Is there any particular thing to eat on the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year? What to do on the first day of the Chinese New Year?

New Year is the most important festival in China. The Spring Festival, the first day of the first lunar month of each year, is also commonly known as the New Year, New Year, New Year, etc. So is there any particular thing to eat on the morning of the first day of the New Year? What to do on New Year's Day?

Is there any particular thing to eat on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year?

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, you should avoid eating porridge or meat and eat only vegetarian food.

In the past, only poor families ate porridge, so people had to eat dry rice in the morning of the first day of the new year, which meant that the family would be rich throughout the year. The morning of the first day of the new year is called the Grand Gathering of All Gods, which means that all the gods have come out to pay New Year's greetings. Therefore, to show respect, people should not eat meat but should eat vegetarian food. After eating delicious food on New Year’s Eve, the whole family has to eat vegetarian food for the first meal on the first day of the new year.

"斋" (fast) and "惧 (disaster)" (disaster) have the same pronunciation, and eating vegetarian food also means "eating disasters", which means "eating away" all kinds of disasters in the new year and blessing the family with peace and safety. On the first day of the New Year, people eat vegetarian food for lunch. They cook a pot of "Luohan Vegetarian Food" with vermicelli, bean curd sheets, hair vegetable, mushrooms, etc. It means that all the vegetarian dishes to be eaten in the year should be eaten on this day, and from then on you can eat meat and fish and pray for a smooth year. Therefore, there is a saying that "eating vegetarian food on the first day of the year is better than fasting all year round."

In addition, unless you are seriously ill and have to take it, it is best not to take general tonics on the first day of the Lunar New Year. There is a popular saying among the Chinese people: "If you take medicine on the first day of the new year, you will have no cure for any disease for the whole year."

What to do on New Year's Day?

1. New Year greetings

An important activity on the first day of the Lunar New Year is for friends and relatives to visit each other to pay New Year's greetings. New Year's greetings are an old Chinese tradition. You can express your best wishes to others and wish them good luck and smooth sailing in the new year. New Year's greetings usually start with the elders at home, then go to visit relatives outside. On the first day of the New Year, people have to get up early to pay New Year's greetings. After receiving the greetings, the elders will distribute the "lucky money" prepared in advance to the younger generations. After paying New Year's greetings to the elders at home, people go out to pay New Year's greetings to others.

2. Lucky money

On the first day of January, every household will pay New Year's greetings as a ritual to welcome the new year. China has been a country of etiquette since ancient times. It is an essential part of the ritual for younger generations to pay New Year's greetings to their elders and for relatives and friends to greet each other. New Year's greetings mean bringing gifts to gather at the homes of relatives and friends, chatting, having fun and killing time. The younger generation greets the elder generation, and the elder generation will take out the lucky money prepared in advance as a blessing to the younger generation. This is the favorite time for children, and choosing to greet the new year on the first day is actually the sooner the better.

3. Eat dumplings

People in the north often eat dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Everyone gets together to make and eat dumplings, and the dumplings are filled with the concept of reunion. But now the art of making dumplings has also spread to people in the south, and they also learn to make dumplings for the New Year like people in the north. Eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve means “good luck in the coming year”, while eating dumplings on New Year’s Day is for good luck for the whole year.