What Are The Taboos for Chinese New Year?

中国过年有什么禁忌？

The Spring Festival, is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people. “正月zhēng yuè, is the first lunar month of the year, so what happens in the beginning of the year as a “sign” of good luck or bad luck for the whole year. Because of this traditional culture, there are many taboos during the Spring Festival. Let’s check what they are.

*First of all, say good words and lucky words when people meet in the New Year’s day. Like “恭喜发财gōng xǐ fā cái / wish you happy and prosperous” “财源广进cái yuán guǎng jìn /Money will be plentiful” “身体健康shēn tǐ jiàn kāng /good health” These good words are blessing for others and wish they will be good luck next year. On the contrary, the words like “死sǐ /death”“杀shā /kill”“病bìng /disease”“穷qióng /poor”“破pò /Broken”“坏huài /bad”“完wán /done”are indicating unlucky. Avoid to say these words in the new year. 

* Be careful! Do not to break cups, plates, bowls or other things. If you break it by accident, we need to say “岁岁平安suì suì píng ān / peace all year around” or “花开富贵huā kāi fù guì /fortune comes with blooming flowers” to make up the damage. Since the “碎suì /broken” is the same pronunciation of “岁suì/year”. And when the cup falls broken, it looks like a flower blossoming.

*Avoid washing your hair on the first day of the New Year. That means washing away wealth. Also avoid haircuts on this day, because people like to associate haircuts with funerals.

*We can't use a broom on the first day of the first lunar month and also avoid sweeping the floor, throw garbage. These things we called it "wealth". If sweep it or throw it away,  it`s just like sweeping away luck and money.

*Don't take medicine on the first day. Otherwise, it is thought to cause illness and medication throughout the year.

*During the new year, we cannot borrow money, lend money to others. Borrowing money from others indicates relying on others for the next whole year.

*People also avoid taking things out of other people's pockets. It is believed that people take out their pockets on the first day of the first lunar month, which may lead to the risk of being "掏空tāo kōng /emptied out" for a whole year.

This article is provided by Hanlin Language Center. If you want to learn Chinese, travel in China or know more about Chinese culture. Please follow our public WeChat for more info. Please contact us if you want to know more about us.

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