Contents
What are the customs of the Spring Festival in 2022
What are the traditional cultural knowledge in the Spring Festival
The significance of the Spring Festival
What are the customs of the Spring Festival in 2022
Sweeping the dust
"On the twenty-fourth day of the Lunar New Year, dusting and sweeping the house", according to Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals, China had the custom of sweeping the dust of the Spring Festival in the era of Yao and Shun. According to folklore: because the "dust" and "Chen" harmonized, the Spring Festival dust sweeping "in addition to the meaning of Chen Bu Xin", the intention is to all poor luck, bad luck are swept out the door. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean up the environment, cleaning all kinds of appliances, dismantle and wash the bedding curtains, sweeping six courtyard, dusting dust cobwebs, dredging nullahs and dark ditches.
There is a joyful atmosphere of hygiene and cleanliness everywhere.
Watch the New Year's Eve
Watch the New Year's Eve is one of the most important New Year's activities, the custom of watching the New Year's Eve has a long history. The earliest records are found in the Western Jin Dynasty Zhou Zhi's "Land and Customs": New Year's Eve night, each with the gift, known as "feed the year"; wine and food invited, known as the "other year"; young and old get together to drink, wishing to complete, known as the "sub-year"; all of us will be the end of the year. "; we stay up all night, waiting for the day to dawn, known as the "old age".
Since the Han Dynasty, the moment of transition between the old and the new year is usually the middle of the night.
New Year's greetings
New Year's cards, which are common in modern society, were already practiced in ancient China. As early as the Song Dynasty, the royal aristocratic scholar's family and relatives have been used between the special New Year's greeting piece, called "name prick" or "name sticker". It is the plum blossom paper paper cut into about two inches wide, three inches long card, written on their names, addresses. The door of each house stick a red paper bag, called "door book", on which is written the name of the master, to receive the name prick (name stickers). Worshippers cast name stickers (name stickers) in the door book, that is, to pay homage to the New Year, the meaning of which is the same as the modern New Year's card.
Spring Festival couplets
The custom of posting spring couplets, which began about a thousand years ago in the period of the latter Shu, is supported by history. Spring Festival couplets, also known as door pairs, spring stickers, couplets, pairs, peach charms, etc., which depict the background of the times and express good wishes in neat, pairwise, concise and exquisite words, are a unique form of literature in China. Every Spring Festival, no matter in the city or in the countryside, every family has to choose a big red Spring Festival couplet to paste on the door, to increase the festive atmosphere for the holiday. This custom began in the Song Dynasty, began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival couplets of ideology and artistry have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangzhu prepared the Spring Festival couplets of monographs, "Threshold Lian series of words" on the origins of the couplets and various types of works of the characteristics of the discourse. There are many kinds of spring couplets, according to its use place, can be divided into door heart, frame pair, horizontal phi, spring strip, bucket square and so on. "Door heart" on the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frame; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "spring bars "according to different content, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond-shaped, more in the furniture, shadow wall.
Window flowers and the word "blessed"
In folklore, people also like to put all kinds of paper cuttings on the window - window flowers. Window flowers not only bring out the festive atmosphere, but also combine decoration, appreciation and practicality. Paper-cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years, because it is mostly pasted on the windows, so it is also called "window flowers". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window decoration expresses auspicious events and good wishes, and decorates the festivals with red-hot splendor. At the same time of putting up Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on the door, wall and lintel of their houses. Putting up the character "福" in the Spring Festival is a long-established custom in Chinese folklore. The character "福" refers to good fortune and luck, and is a symbol of people's desire for a happy life and their wish for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wishes, some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "good fortune has arrived". Folk there will be "Fu" word fine as a variety of patterns, patterns have the star, longevity, carp jump Dragon Gate, the five valleys, the dragon and phoenix, and so on.
