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Tempo.co, Jakarta - Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is just around the corner. This year, coinciding with the year 2576 in the Kongzili calendar, the Chinese community worldwide will celebrate it on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. The Cap Go Meh celebration, marking the end of the festive period, is always eagerly anticipated as one of the grandest moments of the New Year festivities.
According to Antara, the Chinese New Year symbolizes good fortune and prayers for a brighter future. The celebration is filled with customary activities such as giving red envelopes locally known as angpao, enjoying family meals, and witnessing lion dances and fireworks – all of which represent hope and happiness.
Besides the joy and excitement of the festivities, the Chinese community also adheres to a set of traditional taboos. These taboos are not only meant to preserve honor and ensure safety during celebrations but also carry profound symbolic significance within Chinese culture.
Here are some of the key taboos to avoid during Chinese New Year, as outlined by China Highlights.
1. Sweeping the Floor
Sweeping the floor during the Chinese New Year is considered to drive away good fortune. It is also associated with sweeping away wealth. Throwing out the garbage is also forbidden as it symbolizes throwing away good luck or fortune from inside the house.
2. Taking Medicine or Herbal Remedies
The tradition of avoiding medicine or seeking medical treatment on the first day of Chinese New Year is believed to prevent illness throughout the year. In some regions of China, people intentionally break herbal medicine pots when the New Year bells toll. Drinking herbal tonic is also prohibited, as it is believed to bring sickness for the entire year.
3. Eating Porridge and Meat
Eating porridge is not allowed during Chinese New Year. This dish is associated with poverty, and starting the first day of the new year with anything that symbolizes poverty is considered inauspicious. Meat dishes are also prohibited as a way of honoring Buddha.
4. Washing or Cutting Hair
Chinese people are prohibited from washing their hair on the first day of the Chinese New Year. This is because the pronunciation and character of the word "hair" in Chinese are similar to "fa" in "facai", which means to become wealthy. In other words, washing hair is seen as washing away wealth. Meanwhile, cutting hair is also believed to bring bad luck to uncles.
5. Doing Laundry
Washing clothes is prohibited on the first and second days of Chinese New Year, as it coincides with the birthday of Shuishen, the God of Water. In ancient times, water was believed to symbolize wealth. It is also believed that pouring water after washing clothes would result in the pouring away of wealth.
6. Using sharp objects
During the Chinese New Year celebrations, knives, scissors, and needles should be avoided to prevent accidents or injuries. The Chinese community believes that the use of sharp objects is unfavorable, as it is thought to cut off wealth in the coming year.
7. Married Women Visiting Their Parents
Married women are traditionally discouraged to visit their parents' homes during Chinese New Year. It is believed to bring bad luck to the parents and could lead to financial difficulties for the family. Married women may visit their parents on the second day of the New Year.
8. Using Negative Words
Using harsh words during the Chinese New Year celebrations, such as death, poverty, ghosts, illness, and similar terms, is considered taboo. This is because words are believed to hold power. People usually replace them with euphemisms if they need to discuss these topics.
9. Giving Odd Amounts of Lucky Money
The Chinese prefer even numbers, based on the traditional belief that good things always come in multiples. However, they also avoid unlucky numbers such as 4 and 40, as these sound like the word for death in Chinese.
10. Wearing Dark-colored Clothing
During Chinese New Year celebrations, it is better to avoid wearing dark-colored clothes, such as black. This is because black is associated with mourning, while red symbolizes good luck, brightness, and positive energy.
11. Breaking Glass Items
Breaking bowls, plates, glasses, vases, or mirrors is considered to bring bad luck, financial loss, or family separation. If something breaks accidentally, people usually wrap the broken pieces in red paper and say "Sui sui ping'an", which means "safe and healthy throughout the year".
12. Visiting Hospital
Visiting hospitals during Chinese New Year is believed to bring illness to the person for the coming year. Therefore, hospital visits are highly discouraged, except in emergencies.
13. Lending Money
Lending money on New Year's Day is considered inauspicious. All debts should be settled before the New Year. Visiting someone to collect a debt on New Year's Day is also believed to bring bad luck.
14. Killing Animals
Killing animals should be avoided from the 1st to the 15th of the Chinese New Year. Blood is considered a bad omen, leading to misfortunes such as knife wounds or bloody disasters. People usually slaughter chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish before or on the night of the Chinese New Year.
Angelina Tiara Puspitalova contributed to the writing of this article.
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