Right from the start of mid-December, Taiwanese’s families have already started preparing for the annual Chinese New Year which creates an atmosphere of joy and renewal. Bidding farewell to the old year and thanking one’s ancestors and gods for their blessing and protection are the activities done during New Year’s Eve.
For children who have left their hometowns will return on New Year’s Eve to have dinner with their family members, in contrast, a table setting is placed to symbolize their presence for those who could not make the journey. After the dinner ends, the parents and older generation give red packets to the children which symbolized blessing of prosperity for their children.
With the arrival of the New Year’s Day, the Taiwanese begin the day by worshipping their ancestors, after which, they will start to make New Year’s visits to their friends and relatives with the display of dragon dancing, lion dancing and as well as other folk activities.
According to tradition, married women are to return to their natal home to visit her family on the second day of the new year; the gods return to the world of the living on the fourth day and as well as on the fifth day, new stores and old businesses started to open their doors for the first time in the new year due to auspiciousness of the day. The festive air of celebration will continue up till the Lantern Festival which falls on the fifteenth day of the New Year before it slowly went back to normal again.
Lantern Festival
It is known as Shang Yuan Festival in Taiwan falls on the fifteenth day of the first moon. Decorative lantern with a variety themes are carried by the children or adorn temples on the night of the festival. The Tainan Yanshui Fireworks and Taipei Pinghsi Sky Lanterns which are known together as the ‘Fireworks in the South, Sky Lanterns in the North’ are shown in the night sky on the day of the lantern festival.
Eating of tang yuan is also one of the traditional ways of celebrating the lantern festival other than displaying and appreciating lantern. It is an crucial custom which symbolize the family unity to the day’s festivities.
Dragon Boat Festival
It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which begins as an occasion for driving off evil spirits and as well as for finding peace in one's life. A Dragon boat race which is an unbroken lively and colourful tradition for centuries is the activity held during the Dragon Boat Festival. Tzung tzu which was originally eaten in the memory of the patriot Chu Yuan is the most popular dish during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Customary practices for warding off evil and diseases:
- Hanging calamus and moxa on the front door
- Pasting up pictures of Chung Kuei
- Adults drink hsiung huang wine
- Children given fragrant sachets
- ‘Fetching noon water’
‘Fetching noon water’ is a custom practiced in which people believe that by drawing water in the afternoon of the festival will cure illness.
Mid-Autumn Festival
This festival was originated from the ancient ceremony of Sacrificing to the Moon Goddess which was then combined with the legend of eating moon cakes. Today, Mid-Autumn Festival has already become a major occasion in Taiwan.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also considered as a time for family reunions where families will go together to scenic spots and parks for moon appreciation parties while eating moon cakes and pomelos and praying for a safe year in the night time.
This festival is also celebrated in Taiwan by making offerings to the Earth God by hoping he will make the next year's harvest even more bountiful.
Double Ninth Day
This festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. According to Chinese custom, "nine" is a number which belongs to the positive principle ‘yang’, hence, the day is also known as Chung Yang or "Double Yang" Festival. Double Nine Cakes are also eaten to symbolize luck during the festival
Activities originally practices to avoid disaster and danger:
- Hill-climbing
- Drinking chrysanthemum wine
- Hanging dogwood sprays
- Other customs
In Chinese, the word "nine" sounds like the word for "long time," and accordingly this number has became the representation of longevity. In 1966, the Ministry of Interior set Double Ninth Day as Senior Citizen’s Day where the week beginning on this holiday is observed as Senior Citizen's Week.
Unfortunately, because of that Double Ninth Day has lost its original purpose which becoming a time of expressing gratitude to the elderly for their hard work and continuing the Chinese tradition of revering the old today.
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