stature year after year. Tong Jyun or sweet dough balls signify the roundness of a reunion.

It is popular for households to display red cuts of festive designs like lanterns, calligraphy and zodiac animals. Good sayings with Chinese characters are often hung upside down, for such an arrangement also suggests the "arrival" of good luck.

Traditional greetings during the festive period emphasise on good fortune, prosperity, a wonderful and smooth path, excellent luck, family happiness, an achieving career, good business and scoring good results in study.    Avoid using, giving or receiving sharp pointed objects during the first few days of the Lunar New Year.    Lion dances bring good vibes to businesses and households.




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