{"id":14950,"date":"2020-01-06T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14950"},"modified":"2020-01-03T04:15:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T08:15:37","slug":"4-useful-verbs-for-chinese-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/4-useful-verbs-for-chinese-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Useful Verbs for Chinese New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival (\u6625\u8282<\/strong> ch\u016bn ji\u00e9), is celebrated this year\u00a0on January 25th, 2020. Here are 4 useful verbs to use when talking about the festival customs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u529e <\/strong>b\u00e0n = to run, to handle<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Spring Festival is China\u2019s most important festival. The week-long national holiday week received the name Chinese Lunar New Year Golden Week (\u9ec4\u91d1\u5468 <\/strong>hu\u00e1ng j\u012bn zh\u014du). Actually, observances traditionally take place for more than a week. Fifteen days, to be exact, from the evening preceding the first day of the year to the\u00a0Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The holiday has plenty of traditions and rituals. Among them is the\u00a0New Year\u2019s dinner (\u5e74\u591c\u98ef <\/strong>ni\u00e1n y\u00e8 f\u00e0n), held on\u00a0New Year\u2019s Eve\u00a0during which family members get together from all around China to celebrate.<\/p>\n

With so many events, the celebration requires lots of preparation. The markets fill up with Spring Festival goods (\u5e74\u8d27<\/strong>ni\u00e1n hu\u00f2) weeks before the holiday. Spring Festival goods include traditional treats and dishes for the holiday and a variety of food every day, ranging from vegetables and fruits, meats and rice, to beverages and nuts. Many stores and restaurants are closed during the holiday and the Chinese need to prepare food for two weeks, including the big dinner of New Year\u2019s Eve,\u00a0in advance. Spring Festival goods also include decorative items (\u88c5\u9970\u7528\u54c1 <\/strong>zhu\u0101ng sh\u00ec y\u00f2ng p\u01d0n), gifts, clothes, New Year couplets, red envelopes (\u7ea2\u5305 <\/strong>h\u00f3ng b\u0101o), and so on.<\/p>\n

At the end of each lunar year, Chinese are busy shopping and preparing (\u529e\u5e74\u8d27 <\/strong>b\u00e0n ni\u00e1n hu\u00f2) for the coming new year. \u529e\u5e74\u8d27<\/strong> actually means to go to the streets and markets to buy all it needs for the New Year Festival.<\/p>\n

\u6bcf\u9022\u519c\u5386\u65b0\u5e74\uff0c\u5bb6\u5bb6\u6237\u6237\u603b\u4f1a\u5fd9\u7740\u529e\u5e74\u8d27<\/strong>\u3002<\/h6>\n
M\u011bi f\u00e9ng n\u00f3ng l\u00ec x\u012bn ni\u00e1n, ji\u0101 ji\u0101 h\u00f9 h\u00f9 z\u01d2ng hu\u00ec m\u00e1ng zhe b\u00e0n ni\u00e1n hu\u00f2.<\/h6>\n
Every Lunar New Year, every household is always busy with shopping for the new year.<\/h6>\n
<\/h5>\n

\u8d34 <\/strong>ti\u0113 = to stick<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese New Year Couplets (\u6625\u8054 <\/strong>ch\u016bn li\u00e1n) decorate most doors throughout China during the celebration of Chinese New Year. Pasted on both sides of the front door these two vertical red couplets (\u5bf9\u8054<\/strong> du\u00ec li\u00e1n) are a common sight both in the large cities and in the countryside of China. Written with black or golden ink, the couplets are composed of a pair of poetry lines with parallel structures and antithetical meanings, accompanied by a four-character horizontal scroll affixed above the door frame. A couplet, for example, could be:<\/p>\n

\u7af9\u7b0b\u7834\u51b0\u8f9e\u65e7\u5c81 <\/strong><\/h6>\n
Zh\u00fa s\u01d4n p\u00f2 b\u012bng c\u00ed ji\u00f9 su\u00ec.<\/h6>\n
The bamboo shoots break ice to send away the old year<\/h6>\n

Parallel to:<\/p>\n

\u7ea2\u6885\u5f97\u610f\u95f9\u65b0\u6625 <\/strong><\/h6>\n
H\u00f3ng m\u00e9i d\u00e9 y\u00ec n\u00e0o x\u012bn ch\u016bn<\/h6>\n
The red plums bloom gaily to greet the new spring<\/h6>\n

While the scroll above read:<\/p>\n

\u8fce\u6625\u63a5\u798f <\/strong><\/h6>\n
Y\u00edng ch\u016bn ji\u0113 f\u00fa<\/h6>\n
Happy and prosperous New Year<\/h6>\n

The markets fill up with \u5e74\u8d27<\/strong>, and many hanging red scrolls decorate the stalls, ready to be sold. It is a spectacular sight: endless red strips serve as a backdrop for calligraphy artists who spend the hours on the market writing new couplets every day. Pasting spring couplets (\u8d34\u6625\u8054 <\/strong>ti\u0113 ch\u016bn li\u00e1n) is an old custom, and every household buys a joyful and prosperous couplet to paste on its entrance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u653e <\/strong>f\u00e0ng = to set off<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As the legend goes, a fearsome monster called Nian would emerge from his den every year just before the spring arrived, hunting for villagers and livestock. One day, the villagers discovered that burning dry bamboo would produce a startling explosive sound, scaring away the monster. Since then, it has become a tradition at Chinese New Year. After gunpowder was invented 2,000 years ago, firecrackers replaced the bamboo. Nowadays, the common Chinese name for firecrackers is \u97ad\u70ae<\/strong> (bi\u0101n p\u00e0o). But another Chinese name for firecrackers \u2013 \u7206\u7af9<\/strong> (b\u00e0o zh\u00fa) \u2013 implies this old history: \u7206<\/strong> means to explode, and\u7af9<\/strong> means bamboo.<\/p>\n