Posting New Year's Paintings
The Spring Festival hanging stickers in urban and rural areas is also very common, black and colorful New Year's Paintings to thousands of families added a lot of prosperity and joy of the festive atmosphere. New Year paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and holding their hopes for the future. New Year paintings, like spring scrolls, originated as "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year's paintings has not only been limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune, Lust and Longevity," "Heavenly Officials Provide Blessings," "Five Valleys of Good Fortune," "Six Animals Prosperity," "Welcome the Spring and Receive the Blessings," such as the exquisite colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy people's wishes for the New Year's celebration and prayers. China appeared in three important production areas: Suzhou Taohuayu, Tianjin Yangliuqing and Shandong Weifang; the formation of China's three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings, each with its own characteristics.
China's earliest collection of New Year's Paintings is the Southern Song Dynasty "with the fairness of the country's Fanglong" woodcut New Year's Paintings, the painting is Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Ji and green beads of the four ancient beauties. The most widely circulated folk painting is the one of "The Mouse Marrying Her Marriage". It depicts an interesting scene of a mouse marrying a bride in accordance with the customs of the earth. In the early years of the Republic of China, Zheng Mantuo of Shanghai combined the lunar calendar and New Year's paintings. This is a new form of New Year's paintings. This combination of two and one of the New Year's paintings, later developed into a wall calendar, and is still popular throughout the country.
Burning firecrackers
Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of a new year, the first thing that families do when they open the door is to set off firecrackers to beep and blare the sound of firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers is a Chinese specialty, also known as "firecrackers", "cannonballs", "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, so far has a history of more than two thousand years.
Firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, is a holiday entertainment, can bring joy and good fortune. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers is more and more widely used, varieties and colors are also increasingly numerous, whenever a major festival and festivities, and marriage, building, opening, etc., are burning firecrackers in order to show the celebration, Figure a good luck. Hunan Liuyang, Guangdong Foshan and Dongyao, Jiangxi Yichun and Pingxiang, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and other areas of China's hometown of firecrackers, the production of firecrackers colorful, high-quality, not only sells well across the country, but also exported to the world.
Organize New Year's goods
Chinese families before the New Year to buy a large number of "New Year's goods", Spring Festival couplets, lucky charms, new clothes, New Year's food (New Year's market is not open). Lunar New Year shopping is one of the most important activities of the Chinese people during the Spring Festival. Compared with the past, the way Chinese people do Lunar New Year shopping has become more modern and unconventional.
Shanxi Province has a special New Year's item: brushes and chopsticks, which are bought every year to convey the meaning of 'quick hair'.
Minorities
The Zhuang
The Spring Festival of the Zhuang is celebrated for three days, from the 30th day of the new year to the first and second days of the first month of the lunar year***. On New Year's Eve, families kill chickens and ducks, and steam buckled meat, powdered fine meat and barbecued pork. The rice on New Year's Eve should be steamed a lot to symbolize affluence. There should be white chopped chicken on the dinner table, and for families with elderly people, there are also stewed pig's feet and stewed whole chickens. Rice dumplings are an essential food for the Zhuang Spring Festival, but they are not eaten on the 30th night. Zhuang dumplings are more noble food, large one or two pounds, small only two or three two. In addition to this there is a "Feng Mo", meaning that the oversized dumplings, weighing one, twenty pounds. The flavor of the dumplings is excellent. On the first and second day of the first month of the guests to eat rice dumplings. Spring Festival to be held during the song, playing gyro, dancing, ball games and other cultural and sports activities.
Tibet
According to Tibetan scholars, in the ancient times, Tibet is not the turn of winter and spring New Year, but the summer New Year, "wheat ripe for the first of the year," "under the snow-covered mountains, the wheat is yellow, the happy New Year came." Now, in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, there is a tradition of "Wang Guo" festival before the fall harvest. People wear ancient costumes, riding a horse, along the harvest barley land circle prayer, but also horseback archery, dancing around the bonfire carnival, both entertainment themselves, but also entertainment local protection god. According to legend, this is all ancient Tibet June New Year's Eve legacy.
