Can I go back to my parents' home on the first day of the Chinese New Year?

Some female friends want to go home to see their parents during the Chinese New Year, but in fact they are not allowed to go back to their parents’ home on the first day of the Lunar New Year, nor can they eat at their parents’ home. So can they go back to their parents’ home on the first day of the Lunar New Year? Which day of the New Year do you go back to your parents' home for the Chinese New Year?

Can I go back to my parents' home on New Year's Day?

It is not allowed to go back to your parents' home on the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to legend, if a married daughter goes back to her parents' home on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it means that she will bankrupt her parents' home.

The first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the year. A married girl is like spilled water, and once she marries into her husband’s family, she becomes a member of that family. At the beginning of the New Year, the whole family is reunited, so it is naturally inconvenient to go back to your parents' home. Some superstitious beliefs hold that deceased ancestors will return home from heaven at the end of the year to enjoy offerings. If the ancestors see "outsiders" in the house, they will not want to enter. Married women are considered outsiders, so married women cannot spend New Year's Eve or the first day of the new year at home. After the ancestors enjoy the offerings, they will return to heaven on the night of the first (or second) day of the new year, and the daughter can return home.

Which day of the New Year do you go back to your parents' home for the Chinese New Year?

Different places have different opinions. In most areas, people go back to their parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

A married daughter usually spends the New Year at her husband's home, and then returns to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. In most areas, people return to their parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year. People believe that a married daughter cannot return on the first day of the Lunar New Year, as returning will bankrupt her parents' home. Therefore, she can only return to her parents' home after the second day of the Lunar New Year. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, married daughters would bring their husbands and children back to their parents' homes to pay New Year's greetings.

[Taboo for a daughter-in-law to return to her parents' home for the New Year]

1. You cannot sleep in the same bed with your husband. It is best for a married daughter to sleep in a separate room from her husband after she returns to her parents' home. If there is no condition to do so, they should at least sleep in separate beds.

2. Don’t sweep the floor at your mother’s house. In many places, it is believed that garbage should not be swept out of the door during the Chinese New Year, otherwise it is easy to sweep away good luck, especially after the daughter-in-law returns to her parents' home, one should not sweep the floor at her parents' home.

3. When a daughter-in-law returns home, she should not look at the lights in her parents’ home. Generally, lights are lit at night during the Chinese New Year. The lights here refer to the lights that are lit at night during the Chinese New Year or the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The daughter-in-law must return to her husband's house before lighting the lights and cannot look at the lights at her parents' house.

4. Don’t stay at your parents’ home for too long. After a daughter-in-law returns to her parents' home, she only needs to stay for a few days. If a married daughter stays in her parents' home for a long time, it will easily affect the financial fortune of her brothers and her sister-in-law will be unhappy.

5. On the day you get married, you cannot look back when you leave the house. If you look back, it means that you will have a hard time in your husband’s family in the future and you will have to come back eventually.