Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Years

Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Years: How They Celebrate

The Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Year celebrations are strikingly similar because these countries are neighbors providing excellent scope of interaction among their cultures.

Chinese New Year

It is a 15 day New Year that starts from the New moon day of the first Lunar month as per the Chinese calendar and extends till the 15th (Full Moon) day called Lantern Festival. Legend says that ‘Nian’ (year), a monster, ate villagers and cattle on each New Year eve. An old man by his ingenuity banished the monster. Before leaving he asked the villagers to decorate their houses with red on New Year’s Eve to scare the monster if he ever returned. The tradition of celebrating the New Year with red lanterns and fire works to frighten away Nian has continued since then. There are family dinners in memory of ancestors.

Vietnamese New Year

It is called ‘Tet’ (morning of the New Year day). Celebrations last for seven days. The Vietnamese welcome the New Year with firecrackers and gongs. For them it is the time to clean the house, buy new clothes and make up with estranged family members and friends. These people like the Chinese use red to wrap their New Year Tree- ‘Cay Neu’ -to scare away evil spirits. The ‘Cay Neu’ is removed on the 7th day to close the celebrations.

Korean New Year

New Year’s Day is called ‘Solnal’ in Korea. Koreans may celebrate New Year based on the solar calendar or the lunar calendar or both. The Koreans don traditional clothes (Hanbok) and pay respects to elders. Children are given money. They consume soup and rice on New Year Day. They scare away evil spirits by sounding gongs and drums. This is called ‘Jishin Balpgi’. The New Year festivities of the three countries are more about bringing family and friends closer to each other than mere merry making.