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Chinese New Year Traditions Fact & Fiction Part B |
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Peculiar practices abound over Chinese New Year Traditions such as wearing red,
avoiding the broomstick, gambling into the wee hours, tossing yusheng and hanging banners
upside down. How many of them are authentic and actually originated in China? |
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Fact: Cruising Pasar Malams
Since the Song dynasty (960-1279), the Chinese have traditionally visited temples on the eve
and the first day of Chinese New Year to worship the prosperity gods.
Set up around each temple on these days were street performers,medicine men and pedlars of
food and household items.
It was a highlight for most families, who spent the rest of the day browsing and buying things
at these stalls.
No wonder the modern day equivalent of cruising Chinatown's bazaar still feels therapeutic. |
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Fiction: Hanging prosperity banners upside down
In the Han dynasty (206BC-AD25), people sent New Year cards or posters to friends or relatives
with calligraphy greetings like fu, which means prosperity.
If the recipient was not at home, the messenger would paste the card or poster upside down on
the door, to signal that prosperity had arrived at the household. |
This was a clever pun because dao, the Chinese word for "upside down", sounded like the Chinese
word for "arrived".
Today, the practice of hanging fu banners upside down harks from Taiwan, where it is widespread.
But it's not strictly accurate.
In ancient China, he says, the recipient usually re-moved the upside-down greeting and hung it
right side up indoors. That symbolised that he had accepted the arrival of prosperity.
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Fact: Spring-cleaning before Chinese New Year
You can blame the age-old practice of last-minute spring-cleaning, scrubbing and
polishing on an ancient battle between the mythical Chinese gods.
A few days before each Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God who blesses every household
with food and health is believed to return to the heavens.
One year, in the celestial courts, a villain god tried to create trouble for humans by reporting
to the Emperor god that they had started to rebel against him. |
The Emperor god then ordered the villain god to descend to earth and mark out every rebellious
household with cobwebs for punishment.
The Kitchen God overheard the decree and quickly returned to earth to warn humans to clean out
all their cobwebs so they would be spared. But alas, they were not spared the drudgery of extra
housework.
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