Category Archives: Festival

Chinese New Year Tradition of New Clothes

Age: 19

Text:

“One tradition we have during Chinese New Year is that it is necessary to wear new clothes from top to bottom. So like inner clothes, pajama, and new bed sets, new slippers, new socks, and new everything. 
And then, we have to all clean our room and house by ourselves, since we can’t get housekeepers to do it for us, so it’s necessary to do it by ourselves. Then, at 12 o’clock midnight, you have to eat dumplings.

Context:

The Chinese New Year is celebrated in China for the first two weeks in the Chinese Calendar. Each day is filled with various cultural and familial traditions. The informant shared her family tradition for the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Analysis:

This tradition can be understood through both symbolic and social frameworks in Cultural Anthropology. Wearing new clothes during the Chinese New Year reflects ideas of renewal and transformation. This aligns with what Arnold van Gennep describes as rites of passage, marking a transition into a new cycle. Cleaning the house oneself reinforces responsibility and participation in maintaining social harmony, which reflects Confucian values of family duty. Finally, eating dumplings together at midnight could bring the family into a shared moment that feels special and unifying. This practice allows everyone to mark the transition into the new year collectively, which reinforces a sense of togetherness and connection.

Chinese New Year Tradition of Family Photos

Text:

Our family’s tradition is that on the first day of Chinese New Year, before dinner, everyone in the family gets dressed up and we take a family photo together. The clothes have to be all new. The tradition started when I was born. At first, my mother wanted everyone to wear red, but over time it relaxed into everyone just wearing whatever they like. So it’s pretty chill now.

Context:

This text was collected from a female Chinese international student from Beijing, who shared it during my interview with her. The practice she describes is a family-specific ritual that takes place on the first day of the Chinese New Year: every family member dresses in brand new clothing and gathers for a collective photograph before the New Year dinner. The tradition was initiated by her mother at the time of the informant’s birth, making it roughly her age and giving it a personal origin she can trace. Originally, the tradition carried a stricter dress code — all red, a color symbolizing luck and prosperity in Chinese culture — but over time, this requirement loosened, and family members now wear new clothes of any color.

Analysis:

This piece exemplifies family lore. The requirement that clothing be entirely new engages the broader Chinese New Year folk belief that newness at the year’s start invites prosperity and signals a clean break from the past, connecting the family ritual to a wider system of folk belief around lucky beginnings. The gradual relaxation of the red dress code is an illustration of multiplicity and variation: the tradition’s core structure remains intact while its specific details shift to accommodate the family’s changing preferences, demonstrating folklore as being simultaneously conservative and dynamic. The mother’s role as the tradition’s originator and enforcer reflects how family folklore is often transmitted through a single authoritative figure whose preferences shape the group’s collective practice. The annual photograph also functions as a form of material culture, producing a tangible archive of the family’s shared identity over time. The timing (before dinner, on the first day of the New Year) gives the ritual the quality of a calendrical rite of passage, formally opening the New Year within the intimate frame of family rather than public celebration.




Chinese New Year Tradition of Making “Dern”

Text:

“On the 15th of the Chinese New Year, my grandma would make something called “dern.” “Dern” is like a bun shaped in the form of our Chinese Zodiac. She would make the “dern” for all family members. She would make seven of them, and they are all in our corresponding Chinese zodiac. So, if I’m born in the zodiac of the chicken, then she would make a chicken. This is practiced on the last day of the Chinese New Year. All of our animal characters would be on the same big bun; there are usually three big buns in total. She would also make two fish on one of the big buns, corresponding to the proverb “May you have abundance/surplus year after year.” After I got a boyfriend, my grandmother started making his “dern” as well. It is referred to as “dern” in the Shandong dialect. To be honest, sometimes it is hard for me to recognize which animal is which after she made them. Another thing is that we have to eat it. We have to bring this gigantic bun back to our own house and place it on our table for a day, and then you eat it. I’m not sure why we put it on the table for a day, but if you eat your zodiac, that just means that you are safe and good, and you have to eat the parts with the pieces of gold as well, which means that you can earn a lot of money in the upcoming year.”

Context:

This text was collected from a Chinese international student from Beijing, China. She learned this tradition through direct participation in her grandmother’s annual practice and shared it with me in a casual conversation as she spoke from personal memory. Her grandmother was from Shandong province, and dern is also a word describing decorated buns in the Shandong dialect. The tradition takes place on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year (the Lantern Festival), which marks the final day of the celebration period. The grandmother serves as the sole maker of the buns, crafting zodiac-shaped figures for every family member. A significant detail is that after the informant began dating her boyfriend, the grandmother started making a bun for him as well, suggesting the practice functions as an informal way of welcoming new members into the family. She interprets eating one’s zodiac as ensuring personal safety and prosperity in the coming year.

Analysis:

This piece exemplifies material culture, more specifically when it functions as a family lore, which shows how a broader regional tradition becomes personalized at the household level. This reminds me of Carl von Sydow’s concept of oicotypes: in this case, the family’s specific variation — seven individual buns, three large bases, fish for prosperity, a one-day display — represents a local adaptation of a wider Shandong practice. The variation is shaped by this family’s particular values and composition. Moreover, the ritual also aligns with Frazer’s theory of homeopathic magic: eating one’s zodiac animal and the golden pieces embedded in the bun not only symbolize safety and wealth, it also enact them. Corresponding folk beliefs like those exemplified through the shape of the “dern” collapse the boundary between representation and outcome. The grandmother’s decision to include the boyfriend’s bun is especially interesting, as it functions as a vernacular act of admitting family membership, which comes before any official social recognition of the relationship.





