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UCL Student Lingyi Zhou, a member of UCL Chinese Students and Scholars Association, has shared a piece about the importance and relevancy of Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it as well as information about how it is celebrated! Have a read of her post below and learn more about the festival and it's meaning.

 


 

大家好,我是周泠仪

Hi, everyone, my name is Lingyi Zhou 

 

伦敦大学学院中国学生与学者联谊会中文教育部部长

the head of Mandarin classes department at UCL Chinese Students and Scholars Association. 

 

春节就要到来了

Spring Festival is around the corner,

 

我迫不及待地想向你们介绍这令人兴奋的中国传统节日

and I can't wait to introduce to you about this exciting Chinese traditional festival. 

 

你也许知道,中国在全球通用的“阳历”之外还使用“农历”记年

You might have known that China uses a lunar calendar besides a solar one universally adopted to count the year. 

 

故而春节通常是在一月或二月份,没有固定日期

Therefore, the Spring Festival, or (春节)chūn jié, usually occurs in January or February, with no fixed date. 

 

今年,春节的日期是在2021年2月12日

This year, it takes place on February 12, 2021. 

 

中文里,我们把春节那一天叫作“正月初一”,等同于“一月的第一天”

In Chinese, we call the exact date 正月初一(zhēng yuè chū yī), which is equivalent to the first day of January. 

 

春节又名“除夕”,即“除掉夕”的意思

春节is also called 除夕(chú xī), which means to expel xī. 

 

传说中,“夕”(又名“年”)是一个海怪,每年都会在春节这天上岸残害百姓

夕(xī) or 年(nián) is a legendary sea beast that comes ashore to kill and eat human once per year. 

 

人们发现,“夕”怕红色、火焰和响声

People found out that 夕 was afraid of red, fire and loud noise. 

 

为了赶走“夕”,每年春节人们都会贴春联、发红包、点灯笼、放烟花和鞭炮

So everyone puts up red spring festival scrolls on the doors, gives red pockets to children, lights up lanterns, and sets off firecrackers and fireworks to expel the monster. 

 

所以每年“夕”被驱走的那天就被叫作“除夕”

Therefore, the day when the Monster was driven away is called 除夕(chú xī). 

 

除夕过后,人们会庆祝许多天。这个过程叫过年。

After 除夕, people celebrate for several days, which is called 过年(guò nián), meaning to “pass” nián.

 

这里,新年的意思是新的一年,过年就代表过春节

Here, 新(xīn)年 means new year, and过年 means to celebrate the Spring Festival. 

 

中国人非常注重家庭团圆。

Chinese people quite value reunion. 

 

所以每年春节必做的事就是吃年夜饭

So a must-do for Spring Festival is have reunion dinner.

 

在中文里,我们把它叫作“吃年夜饭”

In Chinese, we call it 吃年夜饭(chī nián yè fàn) 

 

一个相关的祝福语是“年年有余”,余谐音鱼。

A related phase of fortune is 年年有余nián nián yǒu yú   (余=鱼yú), 

 

表示食物充裕、不会饿着肚子

which means always having enough food and so will not be hungry. 

 

所以,鱼是每年年夜饭餐桌上必有的菜肴

Therefore, fish is the must-have dish for the reunion dinner. 

 

人们也会刻意吃剩一些

And people don't eat it up. 

 

人们也会放鞭炮、放烟花,象征“除夕”。

People also play firecrackers and fireworks for symbolizing expelling 夕. 

 

在中文里,我们叫“放鞭炮”和“放烟花”

Chinese, we call them 放鞭炮(fàng biān pào) and 放烟花(fàng yān huā) respectively.

 

另一桩非常重要的事是贴对联

Another really important thing is to write and hang up the spring scrolls, 

 

我们叫“贴对联”

what we call贴对联(tiē duì lián). 

 

人们也会贴福字,福代表幸运、幸福

People also hang up 福(fú), which means fortune and happiness 

 

福字会颠倒过来,因为“倒”谐音“到”,表示幸运和幸福到来了

福 is put to be upside down(倒dào), because it rhymes to 福到(dào)了, meaning fortune has arrived. 

 

现在,请聆听来自我们真诚的新年祝福

Now, please hear from us the best wishes for a brand new year