Preparations for the arrival of spring festival, Chinese New Year is on 10th February, will be celebrated as Dragon Year – Dainik Savera Times

In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol of auspiciousness, wisdom and power. The dragon indicates the earth element. Between the years 1984 and 2043, in a cycle of 60 years, the natural creatures of each zodiac sign arrive five times in turn every year. That is, starting from 1984, every year the year will be indicated in the same order as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

According to this sequence, Dragon Year will come in the year 2024, whose duration will remain as Dragon Year for one year i.e. till February 2025 next year. The 24 solar cycles also have great significance in the Chinese traditional calendar. The 12 months of the year are divided into 24 solar cycles and each month is divided into 15 days each according to Purnima (full appearance of the moon) and Amavasya (non-appearance of the moon), that is, every solar cycle is divided into full moon. It occurs between Amavasya and Amavasya or between Amavasya and Purnima.

The solar cycle called Lichun, the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 10 this year, is the first of 24 solar cycles. That is why the Chinese New Year is called Lichun, in Mandarin language Li means beginning, and Chhun means summer and growth or can be said as Lichun means beginning of spring. The arrival of spring indicates that winter days are coming to an end and the weather is favorable for agriculture for sowing for the new year.

Similarly, the year is divided into four seasons which are spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the whole year passes in this cycle. Also, the duration of these four seasons is at least three months. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the 12th month of the year is called “La Ywe”, Ywe meaning month in Mandarin. That means these days the 12th month is going on and this La Yve will last till 9th ​​February. The first month of the new year is called Chang Ywe which will start on February 10th.

In 2024, the Chinese traditional Spring Festival, the first United Nations declared holiday, will also be celebrated. Also, this spring festival will be celebrated in more than 15 countries including many South East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia.
Many types of traditional customs are also associated with Lichun i.e. Chinese New Year. For example, on this auspicious occasion, there is a tradition of giving red envelopes to small children and youth by the elders of the house and also giving blessings.

This gift is given as a form of affection. In Mandarin, these red envelopes are called ‘Hong Pao’. ‘Hong’ means red and ‘Pao’ means bag. These red envelopes contain money so that the children can buy themselves the gifts they want.
Also, on the occasion of Lichun or spring festival, Chhunping i.e. bread eaten in spring is also eaten. According to Chinese customs, people eat this bread on the day of Lichun. There is also a tradition of making and eating dumplings or chiaotzu during Chinese New Year.

Dumplings are also considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity and are made in every home to ensure that good luck stays with every family throughout the New Year.
As the Spring Festival approaches in China, there is also a tradition of enjoying the holidays and returning to their traditional homes and reuniting all family members. For this reason, people from all over China return to their ancestral homes and this spring festival journey is also called Chhunyun in Chinese, Chhun meaning spring and Yun meaning transportation.

People travel during this time in most parts of the country, hence a lot of crowd is seen among railway passengers during this time. Generally Chunyun occurs from the 15th of the 12th lunar month (which is currently ongoing) to the 25th of the first lunar month of the next year, i.e. New Year, according to the Chinese calendar. That means there are a total of 40 days around the spring festival in which most of the travel is done.

This year, people’s journey for the Spring Festival has started on 26 January 2024 (15th of the 12th lunar month) and will continue for a period of 40 days and this period will end on 5th March 2024 (25th of the 1st lunar month of the New Year). would end. It is believed that one-third of China’s population i.e. about 48 crore people will travel by rail during this period i.e. about 1 crore people will travel daily. During the Spring Festival, everyone decorates their homes very well.

Therefore, during this period, manufacturing and selling of decorative items is in full swing. Among the decorative items, colorful lanterns, light-shows, paper masks and toys of various shapes of dragons and colorful strips can be seen decorating the city and houses. This is the reason why China’s Spring Festival holiday economy and night economy see rapid growth during this period. This is the reason why festive atmosphere and holidays have started everywhere in China these days.

In India too, Rituraj spring is considered to be the best of all the seasons. According to the sighting of the Moon, the month of Magha of the Indian traditional calendar is starting from 10th February (Chinese New Year). Magh Navratri will also start from the first day of Shukla Paksha of Magh month and the festival of Vasant Panchami will also be celebrated on the Panchami of Magh Shukla which is falling on 14th February this year.

(Courtesy-China Media Group, Beijing)