On February 7, 2008 The Chinese calendar year 4706 begins. It will be the year of the Rat. So here's to all of you born in the Year of the Rat, may it be a good one! Happy Chinese New Year!
Some things to do according to Chinese tradition to bring in more good luck and avoid the bad joo joo is below. Hey, we can all use a little more good joo joo:
Good luck
- Fu is a lucky word. Fu - is very easy to say and is one of the most popular Chinese characters used during Chinese New Year. Around the Chinese New Year, people often put up a poster with this word on it - upside down! It’s the only time when a Chinese word is posted upside down intentionally.
- Clean the house completely from top to bottom before New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year.
- Opening windows and/or doors bring in the good luck of the New Year.
- Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck and ’scares away’ ghosts and spirits of misfortune.
- Eat sweets to make sure you have a “sweet” year.
- Some believe that what happens on the first day of the New Year reflects the rest of the year to come. Asians will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
- Wear a new pair of slippers that is bought before the New Year which means to step on the people who gossip about you.
- The night before the New Year, bath in pomelo leaves and you will be healthy for the rest of the upcoming year.
Bad Luck
- Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck because the word “shoes” is a homophone for “rough” in Cantonese, or “evil” in Mandarin.
- Buying a pair of pants is considered bad luck because the word “pants” is a homophone for “bitter” in Cantonese. Although some look at it positive as ‘pants’ in Cantonese is also a homophone for the word for “wealth”.
- Washing your hair could mean washing away one’s own luck, but modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition.
- Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day because it will sweep away the good fortune and luck.
- Buying books is bad luck because the word for “book” is a homonym to the word “lose”.
- Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional funeral colour.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking the time.