The second day of the Lunar New Year is the day to go back to my parents' home.

The New Year is coming soon. For traditional Chinese people, there are many things to pay attention to during the Spring Festival. So on which day of the New Year should you go back to your parents' home in 2019? Let’s find out together below.

On which day of the Lunar New Year should I go back to my parents' home?

Usually, I go back to my parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

On the second day of the first lunar month, there is a custom of returning to one's parents' home in most parts of my country. It is believed among the people that a married daughter cannot return to her parents’ home on the first day of the New Year, as doing so will bankrupt her family. She can only return to her parents’ home after the second day of the 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.

On which days can I not go back to my parents' home?

A married daughter cannot return to her parents' home.

If a married daughter returns to her parents' home on the first day of the Chinese New Year, it means that she will eat her parents' home into poverty, so she can only return on the second or third day of the Chinese New Year. However, the implication is that a married daughter is already the daughter-in-law of someone else's family, and there will be many people coming to her husband's house to pay New Year's greetings, and the daughter-in-law has to help serve tea, so she cannot return on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Why do we have to go back to our parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year?

The second day of the first lunar month is called the "beginning of the year". From this day on, people visit relatives and friends, bringing gifts such as three kinds of animals, glutinous rice cakes, and fried dumplings. In the Shatian area of ​​Shaoguan, people kill chickens to start the new year, which means full of vitality.

The second day of the first lunar month is the day when daughters and sons-in-law return to their parents’ home, that is, the sons-in-law pay New Year’s greetings to their parents-in-law, commonly known as “Welcoming the Son-in-law Day”. It is believed among the people that a married daughter cannot return to her parents’ home on the first day of the New Year, as doing so will bankrupt her family. She can only return to her parents’ home after the second day of the New Year. There is a folk saying in Taiwan: "A daughter with both parents will be picked up by her parents' family after the second day of the Chinese New Year for a reunion. A daughter without both parents will have no relatives to miss her, so her parents' family will not send anyone to pick her up.

The closest relationship among Chinese people is blood relationship. A son-in-law is "half a son". As the saying goes, "a son-in-law is half a son". On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the son-in-law visits his father-in-law and mother-in-law with expensive gifts. This is the once-a-year opportunity for the "half son" to see his "real mother" and to express his condolences to the "two elders". In some places, the new son-in-law is called a "jiaoke". The parents-in-law always give warm hospitality to the "distinguished guests" who come to pay New Year's greetings.