2023 Is the Year Of The Rabbit!
China’s Lunar New Year is known as the Spring Festival or Chūnjié, in Korean, it would be called Seollal, and the Vietnamese refer to it as Tết! This holiday is tied to the lunar calendar, in which the holiday turns into a wonderful time of feasting, honoring household and heavenly deities, and don’t forget the ancestors!
The holiday typically begins with the first new moon of the year, which happens at the end of January. Chinese New Year has been enjoyed for an estimated 3,500 years. The exact beginning is not recorded, but some people believe that Chinese New Year originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning or the end of each year. If you would like to read more about the legend and characteristics of the rabbit, click the button below!
Lunar New Year Greetings!
The cultures celebrating Lunar New Year do have different ways of greeting each other during the holiday. In Mandarin, a common way to wish family and close friends a happy New Year is “Xīnnián hǎo,” meaning “New Year Goodness.”
Traditional greetings in Vietnam are “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới”(Happy New Year) and “Cung Chúc Tân Xuân” (gracious wishes of the new spring). In South Korea, many commonly say “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo”(May you receive lots of luck in the new year), while North Koreans say “Saehaereul chuckhahabnida” (Congratulations on the new year). Languages can be very different, but we are more connected than we think!
