Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year begins on the first NEW moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first FULL moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later.
It is one of the most important celebrations in countries that follow the lunar calendar, such as Vietnam, South Korea, China, Mongolia and many more.
Each country has unique traditions and ways of celebrating this holiday and the length of the celebration differs as well.
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Lunar Calendar vs. Gregorian Calendar
One of the earliest printed Gregorian Calendars, from 1592
The most commonly used calendar around the world is called the Gregorian calendar. It is a solar calendar that is split into 12 months, with 365 or 366 days per year.
The Gregorian calendar is determined by the movement of the sun, which has 30 or 31 days per month.
In contrast, the Lunar calendar is based on how the moon orbits around the Earth, as compared to the Gregorian calendar where it is based on Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
A new lunar month starts when the moon becomes aligned with both the Earth and the Sun, and a year is when 12 lunar months are completed.
The length of a one lunar month is 29 or 30 days, which is the completion of a full moon cycle. A full lunar year is approximately 354 days. The lunar calendar is used to determine the major holidays that are celebrated in Asia and in other areas of the world that follow the Lunar calendar.
Interesting Facts About Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year begins a new animal’s zodiac year. Each lunar cycle has 60 years, and is broken up into a small cycle of 12 years.
Each of the 12 years within each lunar cycle is characterized by an animal sign: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Lunar New Year is celebrated by ¼ of the world’s population. The following countries across Asia and Southeast Asia have public holidays during Lunar New Year: China, The Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei, and Indonesia.
Lunar New Year typically lasts up to 15 days. The holiday festivities start on the evening of the new moon, and continue until there is a full moon.
Red is the primary celebration color during Lunar New Year. Red depicts fire and energy to ward off evil spirits, and symbolizes strength, good fortune, good luck, and prosperity. Families will decorate their homes and surrounding areas using red as the main color scheme.
CHINESE NEW YEAR
Chinese New Year, otherwise known as Spring Festival, is the largest holiday throughout China and has been commemorated for thousands of years. This holiday marks the dawn of a new year based on the lunar calendar and corresponds with many myths and rituals. Chinese New Year is dedicated towards honoring ancestors casting out evil spirits and praying for good fortune.
Preparations for the New Year begin well in advance before the actual date of the holiday. As the year comes to an end, there is a tendency for people to organize and to declutter in hopes of a fresh start. Families have a tradition to clean their houses a few weeks before the holiday, which symbolizes dusting away the bad luck from the previous year and starting the new year with a clean slate.
Chinese people will set up a variety of new decorations throughout their homes, using calligraphy, poetry, plants, and banners, to express hopes for happiness, wealth, and prosperity.
A popular custom is decorating windows and doors with red paper couplets. Everyone will change into new outfits for the festive period.
Chinese New Year is a family-centered holiday, so those living far away from their families return home before the holiday. Family members gather around a big table to enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner, known as Nian Ye Fan.
Other activities involve lighting firecrackers, watching lion and dragon dances, and exchanging money in red paper envelopes.
During the Spring Festival, certain foods are eaten based on their symbolic meaning of good luck and fortune. Not only are the dishes symbolic, but the preparation and how the food is presented is just as meaningful. The most common foods eaten during the New Year include fish, dumplings, spring rolls, and savory rice cakes known as nian gao.
Fish signifies prosperity and is the most traditional dish at the table. The head of the fish is placed towards elders to represent a sign of respect. Both dumplings and spring rolls symbolize wealth and are filled with meat and chopped vegetables.
Eating nian gao means having hopes for success and general improvement in the upcoming year. The contents of nian gao are sticky rice, nuts, sugar, Chinese dates, and lotus leaves.
KOREAN NEW YEAR
Seollal, or Korean New Year, is a holiday marking the first day of the lunar calendar. Traditionally, the home of the eldest male relative is where families gather to celebrate in order to pay their respect to both their elders and ancestors.
Worshiping and paying respect is a common theme during Korean New Year, but other festivities include playing games and enjoying traditional food made specifically for the occasion.
Sebae is the most important tradition during Korean New Year. Sebae is performed by kneeling on the ground and deeply bowing to the floor. Children and students will bow to elder family members and wish them a happy and healthy new year, as a sign of respect. In return, those receiving the bow will give money to the younger family members as a Seollal gift.
Another tradition during Korean New Year is known as Charye. Charye combines food and worship, which are two significant aspects of Korean culture, to honor ancestors.
When the food is set out, family members perform bows around the table to praise their ancestors and show them respect.
The most classic food eaten during the Korean Lunar New Year is tteokguk, or rice cake soup. This soup consists of sliced rice cake, and contains meat and other ingredients such as seaweed.
