The meaning of New Year's Eve dinner is not only about family reunion.

New Year’s Eve dinner is usually the most sumptuous meal of the year, and it must be prepared by the chef on New Year’s Eve. So, do you know the significance of eating New Year’s Eve dinner? Next, let’s learn about it together.

The meaning of New Year’s Eve dinner: guarding the end of the year

In ancient times, people ate New Year’s Eve dinner to pray for blessings from the ancestors and to spend the last night of the lunar calendar safely. Because every New Year’s Eve is when the ancient Nian beast appears. “Nian” has a hideous appearance and a cruel nature. Its taste changes every day, from eating praying mantises to living humans. In order to stay up all night, every household will prepare dinner in advance, turn off the fire and clean the stove, then lock up the chicken coop and cattle pen, seal the gate of the house, and hide in the house to eat the "New Year's Eve dinner". Because this dinner carries an uncertain implication of good or bad luck, it is prepared very sumptuously. In addition to the whole family dining together to express harmony and reunion, they also must offer sacrifices to their ancestors before the meal, praying that the ancestral spirits will bless them and allow them to spend the night in peace.

The significance of New Year’s Eve dinner: inheriting tradition

Of course, our emphasis on New Year's Eve dinner is also an emphasis on tradition, in order to inherit traditional customs. "Er Ya•Shi Tian" records: "Nian is the name of the ripe grain. It ripens once a year, so it is named after Sui, and "Nian" is regarded as a symbol of harvest. So everyone gets together to cook some good food and have a meal. This celebration activity has become the New Year's Eve dinner.

The meaning of New Year’s Eve dinner: repaying the kindness of raising children

No matter how far you go, the taste of hometown is priceless. A sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner tastes like home and brings out the taste of happiness. The annual reunion dinner reflects the mutual respect and love among family members of the Chinese nation and strengthens the relationship between family members. Seeing that they have many children and grandchildren, the elderly feel that the care and efforts they put into raising their children in the past have not been in vain, and the young can also take this opportunity to express their gratitude to their parents for raising them.

The meaning of New Year’s Eve dinner: a day for family reunion

Everyone knows that every Chinese New Year is a day for family reunion. No matter how far away from home we are, we will rush back before the New Year’s Eve dinner, and then the whole family will sit together to eat the dinner, and then happily and lively welcome the arrival of the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, the table is filled with sumptuous New Year’s dishes. The whole family gathers around the table to eat the reunion dinner together. The sense of fulfillment in the heart is really indescribable. Therefore, the New Year’s Eve dinner represents the reunion of the family and the farewell to the old and the welcome to the new.