Chinese Festivals - New Year, Lantern, Dragon Boat

8/13/2019 Chinese Festivals - New Year, Lantern, Dragon Boat

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Chinese New Year

• What / When / Why

• Decorations

• Activities

• Entertainment

•Special food

• Famous Aspects



Chinese New Year

What / When / Why

• Chinese New Year is the most important holidayof the Chinese people, and many East Asians such

as Mongolians, Koreans and Vietnamese• The New Year is on the first day of the New Moon

of the Chinese Lunar calendar.

• It celebrates triumph over “Nian”, a cruel beast

that devours people on New Year’s Eve but isafraid of Red Color, Bright Lights and Fireworks

Guò Nián过年



Chinese New Year

Decorate House & CommunityMén shén

门神

Door God

Chūn lián春联

Spring couplet

dēnglóng

灯笼

Lantern



• Family Reunion and thanksgiving on New Year's Eve andNew Year's Day. Sometimes a religious ceremony observedin honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the householdand the family ancestors & departed relatives. All areremembered with great respect.

• New clothes are worn and everyone visits neighbors,

friends, and relatives to exchange good wishes of“gong si fa cai”, which means “congratulations andprosperity”.

• Red envelopes with Money is given as gifts to Children withwishes of luck, joy, and prosperity

Chinese New YearActivites

Gōng xĭ fā cái 恭喜发财

Congratulations for getting rich!

Xīn nián kuài lè新年快乐

Happy new year!



Chinese New Year

EntertainmentBiān pào

鞭炮 fireworks

Yān huā

烟花 firecrackers



Chinese New Year

Special FoodJiǎozi 饺子

Dumpling

Nián gāo 年糕

New year’s rice

cake

Fish

This is because the word “fish” in Chinese also sounds like

the word meaning “surplus”. So Fish is considered verylucky because it implies surplus wealth.



• During the festival the Dragon and Lion dances arevery spectacular sights.`

•

The heads of these fearsome beasts are supposed toward off evil.

Chinese New YearFamous for

The Dragon nd The Lion Dance




• History

• How to Celebrate

• Special food



• One of the most popular festivals being celebrated in

China.

• Also called Yuan Xiao Festival because the 15th day is

the first night of the year to see a full moon.

•There are many legends about the Lanterns

People eat Yuan Xiao

to symbolize Family togetherness;

Make their own lanterns,

Play guess the lantern riddles.

Matchmakers are very busy trying to help young people find

partners.

Enjoy the amazing glowing and colourful lantern parades.

Have lantern festival parties.



1. During Song Dynasty, the festival was celebrated for five days and the

activities began to spread to many of the big cities in China.

2. The largest Lantern Festival celebration took place in the early part of the

15th century.

3. By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century, the lantern displayswould last three days.

4. During Sui Dynasty in the 6th century, Emperor Yangdi invited envoys from

other countries to China to see the colourful lighted lanterns and enjoy the

gala performances.

5. Today, the displaying of lanterns is a big event on the 15th day of the firstlunar month throughout China.

6. It is famous for its display of hundreds of multicoloured and intricate

lanterns floating above lakes, rivers, mountainside and cities.



yi Prepare Yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls)

er Make lanterns from red construction paper and decorate them with

pictures, sequence or riddles

san Attend Chinese Lantern Festival activities sponsored by local ChineseCommunity. They often include parades, dances, acrobatics and food.

Also, many larger cities hold glowing lantern parades!

si Having lantern festival party. Provide space for people to make their

own lanterns. Set off firecrackers and serve traditional Chinese food.

wu Play Guess the Lantern Riddle

liu Matchmaker! Lantern Festival is also considered to be ChineseValentine’s Day!

http://hi.baidu.com/%E8%8D%89%E8%8E%93_%E9%BC%BB/album/item/f529fb1bad491cdeae51332e.html



English RiddlesIt looks green, it opens red.

What you eat is red, but what

you spit out is black.

(fruit: watermelon)

When you cry, she cries. When you

laugh, she laughs.

When you ask her who she is,

She says, “Who are you?”

(mirror)

Branches grow on its head; it wears

spotted clothes.

Not a donkey of a horse, it runs

like the wind.

(animal: deer)

Chinese Riddles

Riddle: ‘不负中秋夜明月’

Suggest:成语

Answer:胜利在望

Riddle: ‘灯会元宵初’

Suggest:化学词语

Answer:烷

Riddles: ‘春节第一日’

Suggest:字谜 Answer:夫























































http://hi.baidu.com/%E6%9D%89%E6%9D%89%E8%8E%B1%E8%BF%9F/album/item/e39799dc93d8adcf77c638e9.html



Yuan Xiao are small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour.

The custom of eating Yuan Xiao originated during the Eastern Jin

Dynasty in the fourth century, then became popular during theTang and Song periods.





http://food.846.cn/2007/5-16/165326.html

http://wiki.21yyw.com/index.php?edition-view-2474-1.html




Dragon Boat Festival


• Origin and Purpose

• Celebrations

•Food




• It Is the oldest

traditional holiday in

China

•Occurs yearly on the

fifth day of the

fifth month of the Chinese calendar

•Since Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the

date varies every year

l




Origin and Purpose• Celebrated to commemorate the memory

of Qu Yuan

• Legend says that the suicide of Qu Yuan, apatriotic poet, in 278 BCE during thewarring states period in China started this

festival• Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo

River on the 5th day of the 5th month whenthe state of Chu was captured by the Stateof Qin,

• Local people respected and admired QuYuan. They took their boats to the river tofind his body and threw sticky ricewrapped in bamboo leaves to feed the fish

so they don’t eat his body • Sometimes it is called Poets Day




Festival Celebrations• Dragon boat races

– Largely responsible for festival’s fame

• A team member plays the drums to

encourage the other people to roarfast and in unison. The team that wins

brings prosperity to their town.

• Eat zongzi and drink realgar wine

• Tie perfumed, colorful silk pouches

onto kids in order to protect them

against evil




Special Food

• Zongzi: pyramid-shaped glutinous

rice wrapped in reed or bamboo

leaves are the main food item

– It has different shapes and various

fillings.

• In the north part of the country,

people favor the jujube as filling,while the Southerners prefer

sweetened bean paste, fresh

meat, or egg yolk.

• People also drink Realgar wine

Chinese Festivals - New Year, Lantern, Dragon Boat

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