春节序曲·除夕民俗知多少 | Spring Festival· Do you how we celebrate it?

过年挂灯笼是我国从古至今的习俗，红色代表喜庆，圆形灯寓意团圆美满，红灯笼象征着平安祥和、红红火火。

It has been a custom in China since ancient times to hang lanterns during the Chinese New Year celebration. Red represents festivity, round lights mean happy reunion, and red lanterns symbolize peace, harmony and prosperity. 

Famous Spring Festival couplets

春联，也叫“门对”“春贴”“对联”“对子”，属于楹联的一种，是一种独特的文学形式。“三阳使布，四序初开”是世界上最早的春联，从明代开始便已经盛行百姓贴春联。

Spring couplets, also known as “door pair”, “spring paste”, “couplet” and “pair”, belong to a kind of couplets and are a unique literary form. “Three Yang makes cloth, four preface begins” is the earliest Spring Festival couplets in the world. People have pasted Spring Festival couplets since the Ming Dynasty.

Spring Festival

传说守岁是为了防止一种独角兽的侵害，而这种独角兽最怕火光、红色和声响，所以人们会在除夕夜穿红衣、点红灯、贴红纸、放烟花爆竹，彻夜不眠，也就有了“守岁”的习俗。

It is said that keeping watch is to prevent the invasion of a Xian Nian, which is most afraid of fire, color red and sound. Therefore, people will wear red clothes, light red lights, paste red paper, set off fireworks and firecrackers on New Year’s Eve, and stay awake all night, so there is the custom of “keeping watch”. 

民间有“开门爆竹”一说，即在新年来临之际，家家户户开门的第一件事就是燃放爆竹，以霹雳巴拉的爆竹声除旧迎新，可以给人们带来欢愉和吉祥。

There is a folk saying: “Open the door with firecrackers”. When the New Year is coming, the first thing for every family, when opening the door for the first time in a new year, is to set off the firecrackers. The sound of firecrackers can bring happiness and auspiciousness to people.

吃年夜饭，是春节家家户户最热闹愉快的时候。大年夜，丰富的年菜摆满全桌，阖家欢乐，满满一年的祝福，满满一年的喜悦，都在此时汇聚而爆发。年夜饭的饺子似金元宝，有富贵之意，而“鱼”和“余”同音，又有年年有余之说。

New Year’s Eve dinner is the most lively and happy time for every family during the Spring Festival. On New Year’s Eve, the whole table is full of special dishes, the whole family is happy, everyone is full of blessings and joy for a year. Having dumplings for the New Year’s Eve dinner is like gold ingots, which means wealth; and the homonym of “fish” and “Yu” means surplus every year.

伴随着除夕夜的鞭炮声，过去的一年结束了，我们围坐在一起，相互送上新年的祝福，心中饱含对未来的期盼，在阖家团圆的欢声笑语中共同迎接新年的到来。

With the sound of firecrackers on New Year’s Eve, the past year is over. We sit around and send greetings and best wishes to each other. Our hearts are full of expectations for the future. We welcome the arrival of the New Year together!