There is also the New Year in the Tibetan calendar on the first day of October, "wheat harvest for the first of the year". Four hundred kilometers east of Lhasa, snow-capped mountains and primeval forests surrounded by the work of the cloth (Linzhi) area, is still the first day of the tenth month of the Tibetan New Year, known as the "work of the cloth Loza". Tibetan history records, Gongbu area has a very long history, as early as in the Tubo dynasty before the establishment of the Tibetan primitive religion benzene religion is very prevalent here. The celebration of the New Year in the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar originated in those ancient times.
Around the 13th century AD, when the Sakya dynasty ruled Tibet, Tibetans celebrated the New Year in the first month of the Tibetan calendar. However, farmers often celebrated the New Year earlier, on the first day of December, which was called "Sorang Losar" (Farmer's New Year). The reason is that in the first month of the Tibetan calendar, spring is in the air, and the preparation for plowing is so busy that farmers no longer have the heart to celebrate the New Year.
New Year's Day to wear the most beautiful clothes, wear the most precious jewelry, even if the economic conditions of the poor, but also to prepare a New Year's Eve robe, or one or two rough decorations, the Tibetan language is called Saju ", that is, the new clothes. These are of course from the nature of Tibetans love of beauty. But there are also said that the God King Xinzhu Qu Jie, to observe the world's life from the copper mirror, everyone dressed beautifully, he was happy, and then give the world some favor, dressed in rags, he was upset, descending disasters and pestilence. Therefore, wear new clothes for the New Year, have to please the meaning of God King. On the third day of the first month, Lhasa people in groups, out of the noisy and bustling market, to the eastern suburb of the Baobao Mountain and the western suburb of the Medicine King Mountain, inserting scripture flags, hanging colorful streamers, sacrifices to the god of the mountain and the god of the water.
The first five days of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, Lhasa suburbs of farmers to hold a grand open plow ceremony. Farmers dressed in festive attire, strong Pian plough oxen dressed more beautiful, forehead pasted with ghee pattern, horns inserted with red flags and colorful feathers, shoulders draped in colored satin, satin decorated with shells and turquoise, tail tied with colorful ribbons, with the "flamboyant" to describe it, it is not too much.
Mongolians
Mongolians have always respected the white color, so the first month of the lunar calendar is called the "white month", the New Year's Day is called the "White Festival". Mongolian New Year's preparations begin on the twenty-third day of the Lunar New Year. In addition to sweeping, bathing, and arranging yurts, people wear new clothes and horses wear red tassels and new saddles. A whole cow or sheep with a haida is offered to the closest friends and relatives. New Year's Eve to eat "hand-meat" to show that the family reunion. The first morning of the first day of the year to the elders first toast to the New Year's wine, and then to the same generation of wine, friends and relatives to give each other the hatha, congratulations on the New Year's good luck and good luck. The first day of the New Year to the elders must be in the morning.
The Bai people
The Bai people began to worship and give gifts to each other on New Year's Eve. After midnight, young men and women compete to be the first to pick water to show their diligence. Early in the morning, the whole family drinks sugar water soaked with rice flowers, wishing for a day sweeter than honey. After breakfast, children are led by adults to their friends' and relatives' homes to pay New Year's greetings to their elders. Dragon lanterns, lion dances and whip beating are indispensable activities of the festival.
Buyi
Buyi people prepare festive food such as poi and rice wine before New Year's Eve, and keep watch on New Year's Eve until dawn. When the rooster crows at dawn, the girls scramble to the river to carry water, and whoever carries back the first load of water first shows that she is the most industrious and the happiest.
Koreans
The Korean New Year's Eve family vigil lasts all night, with the ancient music of the Gayeqin and the Tubular Jiao bringing people into the new year. During the festival, men, women, and children sing and dance, and hold competitions such as the pressurized springboard and tug-of-war. On the evening of the fifteenth day of the first month, a traditional celebration is held in which a few elderly people are chosen to climb the "moon watchers" to be the first to see the bright moon, which implies good health, progress, and all the best for their children and grandchildren. Afterwards, everyone dances around the lighted "moon frame," accompanied by long drums, tubular pipes and suona music.
