Spring festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year

Inscribed in 2024 (19.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

In China, the spring festival marks the beginning of the new year. It falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and involves a variety of social practices to usher in the new year, pray for good fortune, celebrate family reunions and promote community harmony. This process of celebration is known as ‘guonian’ (crossing the year). In the days preceding the festival, people clean their homes, stock provisions and prepare food. On New Year’s Eve, families dine together and stay up late to welcome the new year. During the festival, people wear new clothes, make offerings to heaven, earth and ancestors, and extend greetings to elders, relatives, friends and neighbours. Public festivities are held by communities, cultural institutions, social groups and art troupes. The traditional knowledge of the rituals, customs, legends and ballads associated with the spring festival, and the skills of preparing festival decorations and supplies, are transmitted informally within families and communities as well as formally through the public education system. Related crafts and performing arts are transmitted through apprenticeships. The spring festival promotes family values, social cohesion and peace while providing a sense of identity and continuity for the Chinese people.