Chinese Culture by Genevieve Tng

The CHINESE Culture : 

The CHINESE Culture Done by: Genevieve Tng Class: 4.7

Festivals We Celebrate : 

Festivals We Celebrate There are Chinese festivals such as the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year), Mid-Autumn and Dragon Boat festivals.

Spring-Cleaning : 

Spring-Cleaning Before Chinese New Year, every household will clean every corner of their house. This is called spring cleaning.

Reunion Dinner : 

Reunion Dinner The night before Chinese New Year, people visit their family and the whole family will gather and enjoy the reunion dinner as it is considered the most important meal of the year. Married children and those who are overseas will try to come home for the reunion dinner.

Shou sui : 

Shou sui The custom of staying up all night on the eve of Chinese New Year to usher in the new year is called ‘shou sui’.

Red PAckets (hongbao) : 

Red PAckets (hongbao) On the eve of Chinese New Year, the elders will give the children red packets (hongbao), which the children will place it under their pillows and open on New Year’s Day. It is customary for married people to give red packets to those who have yet to get married. Red packets is a symbol of celebration, well wishes and good fortune.

Lion Dance : 

Lion Dance The lion dance is believed to ward off evil and carry with it all things that are suspicious.

Greetings : 

Greetings On the first day of Chinese New Year, everyone will wear their new clothes and visit their relatives and friends to wish one another a Happy New Year. New Year snacks and delicacies will also be served to guests. When people visit their relatives and friends, they will bring along mandarin oranges. Married daughters will usually visit their own parents on the second day of Chinese New Year. The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon Boat Racing and Eating Dumplings : 

Dragon Boat Racing and Eating Dumplings Dragon Boat racing is a well-loved international sporting event, with more than 50 nations around the world taking part in the races each year. The tradition of eating dumplings and racing dragon boats began to commemorate Qu Yuan, a great poet during the Warring States period. Qu Yuan was a loyal citizen of Chu who had been banished because of slander, he plunged into the Gulao River upon learning that the capital of Chu had fallen to the Qin army. The people rowed out in boats to try to save him, sounding drums to scare the fish away. They failed to recover his body, and threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. Dragon Boat races and rice dumplings thus became a tradition.

Mid-Autumn Festival : 

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival is derived from the tradition of worshipping the moon.

Moon cakes : 

Moon cakes Mooncakes are round, symbolising reunion and completeness. Therefore, eating sweet mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival represents the family's togetherness and living in sweet harmony. Legend has it that mooncakes originated towards the end of the Song Dynasty, when the Mongols invaded China. The common people suffered under their rule and hence planned to revolt. To keep their plans from being discovered, they hid messages in round cakes which were sent to every family. On the 15th night of the eighth month, the people rose up in revolt and killed the Mongol invaders as they slept. Mooncakes are eaten on this day every year to commemorate this event. The round cakes of the past have since evolved into the present day mooncakes, with fillings.