Many people still believe that exploding firecrackers (\u653e\u97ad\u70ae <\/strong>f\u00e0ng bi\u0101n p\u00e0o) will scare away the evil spirits of the past year. Lighting fireworks becomes a major custom during the Chinese New Year as a way to celebrate and\u00a0enhance the festive atmosphere. They are exploded day and night, before and even after the Spring Festival. On the streets, from the rooftops, and out of windows, they are everywhere. Firecrackers are also used as decorations, hanging alongside door entrances, embellishing shopping centers, restaurants, and hotels.<\/p>\n

\u653e\u7206\u7af9\u662f\u4e2d\u56fd\u4f20\u7edf\u6c11\u4fd7\u3002<\/strong><\/h6>\n
F\u00e0ng b\u00e0o zh\u00fa sh\u00ec zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 chu\u00e1n t\u01d2ng m\u00edn s\u00fa.<\/h6>\n
Setting off firecrackers are a traditional Chinese folk custom.<\/h6>\n
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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

\u5305 <\/strong>b\u0101o = to wrap<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Eating dumplings (\u997a\u5b50 <\/strong>ji\u01ceo zi) on Spring Festival is a popular Chinese custom, typically in northern China. Eating though, is only a part of the custom. Usually, the family gathers together on the Lunar New Year\u2019s Eve to make the dumplings and wrap them (\u5305\u997a<\/strong>\u5b50 b\u0101o ji\u01ceo zi) one by one. The dumplings should be cooked before midnight, so they can be eaten on the first hour of the new year.<\/p>\n

The custom originated from the phrase\u66f4\u5c81\u4ea4\u5b50<\/strong> (g\u0113ng su\u00ec ji\u0101o zi). The phrase consists of two verbs: \u66f4<\/strong> (to change<\/em>), and \u4ea4<\/strong> (to arrive at<\/em>); and two time terms: \u5c81<\/strong>(year<\/em>), and \u5b50<\/strong>, a short of \u5b50\u65f6<\/strong> (z\u01d0 sh\u00ed) \u2013 the first period of the day according to the ancient Chinese time system that divides each 24-hour day into 12 two-hour periods. The phrase refers to the timing of the years\u2019 exchange: the new year arrives at the first period of the day (11 pm-1 am) and replaces the old year.<\/p>\n

Chinese has a significant number of\u00a0homophonous\u00a0syllables. \u4ea4\u5b50<\/strong>(ji\u0101o zi) pronunciation, for example, is similar to\u997a\u5b50<\/strong> (ji\u01ceo zi), which created the homophonic phrase \u66f4\u5c81\u997a\u5b50<\/strong> (g\u0113ng su\u00ec ji\u01ceo zi), literally translated to as the year changes <\/em>\u2013 dumplings<\/em>. This pun produced the New Year tradition of eating dumplings to send away the old and welcome the new. A fun custom associated with the tradition is to hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The person who bites the coin is said to be lucky and prosperous in the New Year.<\/p>\n

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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Text vocabulary<\/u><\/p>\n

\u6625\u8282<\/strong> ch\u016bn ji\u00e9 = Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year<\/p>\n

\u9ec4\u91d1\u5468<\/strong> hu\u00e1ng j\u012bn zh\u014du = golden week, a weeklong holiday<\/p>\n

\u5e74\u591c\u98ef<\/strong> ni\u00e1n y\u00e8 f\u00e0n = New Year\u2019s dinner<\/p>\n

\u5e74\u8d27<\/strong> ni\u00e1n hu\u00f2 = Spring Festival goods<\/p>\n

\u88c5\u9970\u7528\u54c1<\/strong> zhu\u0101ng sh\u00ec y\u00f2ng p\u01d0n = decorative item<\/p>\n

\u7ea2\u5305<\/strong> h\u00f3ng b\u0101o = red envelope<\/p>\n

\u529e<\/strong> b\u00e0n = to run, to handle<\/p>\n

\u5bf9\u8054<\/strong> du\u00ec li\u00e1n = couplets<\/p>\n

\u6625\u8054<\/strong> ch\u016bn li\u00e1n = Spring Festival couplets<\/p>\n

\u8d34<\/strong> ti\u0113 = to stick<\/p>\n

\u97ad\u70ae<\/strong> bi\u0101n p\u00e0o = firecracker<\/p>\n

\u7206\u7af9<\/strong> b\u00e0o zh\u00fa = firecracker<\/p>\n

\u653e<\/strong> f\u00e0ng = to set off<\/p>\n

\u997a\u5b50<\/strong> ji\u01ceo zi = dumplings<\/p>\n

\u5305<\/strong> b\u0101o = to wrap<\/p>\n

\u597d\u597d\u5b66\u4e60\uff0c\u5929\u5929\u5411\u4e0a\uff01<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
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\u200d\u200d\u200d\u200d\u200d\u200d<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival (\u6625\u8282 ch\u016bn ji\u00e9), is celebrated this year\u00a0on January 25th, 2020. Here are 4 useful verbs to use when talking about the festival customs.   \u529e b\u00e0n = to run, to handle Spring Festival is China\u2019s most important festival. The week-long national holiday week received the name Chinese…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":14951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14950","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14950"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14955,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950\/revisions\/14955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}