6 Weird and Wonderful Lunar New Year Traditions From Around the World

February 1 marks Lunar New 12 months in 2022, the Yr of the Tiger in the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

“The Lunar New 12 months begins on the second new moon right after the wintertime solstice and falls amongst January 21 and February 19 on the Gregorian calendar employed in the United States,” describes the U.S. Congressional Exploration Service internet site.

The major holiday break is celebrated by quite a few Asian communities in the U.S. and in other countries, and it features in today’s Google Doodle. Below we appear at some of the Lunar New Year traditions from all around the globe.

1. Try to eat ‘Lucky’ Food items

Chinese New Calendar year sees families serving distinct foods that are believed to convey luck and excellent fortune, this sort of as peanuts (“huasheng”) and dates (“zao”), according to the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University in New York City.

Two popular sweets eaten through Lunar New Year consist of “zaogao” (a cake manufactured with ground dates) and a rice cake named “niangao.”

Peanuts are associated with fertility and longevity, though the Chinese word for cake (“gao”) is equal to a term which means “exalted” or “lofty.”

When “gao” is preceded by the term for yr (“nian”), it is “homophonous with a expression that usually means to progress in an upwardly mobile fashion, year by yr,” the institute describes.

In South Korea, 1 Lunar New Yr food stuff staple is a savory rice cake soup termed “ddeokguk” (also spelled “tteokguk“), which is produced with slices of a lengthy, thick rope-formed white rice cake, beef and egg in a broth.

The slices of rice cake are shaped like coins, which symbolize prosperity. The extensive rope form of the rice cake represents longevity, whilst the rice cake’s white shade signifies purity and a clean up get started for the new year, the Dr. Sook-ja Yoon, the founder and director of South Korea’s Institute of Classic Korean Meals in Seoul, told the BBC.

In Vietnam, some of the regular Lunar New Yr food items consist of stewed pig’s ft with bamboo shoots, bitter melon soup, and boiled chicken, in accordance to the Congressional Exploration Company website.

2. Rejoice Birthdays

Koreans as properly as Chinese people adhere to a special age system, whereby a particular person will not switch a 12 months more mature on the actual day of their birth, but instead on New Year’s Day. Some men and women mark this event on the Solar New Calendar year day (January 1), although other people have a tendency to mark it on Lunar New Year.

Introducing to the complexities, one’s time in the mother’s womb is also counted as a year of existence, so you are a yr outdated at start.

So Korean custom says as soon as you have your “ddeokguk,” you happen to be now a 12 months older. Logic may well lead you to think: “If I don’t eat ddeokguk, I am going to technically nevertheless be the very same age and be endlessly younger, suitable?” Not rather.

Dr. Yoon claimed: “Even if you do not consume it, you will nevertheless age. So you could possibly as well take pleasure in your bowl of soup.”

3. Avoid the Variety 4

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute describes that during Lunar New Yr, it can be significant to keep away from the variety 4 (“si”) mainly because it sounds like the word for loss of life in Chinese.

“Any phrases and their homonyms similar to dying, health issues, or bankruptcy are inauspicious,” the institute states.

In South Korea, the range four is also a superstitious quantity affiliated with dying (because of to the Korean phrase for “4” being spelled the identical as the first 50 {362bf5cdc35eddfb2532d3c23e83b41deb229c4410d15cb1127c60150cbd4488} of the Korean word for loss of life)—so a lot so that elevators in South Korea function the letter “F” rather of the range four on the button for the fourth flooring.

4. …Or Selecting Up a Broom

According to the Columbia University institute, usually people stay clear of finding up a broom during Lunar New Calendar year out of a panic of “accidentally sweeping superior luck out the door.”

Even the sight of a broom could most likely “portend a yr total of housekeeping drudgery,” the institute states.

5. Clean Homes and Settle Disputes

In Vietnam, the month primary up to Lunar New Year involves acquiring new garments, cleansing and decorating your residences as well as settling any excellent money owed or disputes, in planning for a contemporary new year ahead, the Congressional Analysis Support website explains.

6. Kids Get Revenue

In China, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian nations, kids acquire presents of revenue from elder relations for the duration of Lunar New Year.

Youngsters and other family members members honor their elderly kinfolk and ancestors by bowing to them and keeping conventional ceremonies with foods and drink choices, this kind of as the “charye” ritual in South Korea.