Ghost Month and Not Swimming During Zhongyuan Festival

Date: 04/21/2026

Speaker: “When I was little, adults always told us not to go swimming during Zhongyuan Festival. That is the Ghost Festival, around the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.

People say that during that time, the gates of the underworld open, so ghosts can come out. We call it ‘opening the ghost gate.’ Because of that, people think the whole month is unlucky, especially near rivers, lakes, beaches, and the ocean.

Adults would always say that if you go swimming during Ghost Month, water ghosts might try to pull you down. They would say the ghosts want someone to take their place, so they look for people near the water. Even if nobody fully believed it, people still avoided swimming because it felt unlucky.

During that month, people also burn paper money and other paper offerings for ancestors and wandering spirits. Families might burn paper houses, paper clothes, paper gold, or paper money. It’s basically an idea is that the dead can use those things in the afterlife.

A lot of families in places like Fujian, Taiwan, and Guangzhou still follow these traditions. Even younger people who do not really believe in ghosts might still avoid swimming during Ghost Month, just in case.

There is also a Taiwanese animated movie called Grandma and Her Ghosts that has a lot of these kinds of Ghost Month ideas in it. It is about ghosts, family, and traditional beliefs, so a lot of Taiwanese people know it from when they were kids.”

Interviewer: “Did you actually believe it when you were younger?”

Speaker: “When I was little, yes, definitely. If an adult tells you not to swim because ghosts will pull you underwater, of course you believe it. Even now, I still feel a little weird about swimming during Ghost Month.”

Interviewer: “So people still follow these traditions even if they do not fully believe them?”

Speaker: “Yeah. Even if people do not completely believe it, they still do not want to risk it. It is one of those traditions where people think, ‘It is better to be safe than sorry.’”

Context: This conversation took place during an informal discussion about Ghost Month traditions in southern Chinese culture. It was originally in Chinese and I use AI tools to translate. The speaker described beliefs surrounding Zhongyuan Festival, especially the idea that the gates of the underworld open during the seventh lunar month. She explained that many families in Fujian, Taiwan, and Guangzhou avoid swimming during that time because of stories about water ghosts pulling people underwater. She also mentioned the practice of burning paper offerings for the dead and connected these beliefs to childhood memories and Taiwanese popular culture.

Analysis: Ghost Month folklores remain especially strong in southern Chinese communities, particularly in Fujian, Taiwan, and parts of Guangdong. The belief that the “ghost gate” opens during the seventh lunar month creates a period associated with danger, bad luck, and wandering spirits. Water is often seen as especially dangerous because of stories about ghosts looking for living people to replace them. Even when people no longer fully believe these stories, they often continue following the customs because of family pressure, cultural habit, or superstition. The continued popularity of works like Grandma and Her Ghosts also shows how these beliefs are passed down through both folklore and popular media.

Tomb Sweeping and Ancestor Offerings

Speaker: “Yes, so when we talk about tomb sweeping, it is really about remembering our ancestors and expressing our grief and respect for them. When people go to visit the graves, they usually bring offerings like fruit or other food. But more importantly, they often bring things that the person liked when they were alive. For example, if that elder used to smoke, we might bring a pack of cigarettes, sometimes even a good one, and light one there for them.

If the person liked to drink, we might bring alcohol, like Maotai, pour a cup, and offer it after kneeling and burning incense. So besides the more general offerings, like incense and paper money, there are also these more personal things.

Burning paper money is very common. The idea is that you are sending money to them so they can use it in the afterlife. People sometimes say that elders in the past had very hard lives and did not have much money, so now we burn more for them, to make sure they have enough. There are also more specific offerings depending on the person. It really depends on what that elder liked. The younger generation will prepare things based on that, so every family’s practice can be a little different.

Another important thing about tomb sweeping is that it is not just about the ritual itself. It is also a kind of family tradition that gets passed down through generations. Usually, the whole family goes together, including older people, middle-aged adults, and children. The reason is that it is also a way of teaching younger people. It helps them learn respect for their ancestors and understand family values. When we were young, we went with our parents, and when we grow up, we continue the same practice. So this tradition has been passed down for thousands of years. It is not just about remembering the dead, but also about family education, values, and maintaining a sense of continuity within the family.”

Interviewer: “So it is not just a ritual, but also something educational?” Speaker: “Yes, exactly. It is a way for younger generations to learn. By participating, they understand what it means to respect elders and carry on family traditions.” Context: This conversation took place during an informal interview about traditional Chinese customs related to ancestor worship. The speaker described the practice of tomb sweeping, including bringing offerings such as food, cigarettes, and alcohol that reflect the personal preferences of the deceased. He also emphasized the importance of burning incense and paper money, as well as the role of tomb sweeping as a family activity that involves multiple generations.

Analysis: Tomb sweeping, often associated with Qingming Festival, is both a ritual practice and a form of cultural transmission. The offerings reflect a belief that the needs and preferences of the deceased continue into the afterlife, while the act of burning paper money symbolizes providing for them materially. At the same time, the practice serves as an important educational moment within families. By involving children and younger generations, tomb sweeping reinforces values such as filial piety, respect for elders, and continuity across generations. This dual role, as both ritual and teaching practice, helps explain why the tradition has remained strong over such a long period of time.