VIETNAMESE NEW YEAR
Vietnamese New Year, also known as Tet festival, is an important holiday for Vietnam. Tet is short for tet nguyen dan, which stands for Lunar New Year. This holiday is a time for Vietnamese to pay homage to their ancestors and welcome the new year while being surrounded by loved ones.
Tet festivities can spread out from 3 days and can continue for up to a week. Tet is a very sacred holiday, and preparations begin well in advance before the Vietnamese New Year.
As a way to get rid of bad luck from the previous year, people will spend days deep cleaning and redecorating their homes with exuberant plants and flowers. Peach flowers, yellow Mai flowers, and kumquat trees are very popular throughout Vietnam, as it symbolizes both fertility and abundance which is what is hoped for in the new year.
Almost everybody, especially children, will buy new clothes and shoes to wear on the first day of the New Year. People will also try to pay off any outstanding debts, and resolve any arguments among peers and family members.
Similar to other cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year, Vietnamese people believe that their actions on the first day of the new year will set the tone for the rest of the year, so they are extra careful with every word they speak and how they behave in hopes for a prosperous year.
Tet is a perfect time for families who celebrate to indulge in traditional cuisine. Banh Chung is eaten during Tet and is made with sticky rice, a meat or bean spread, and then wrapped together in banana leaves.
Gio or Chag is a Vietnamese sausage that is served with sticky rice and can be cooked in two ways: boiled (Gio) or fried (Chag).
Xoi, which is sticky rice, is a very popular dish eaten in Vietnam, notably during the New Year. Xoi is eaten as a way to make a tribute to descendents and can be made with a variety of ingredients such as fruit, beans, and peanuts.
MONGOLIAN NEW YEAR
Tsagaan Sar, otherwise known as Mongolian Lunar New Year, is a festival based on the Mongolian lunar calendar. It has been celebrated for more than 2000 years and is interlinked with deep symbolic rituals. Tsagaan Sar, meaning “white moon,” spiritually represents hope for both purity and clarity in the upcoming year.
During the festival, family members gather at the home and show respect to each other by performing a variety of rituals. On the Eve of Tsagaan Sar, known as Bituun, family members gather at the home of the eldest, and share traditional dishes, stories, and play classic games. The eldest receives blessings from each family member, with the exemption of their spouse. During this greeting ritual, family members are usually holding onto a khadag, which are long blue silk cloths.
On the first day of the New Year, Mongolians wake up before the sun rises to make milk tea and gesture the first cup to the Earth and the sky. Family members then visit their elders and greet them by grasping their elbows to show support for them.
Mongolians typically cook three main meals for the festival. Dishes are made in large quantities and then frozen, since families take part in a tremendous feast which needs to be prepared in advance.
Traditional food includes either grilled sheep or minced lamb that is steamed inside a pastry, called buuz.
Biscuits made of flour, called Ul Boov, is the second most popular dish on the table. The biscuits are stacked on a plate with each level laid out in either a triangle or square shape. Mongolians also consume a lot of dairy products during Tsagaan Sar.
HOW TO BE INCLUSIVE IN THE WORKSPACE
Lunar New Year is the perfect occasion to embrace cultural diversity in the workplace. The holiday’s main themes, which include wealth, happiness, showing respect, and wishing others good fortune, can be incorporated to create an inclusive environment in the workplace during this festive time of year.
Decorations: Create a vibrant work space by displaying red lanterns, couplets, cut-outs, and flowers throughout the office. Setting up traditional decorations at work in honor of the Lunar New Year is a great way to acknowledge the holiday and to show appreciation to the coworkers who celebrate it.
Reunion lunch: Celebrate the start of the New Year by having a reunion lunch with colleagues once everyone returns back to work from the holiday. This can be done by making a list of traditional foods that staff can bring in, and coordinating with the employees to ensure there is diversity in the dishes. Getting employees together for a lunch celebration is a great way to encourage more interaction and engagement between team members.
Spring Cleaning: The Lunar New Year is the perfect time to encourage all employees to set aside time to do some deep cleaning throughout the office. Allow workers to declutter, reorganize, and get rid of any unwanted documents and supplies right before the new year begins. Cleaning throughout the workspace will get rid of any bad luck from the previous year, and allow for better clarity and improve work performance.
Be Flexible: Accommodate requests for time off for Lunar New Year. An employer should present options to any employee who celebrates the holiday to take time off without losing wages or having to use vacation time.
Make No Assumptions: For personal reasons, not everybody who celebrates Lunar New Year will do so in the same way. Some may take time off or be open about celebrating and sharing their culture with their colleagues, while others may prefer to stay quiet.