If You Love Your Uncle, Avoid These Chinese New Year Taboos
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You have probably heard plenty about Spring Festival traditions and customs, but what about the taboos? These are trickier as you don't usually know what not to do until it's too late, at which point you've insulted half of your guests and brought shame upon yourself and your entire country.
Whether or not you believe in superstition, it can pay to respect them – if nothing else you'll get some kudos from your Chinese friends.
There should be no cursing or inauspicious words spoken during the Chinese New Year celebration. Also, you should not mention anything associated with death, "termination," or finishing. If, for example, you finish your food on your plate before everybody else, avoid loudly announcing "I’m done!"
No-one should take medicine on the first day of the lunar New Year (perhaps more difficult this time around). Chinese people believe that whatever is done on the first day of the year is bound to repeat for the next lunar cycle, so you'll be condemning yourself to a year of pill-popping. It is also a taboo to greet people in bed; as it stands, even sick people should get out of bed to talk to guests in the living room. Lucky them.
PSA
Similarly to taking medicine, if you do any kind of work on the first day of the New Year, you will thereafter be exhausted for the rest of the year. If anybody at your company, especially your boss, tries to tell you otherwise, be very, very suspicious.
There is a Chinese idiom 年年有余 (nián nián yǒuyú) which means “having more than enough each and every year.” The character 余 (yú, "surplus") has the exact same pronunciation to 鱼 (yú, "fish"); for this reason, leaving some of your New Year dinner's fish on the plate at the end of the meal symbolizes prosperity and abundance in the year ahead.
Absolutely no haircuts are allowed during the first lunar month (the month of Spring Festival) as it is believed that this will bring bad luck to your maternal uncles. This is one taboo that Chinese people do take very seriously – just ask the barbers!
Oh, and one more thing. In case you break anything – like a plate – make sure you say 岁岁平安 (suì suì píng'ān) out loud, meaning “peace all year round”; this is because the character 岁 (suì, meaning "year") sounds the same as 碎 (suì, break). By saying these words, an unpleasant situation can be turned into a blessing.
Good luck and happy New Year!
This article originally appeared on our sister publication beijingkids.
READ: 过年How?: White CNY Lies With Beijing Broads Improv Group Frontwoman Anete Elken
Photos: wallpaperfromthe70s.com, giphy.com, tenor.com
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