The Daur ethnic group
The Daur language calls the Spring Festival "Ane". On the morning of New Year's Day, every family sweeps the courtyard, and in front of the main door with debris and livestock feces yards into a high stack, and in the evening after the stacks are lit up, the smoke lingers, and a festive atmosphere hangs over the whole place. The old people throw large pieces of meat, buns, dumplings and other food into the fire, blessing people and animals with good health and a good harvest. In the evening, the whole family eats hand-held meat and engages in various activities to celebrate the old and welcome the new. People put incense on the snowy ground on the west side of the house and bow to the west to honor their ancestors. On New Year's Eve, families eat dumplings wrapped in white thread to symbolize longevity. During the Spring Festival, there are field hockey games, masquerades, and games such as listening to books and singing.
The Gaoshan people
Dressed in colorful national costumes, the Gaoshan people gather in groups at the edge of villages to drink wine and sing and dance to the accompaniment of musical instruments in the Spring Festival. Some villages also hold fish-forking competitions and carry out sports activities such as basket ball and pole ball.
Herzhe
Herzhe Spring Festival is the happiest program of the year. On New Year's Eve, every family cooks New Year's dinner, cuts windows and pastes lanterns. On the first day of the New Year, girls, women and children wear new clothes embroidered with cloud borders and go to the homes of their friends and relatives to pay tribute to the New Year. Fish feast is a delicious dish for the Hezhen people to entertain their guests, including the sour and spicy flavor of "Tara Chang" (raw fish), the flavorful and crispy "Fried Fish Hair" and the transparent and bright red salmon roe. Skiing, shooting at straw targets and pitching straw balls are recreational activities that fascinate the youth of the Hezhen ethnic group.
Lahu
The Lahu celebrate the Big New Year from the first to the fourth day of the first month, and the Small New Year from the ninth to the eleventh day of the first month. On the night of the 30th day of the Lahu month, pigs are killed and sticky rice poi is pounded, and each family makes a pair of large poi to symbolize the stars, which indicates good weather and abundant harvests in the new year. The Lahu also have the custom of gathering together to observe the New Year.
Manzhi
The Manchu people put up window decals, couplets and the word "God" during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, the whole family wrapped dumplings, dumplings, speaking of pleated, can not pinch the bare edge of the "monk head" dumplings, fear of the day over the "bald". Dumplings should be coded into horizontal and vertical rows to symbolize the new year's wealth in all directions, dumplings can not be arranged in a circle, fear that the days have no doorway.
She
She people have to pound mochi for the Spring Festival, taking its harmonic sound, and wishing for good mochi in the new year, and sweetness day by day (year by year). The She tribe worships the ancestor of "Pan Gou", and on the first day of the New Year, the whole family bows down to "Pan Gu Zutu" (a picture painted according to the legend of Pan Gou) to tell the story of the hardship of the ancestor's business.
The Tujia people
The Tujia people dance on the Spring Festival. In the past, when jumping swinging hands dance, to first in the "swinging hands hall" hanging three cages tent, tent hanging pig's head, pork, incense and wild boar's head, hooves, and so on, and then dressed in red vestments wearing the crown of the law of the old priests holding a magic weapon, with the off swinging and shouting, men, women and children to participate in the worship of the gods, and then dance. Now the Tujia in addition to dance swinging hands, but also to play dragon lanterns, playing lion, performing theater and martial arts.
Wa
The Wa congratulate each other on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and especially pay homage to the elders of the village. When paying homage, both sides give each other bananas, glutinous rice poi and sugar cane to symbolize unity and harmony. The Wa men and women in Cangyuan and other places gather in squares on festival nights to dance in circles, while the elderly women wear long skirts and dozens of them are in a line, with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, singing old songs and moving lightly in their dance steps. Every Spring Festival, no matter in the city or in the countryside, every family has to choose a big red Spring Festival couplet to paste on the door, to increase the festive atmosphere for the festival. This custom began in the Song Dynasty, began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing Dynasty, the Spring Festival couplets of ideology and artistry have been greatly improved, Liang Zhangzhu prepared the Spring Festival couplets of monographs, "Threshold Lian series of words," the origins of the couplets and various types of works of the characteristics of all made a discussion.
