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Celebrate Lunar New Year with Noggin!

WRITTEN BY

The Noggin Team in collaboration with Charissa Cheah, Ph.D.

What is Lunar New Year?

While sometimes called Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year is actually celebrated all throughout the world by people of different cultures. In fact, more than 20% of the world’s population (that’s more than 1.5 billion people!) celebrate this festive holiday. In mainland China, it is called Chunjie, which means Spring Festival; in Vietnamese, Lunar New Year is Tết; it’s Seollal in Korean.

The holiday is named Lunar New Year because it begins on the first new moon of the lunar calendar. The day falls differently every year on the Gregorian calendar (the solar calendar used in most countries, like the U.S.) between January 21 to February 20. Each year, one of 12 different animals of the Chinese zodiac represents the entire year. The animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit (or Cat in the Vietnamese Zodiac), Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

While celebrations may differ by country – and even by regions within each country – many people share the same traditions, like preparing for the holiday by cleaning their homes, gathering with friends and family, gifting envelopes of money to children, and cooking and eating tasty, traditional food. Here are some more of the many different ways people celebrate around the world!

Chinese Chunjie

The most famous legend about the origin of the Lunar New Year describes a beast called Nian who attacked ancient China every year on the last day of winter. Because Nian feared loud noises, light, and the color red, people began dressing their houses with red decorations, hanging colorful lanterns, and setting off fireworks to scare it away. Special foods are eaten, such as long noodles for a long life, fish for good luck, and dumplings for wealth.

Korean Seollal

On Seollal, many Koreans dress in traditional colorful clothing known as hanbok. Many also visit older family members and perform a ceremonial bow – or sebae – as a sign of respect. Family members eat tteokguk, a delicious rice cake soup, to celebrate the occasion together. Some families also play a traditional board game called yutnori and fly kites.

Vietnamese Tết

The celebration for Tết can last for many days. Some families decorate their homes with apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, or kumquat trees. Food is also an important part of the holiday – in fact, Tết is short for Tết Nguyen Dan, which means “feast of the first morning of the first day.” One traditional dish is the bahn chung, which is a square sticky rice cake filled with mung bean and pork.

Charissa Cheah, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology and Asian Studies Faculty Affiliate

Director of the Culture, Child, and Adolescent Development Laboratory

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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