New Year is one of the most long–awaited and magical holidays that everyone, without exception, loves and waits for. Since ancient times, there have been many traditions on Earth among peoples aimed at attracting good luck and happiness. Observing them, people create a positive atmosphere and make their holiday special.
New Year according to the Gregorian calendar
In the countries of the world living according to the Gregorian calendar, the New Year mostly begins on the night of December 31 to January 1. Together with us, the New Year is celebrated in Finland, Australia, Austria, Scotland, Japan, the USA, the UAE, Romania, Canada and other countries.
However, the traditions and customs of celebrating the New Year are different everywhere.
Gregorian Calendar
Great Britain
In England, the bell announces the arrival of the New Year, starting to ring a little before midnight and doing it in a “whisper”. The blanket in which the bell is wrapped does not give him the opportunity to show all his strength. At exactly twelve o’clock, the blanket is removed from the bell, and he begins to loudly sing hymns to the New Year. The British observe the ancient custom of “letting in the New Year.” It consists in the following: when the clock is almost striking twelve, the back doors of the dwelling open to release the Old Year, and with the final striking of the clock, the front doors already open, allowing the New Year to enter.
Austria
In Austria, it is considered a special rule to hear on New Year’s Eve in Vienna the majestic sound of the “Peace Bell” fixed on St. Stephen’s Cathedral, for which thousands of people gather on Cathedral Square on December 31.
Cuba
Before the New Year in Cuba, people pour water into glasses, and when the clock announces twelve, they splash it out through the open windows onto the street. It means that the Old Year has ended safely, and the inhabitants of Liberty Island wish for a clean and bright path like water for the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, the clock in Cuba strikes only eleven times. Since the twelfth stroke falls on the New Year, the clock is given a break – to peacefully celebrate the holiday together with everyone. While the clock is striking twelve, you need to eat twelve grapes so that happiness will certainly accompany you for twelve months.
Bulgaria
The New Year is usually celebrated at home in Bulgaria. The youngest in the house before the start of this event is near the Christmas tree and performs carols for the guests. Satisfied guests and relatives present gifts to the singer. With the twelfth stroke of the clock, the following happens: with the last knock of the clock of the outgoing year, lights are extinguished in all houses for three minutes for New Year’s kisses, serving as a substitute for toasts. A pause for kisses can be called a pleasant and easily feasible tradition, a high-quality way to get rid of long toasts and the need to compose congratulations yourself.
Japan
According to Japanese traditions, the bells of temples in villages and cities strike one hundred and eight strokes at New Year’s midnight. In the land of the rising sun, it is believed that a person can be characterized by six vices: greed, greed, anger, stupidity, frivolity, indecision – and each of them has eighteen different shades. It is necessary to calculate standing and listen to all the beats. Those who celebrate the holiday believe that such a ritual can get rid of the bad. Purification from vices occurs as the bell strikes. The bell ringing is broadcast online on the radio. It is supposed to go to bed with the last stroke of the bell, then get up before dawn, go outside and celebrate the New Year with the first rays of the rising sun. If someone oversleeps, they will no longer be able to count on luck in the coming year.
USA
The New Year for Americans comes at a time when the huge luminous clock in Times Square will show zero hours and zero minutes. Immediately, thousands of people gathered in the square begin to press the car horn with all their might and kiss.
New Year according to the Eastern calendar
During the time of Emperor Huang Di in the middle of the third millennium BC, the Eastern calendar was compiled. It has been operating for several thousand years in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and some other Asian countries. The calendar is a sixty–year cyclical system.
According to the lunar calendar, the New Year in China is celebrated at the end of winter. The date is sliding. It is celebrated from the second new moon after the winter solstice, that is, approximately between January 21 and February 19.
Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been focused on the organic relationship between nature and man. In China, the cycle of world time and the cycle of all seasons coincide exactly. We are talking about a cycle of constant life and death of organisms, so the New Year for the Chinese is like a complete renewal of the world. The line between the past and the future is the New Year holidays in China.
The Chinese decorate streets and houses with paper lanterns shortly before the New Year. Everyone makes lanterns themselves, because this ancient decoration opens its way to a person in the New Year. At this time, it is customary to drive away evil spirits. They get rid of them with the help of thunder and fire, which is why firecrackers are a permanent part of the holiday.
Before the holiday, a general cleaning is required in the house. All the rubbish is swept out, everything is cleaned and washed for the upcoming event. It takes a lot of ingenuity, invention and effort to make the house beautiful. It is necessary to hang talismans and friendly inscriptions at the house. According to Chinese traditions, a piece of charcoal can scare away evil spirits and attract wealth into the house. It is hung on the front door and on the inner door of the house. The chambers should be decorated with many benevolent talismans.
On the eve of the New Year, you should visit relatives, because this is a day of charity and forgiveness. Celebrate the New Year’s holiday with loved ones, family. First of all, according to tradition, on the first New Year’s Eve it is necessary not to sleep, but to guard the year. This custom is called shou sui. During the first five days, they usually visit each other, but they do not give gifts to anyone, except for small children who receive pocket money in red envelopes.
The celebration of the New Year in China can be called a festival that lasts for fifteen days. Of these, a week is occupied by official weekends. At this time there are endless pyrotechnic shows, theatrical performances and colorful carnivals.
The most fascinating part of the holiday is street processions. During the processions, thousands of lanterns are lit, as if lighting the way to the New Year.
The lanterns have different shapes. They are decorated with intricate ornaments and bright drawings. In China, they like to put lanterns in the form of twelve animals on the streets, symbolizing each year of the twelve-year cycle of the lunar calendar. As a rule, the symbol of the year affects the theme of the design of lanterns. Lanterns in the form of vegetables and fruits are also popular. Red, blue, orange, yellow, green lights brighten houses and streets filled with a noisy, cheerful crowd with a bright rainbow.
During the New Year’s performances, traditional dragon and lion dances are performed. The lion dance, symbolizing protection in the new year from misfortunes and troubles, began to be performed and spread throughout China in the XIV—XVI centuries. Dragon dance also has an ancient history. It was included in the festive rites back in the XII century as the worship of people before the dragon.
The dragon, made of willow twigs, wire and paper, is capable of reaching very large sizes. His body consists of a different, but necessarily an odd number of parts, and is flexible. Each part is controlled by one dancer using a pole. The undulating, writhing movements of the dragon require serious coherence of the participants.
Dancers carry on long poles a writhing body made of silk or paper, lit from the inside by many candles or lamps. The dragon has sparkling eyes, a fire–breathing mouth, a huge head. In the evening hours, he seems formidable and alive, a real ruler of the water elements and the subject of thousands of years of Chinese worship.
The New Year’s ceremony is not complete without rockets and deafening explosions of firecrackers. In ancient times, bamboo trunks, burning with a loud crack, served as firecrackers. The New Year ends with a large-scale Lantern Festival. They are lit on the streets, this is a memorable and very bright event.
In every country, people are different, but everywhere it is festive and joyful, they greet the arrival of the New Year and associate with it dreams for the future, desires, hopes.
Author of the article: Varvara Kartushina