There are many types of spring couplets, which, according to their place of use, can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal phi, spring strips, and doufang. "Door" in the upper center of the door panel; "frame" on the left and right door frame; "Phi" on the horizontal wood of the door winks; "spring bars "According to different content, posted in the corresponding place;" bucket catty "also called" door leaf "for the square diamond-shaped, mostly posted in the furniture, shadow wall.
Pasted window
In folklore, people also like to put a variety of paper cuttings on the window - window flowers. Window flowers not only set a festive atmosphere, but also decorative, appreciative and practical in one. Paper cutting is a very popular folk art in China, which has been loved by people for thousands of years, because it is mostly pasted on the windows, so it is also called "window flowers". With its unique generalization and exaggeration, the window flower expresses auspicious events and good wishes to the fullest, and decorates the festivals with red-hot splendor.
At the same time as the Spring Festival couplets, some people have to put large and small "Fu" characters on the doors, walls and lintels of their houses. It is a long-standing custom of Chinese folklore to post the word "Fu" on the Spring Festival. The character "福" refers to good fortune and luck, and is a symbol of people's desire for a happy life and their wish for a better future. In order to more fully reflect this yearning and wishes, some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, indicating that "happiness has arrived" and "good fortune has arrived". Folk will also be "Fu" word fine as a variety of patterns, patterns have the star, longevity, carp jump Dragon Gate, the five valleys, the dragon and phoenix, and so on.
New Year's Paintings
The Spring Festival hanging stickers New Year's Paintings in urban and rural areas is also very common, thick black colorful New Year's Paintings to thousands of families added a lot of prosperity and joy of the festive atmosphere. New Year paintings are an ancient folk art in China, reflecting the people's simple customs and beliefs, and holding their hopes for the future. New Year paintings, like spring scrolls, originated as "door gods". With the rise of woodblock printing, the content of New Year's paintings has not only been limited to monotonous themes such as door gods, become colorful, in some of the New Year's paintings workshop produced the "Three Stars of Fortune, Lust and Longevity," "Heavenly Officials Provide Blessings," "Five Valleys of Good Fortune," "Six Animals Prosperity," "Welcome the Spring and Receive the Blessings," such as the exquisite colorful New Year's paintings, in order to satisfy people's wishes for the New Year's celebration and prayers. China appeared three important production areas: Suzhou Taohuayu, Tianjin Yangliuqing and Shandong Weifang; the formation of the three major schools of Chinese New Year paintings, each with its own characteristics.
Crackers
Chinese folk "open door firecrackers". That is, at the dawn of the new year, the first thing that families do when they open the door is to set off firecrackers, to beep and blare the sound of firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Firecrackers is a Chinese specialty, also known as "firecrackers", "cannonballs", "firecrackers". Its origin is very early, so far has a history of more than two thousand years. Firecrackers can create a festive and lively atmosphere, is a kind of festival entertainment, can bring people joy and good luck. With the passage of time, the application of firecrackers is more and more widely used, varieties and colors are also increasingly numerous, every major holiday and festivals, and marriage, building, opening, etc., are to set off firecrackers in order to show the celebration, figure a good luck. Now, Hunan Liuyang, Guangdong Foshan and Dongyao, Jiangxi Yichun and Pingxiang, Zhejiang Wenzhou and other areas is the hometown of China's firecrackers, the production of firecrackers colorful, high-quality, not only sells well across the country, but also exported to the world.
The legend of the Spring Festival
One year, the world is in chaos. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he sent down an imperial decree: he wanted to send a great god to manage the clothing, food, housing and transportation on earth. However, no god was willing to accept the decree.
At this time, there was a shout from outside the Southern Heavenly Gate: "I'll do the job!" When he looked up, it was the bald, chubby, laughing Maitreya Buddha. It is said that this Maitreya Buddha came to earth, the first thing is to let people have a happy year, eat well, wear good, do not work. He also wants everyone to invite all the gods and goddesses, incense foil and paper carts, ready to go. On the first day of the year, every family should get up on the fifth night and set off firecrackers.
