Spring Festival (春节)

春节是什么

What is Spring Festival？

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. Most people will have a week off , thus, this time is known as golden week.春节，又叫农历新年，是中国民间最隆重、最热闹的一个节日，是举家欢庆团团圆圆的大好时节，就像西方的圣诞节一样。春季是每年农历正月初一，通常比公历新年要晚一个月。它起源于殷商时期年头岁尾的民间祭祖活动。严格来讲，春节不只是一天的庆祝，而是从农历的12月底到新年的正月十五，不过最重要的几天当属除夕夜和新年头三天。春节是法定假日，大家一般都会放七天假，又叫做黄金周。

春节传统风俗

Spring Festival Traditions

1 Spring Cleaning

大扫除

“Dust”（尘）is homophonic with “chen”（陈）in Chinese, which means old and past. In this way, “sweeping the dust” before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. Chinese People believe that in order to receive the new luck, you have to swipe the bad luck. All the cleaning has to be done before the end of New Year’s Eve, that’s what Chinese people always called “Ci Jiu Ying Xin”: saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.“Dust” 与“尘”是谐音（尘在汉语中的意思是旧的和过去的）。这样，“在春节前扫尘”是指彻底清洁房屋扫除过去闰年的厄运。勤劳勇敢的中国人民相信，只有把旧的坏运气赶走了，才能迎接美好新生活。所有的大扫除必须要在除夕夜之前完成，干干净净整整齐齐迎接新年，就是我们常说的辞旧迎新。

2Paper Cut

贴窗花

After the thoroughly clean up, people will paste paper-cut decorations on the windows and doors. Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious patterns, give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. It is common for Chinese to paste the character “fu（福）”, big and small, on walls, doors and doorposts around the houses. “Fu（福）” shows people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character “Fu（福）” to signify that blessing has arrived because “inverted” is a homonym for “arrive” in Chinese.在大扫除之后，大家会在家中门窗上贴上窗花。通常带有吉祥图案的窗花，传递节日喜庆和执闹的气氛和表达中国人期待幸福生活的美好愿望。除了贴窗花，在墙上，门上和房子周围的门框上巾大小福字是中国人表达对美好生活渴望的普遍习俗。一些人甚至倒贴福字来表示福到了，因为在汉语中“倒”是“到”的谐音。

3Spring Couplet

贴春联