The Chinese New Year involves social, communal, and systematic expression in a festival that fosters a community by through common symbolic behavior and core Chinese values. The Spring Festival is significant in the Chinese community because it allows them to congratulate one another for passing through another year and is a time to complete their old history to allow for the New Year. The celebration, lasting fifteen days, is filled with several different festivities, each symbolizing something different while still being of equal significance.
Socially, the Chinese New Year stresses the importance of the family and the wholeness of a community. The festival signifies a time for the reunion of a family, the calling on of relatives and the visiting of both old and new friends. The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is amongst one of the most imperative familial gatherings.
The New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations are strictly family dealings, involving all members of the family, especially at the gathering for the feast on the Eve of the New Year. “Even if a family member [can] not attend, an empty seat [will] be kept to symbolize that person's presence at the banquet” (2004a). The festival presents an opportunity for respect to be paid to the ancestors through praise. Subsequently, esteem is illustrated through the bowing of younger members of the family to their parents and elders.
The preparations for the Chinese New Year can begin as early as a month before the actual celebration truly begins. Traditionally, the preparations begin by a “sweeping of the grounds” when the house is thoroughly cleaned and Spring Couplets are written in black ink on the walls in expression of good fortune and luck in the coming year (Celebration 2004a). The cleaning of the home allows for any remnant of bad luck to be “swept” away. After the cleansing the Kitchen God, inventor of the fire which allows for cooking, reports to the Heavens to report on the behavior of the family. Again, the family participates in a ritualistic dinner that bids farewell to the God with sweet foods. The cleaning must involve each member of the family and the bidding farewell to Zaowang reinforces the significance of familial solidarity in the ritualistic and superstitious aspects of the festival (Celebration 2004a).
Chinese New Year is largely about the social connections that are built within a community. People dress themselves in new clothing and venture to greet relatives and friends on the day of the New Year. The Chinese people allow a new leaf to be turned and distasteful memories of their peers are forgotten or forgiven and the relationship is renewed for the hope of bettering the community.
The festival overall strengthens social structure through rituals that demand the youth to illustrate their respect for not only their parents, but all their elders in the community. The Chinese New Year encourages stability and unity within the family through the festivities necessitating for the entire family to be involved in the celebration.
The Lantern Festival ends the Chinese New Year after a fifteen-day celebration. The festivity is the liveliest part of the celebration, consisting of singing, dancing and lantern shows (Celebration 2004a). Merchants hang lighted paper lanterns outside of their businesses, signifying the conclusion of the New Year celebration and announcing the need to return to everyday lives. This event is filled with dragon and lion dances, parades, singing, and dancing. This conclusive celebration is the most widely known part of the Chinese New Year as American towns mimic the Chinese festival. Hundreds of Chinese participate in such a celebration in a single area, truly uniting the population.
The Lantern Festival and the greeting of neighbors in the Chinese New Year emphasize the importance of having a strong community and allowing forgiveness to take place. In the Chinese community it is apparent that appreciating your neighbor and building strong relationships with others is a significant part of their culture and an imperative of the celebration.
Symbols are ubiquitous in the celebration of the New Year. Customarily, gifts have several ties attached to them. When presenting a gift, many would argue that gifts entail obligation and allow one to gain power and prestige. In the Chinese New Year, “red packets” are traditionally given to younger generations and unmarried individuals by their parents, grandparents, relatives, and occasionally, friends. The simple, red envelope with money inside is a symbol of fortune and prosperity. In receiving these gifts, nothing is expected in return nor is any status earned by the giver. This is an example of pure generosity and unselfishness that illustrates the desire for strength and unification within the community (West 2004). While generosity is illustrated, a new relationship is formed. Through this gift giving, a family is demonstrating their desire to begin the New Year purely and with strong relationships with others. This relationship is formed through “an important exchange system in every society” and in return for a gift, a relationship is established; this relationship reciprocates the present, even though the reciprocation is not tangible (Cronk 1989). Along with the giving of Hongboa, many families exchange gifts, in which there is a sense of reciprocity entailed. The exchanging of gifts relates in many ways the traditional holiday of Christmas in America because a general sense of goodwill is wished upon one's neighbor through gift-giving.
Plum Blossoms are flowers that bloom at the closing of the winter season from perceptibly lifeless branches. The blossoms burst forth, symbolizing courage and hope. Along with Plum Blossoms, Water Narcissus also plays a significant role in the Chinese New Year. The flower blossoms at the time of New Year's and “if the white flowers blossom exactly on the day of the New Year, it is believed to indicate good fortune for the ensuing twelve months” (Celebration 2004a). Common symbolic behavior is illustrated through the usage of spring couplets, which appear traditionally on the walls in a Chinese home in black ink on red paper. These couplets communicate a wish for fortune and luck for the approaching year. Many of the symbols in the Chinese New Year allow a sense of uniformity to be applied to the celebration. While there are countless numbers of symbols, varying from house cleansing to the dishes during the feasts, each embodies a significant and distinct meaning that is important to the proper execution of the celebration.
The Chinese New Year provides a time of goodwill and hope. The community unites to achieve luck in the forthcoming year and family bonds are strengthened and exemplified throughout the entire celebration. The Spring Festival focuses on the idea of a new beginning, forgetting about any misfortunes and hoping for luck and prosperity, leaving the community with not only a sense of happiness and joy, but a feeling of unity also.