A few more days passed in this way, and on the fifth day of the first month, when the sky was just dawning, there suddenly came a noise. The noisome one was Jiang Taigong's wife (the dirty god in charge of outhouses and feces), who was quarreling with Maitreya Buddha. It turned out that people had forgotten her when they invited the gods. Maitreya Buddha had to say, "How about this! Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, let the people set off a few more cannons, make dumplings, and break the bank once more for you!"
This is the origin of the "5th Day of the Lunar New Year".
The Jade Emperor thought that something had happened on earth, so he sent the God of Wealth to check it out. The God of Wealth came to the earth to see, everywhere is incense foil paper ingot, so happy to forget to go back.
The Jade Emperor waited and waited, the God of Wealth still did not come back, so he personally went to the earth to see. He saw that people did not do any work, very angry, called the Maitreya Buddha to drink: "How do you let people eat good, wear good, do not work?"
The Maitreya Buddha said with a smile, "You want me to control people's clothing, food, housing and transportation, but did not ask me to let people work ah!" The Jade Emperor thought, right, since it has been done, it can only be done this once a year, after the beginning of spring you have to work on the ground.
From that time on, the old practice of having a Spring Festival once a year was left behind.
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The significance of the Spring Festival
People say that where there is sea water, there are Chinese children, and where there are Chinese children, there is the Spring Festival. Looking at the Chinese land, look at the five continents and all over the world, every Spring Festival, the ceremonial flowers bloom, dragon dance flying, laughter ripples, Spring Festival lively China, Spring Festival is also going to the world. Spring Festival is not only the Spring Festival of Chinese people, but also the Spring Festival of the world. The Spring Festival is first and foremost a festival of loved ones, a festival of the family, and people, especially Chinese people, attach the greatest importance to family and affection. There is an old Chinese saying: "Eat dumplings on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, there are no outsiders", which means that people who are busy all year round, people who are drifting all over the place, usually go home at the Spring Festival, two generations of fathers and sons, grandchildren and grandchildren, and even the four generations in the same family, toast and bow, the father is kind and the son is filial, and the mother is kind and the wife is good, and the people are in the firecrackers, in the drums and gongs, in the laughter and in the sound of the firecrackers. p>In the sound of firecrackers, in the sound of gongs and drums, in the sound of laughter, enjoying the warmth of the world. This warmth has nothing to do with money, nothing to do with power, nothing to do with snobbery, is the love of flesh and blood, the family happy. At the same time, the Spring Festival is also a festival to deepen the feelings between people, communicate with each other, and is a festival of unity. Not only between relatives, even in the mutual acquaintance of "outsiders", including in some of the gap, some contradictions between the people, the Spring Festival will meet a little more polite, there will be a smile and tolerance. A little understanding and concern, a "congratulations", a "Happy New Year", who heard who is happy. In short, the Spring Festival is a great festival to make people and land together, happy and pleasant. The Spring Festival is a festival that focuses on traditional culture.
The Spring Festival is a review and incentive for peace, friendship and affection, and a blessing and prayer for a better life in the future. The Spring Festival culture is a long-established Chinese and Oriental culture, which is loved and y rooted in people's hearts. Nowadays, Chinese New Year not only penetrates into the hearts of Chinese people, but also foreigners. The importance of family and affection is the same for both Chinese and foreigners. In some countries and regions where there are Chinese people, foreigners also celebrate the Spring Festival together with Chinese people. In addition to the original tens of millions of overseas Chinese and students, there are more Chinese people going abroad and more foreigners coming to China. The in and out of people will inevitably promote the in and out of culture, there is "Western learning", there is "Eastern learning", you have me, I have you, the East and the West to absorb each other's cultural essence, to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, where healthy, civilized is the world to welcome. Cultural exchange makes the world more civilized and life more colorful. The charm of the Spring Festival is the charm of China, the charm of the East, and the charm of the world civilization. Chinese New Year is a contribution to the world civilization and a gift to all mankind. <<