CHINESE New Year is approaching! It’s time to prepare your home for the Spring Festival and decorate it with traditional Chinese New Year decorations! You may have questions on why we have to decorate our house on Chinese New Year? Do we really need it? YES!
The main reason why decorations plays a big role during this festive season is to make sure your home attracts good energy and is filled with prosperity. The occasion is mainly associated with the beginning of a new year that symbolically discards the previous year and brings health, good luck and prosperity.
Couplets
Start with a few Chinese New Year couplets. They are also known as door couplets. They are made from large red paper strips with Chinese calligraphy written in black ink. In Chinese culture, even numbers are associated with good luck and auspiciousness, so New Year’s wishes are usually sent in pairs. They are placed next to the door to wish good luck in the coming year.
Lanterns
The main decorations of Chinese New Year are red Chinese lanterns. During Chinese New Year, it is common to see lanterns hanging from trees on streets, office buildings and doors. The most common form is a traditional lantern with a tassel underneath it. The lanterns come in a variety of sizes, from small to large. These are believed to bring good luck and chase off bad luck, and are usually hung from the front door.
Fu
(Fu) means wealth, and the character will be seen on various decorations during Chinese New Year. Occasionally, Chinese characters can be turned upside down and placed on the doorstep. The reason the character is upside down is that the word “upside down” in Chinese can also mean “poured out”. Therefore, (Fu Dao) can be directly translated as “Wealth has arrived at your door”.
Paper cuttings
Paper cutting techniques date back to the 2nd century. This elegant paper craft makes pretty Chinese New Year decorations. They usually consist of auspicious Chinese characters surrounded by amazingly intricate patterns cut out of red paper. Pictures of auspicious plants or animals are usually the subject of New Year’s paper cutting. Each animal or plant represents a separate wish. For example, peaches symbolise longevity; the pomegranate, fertility; the mandarin duck, love; the pine tree, eternal youth; the peony, honour, and wealth; while a magpie perched on the branch of a plum tree presages a lucky event that will happen soon.
The colour red
We all are aware that red is an auspicious colour. During Chinese New Year, red is also the most popular colour. This is because people believe that this colour brings good luck and drives away evil spirits. If you don’t have the time or budget to paint your home, you can always bring your interior design to life by simply purchasing new red curtains, sheets, bowls or pillowcases in shades of red to complement your festive decorations.
Red packets
The red packets are versatile. While it is nice to receive them during festive seasons, however they serve more than one function. Red packets can also be used to decorate your house. From lanterns to the zodiac animal for the year, there are plenty of tutorial guides to follow from social media platforms.
Kumquat Trees
In Cantonese, kumquat is “gam gat su”. The word “gam” means “gold” and the word “gat” sounds like “luck”. Similarly, in Mandarin, kumquats are called “jinju shu”, and the word “jin” in Chinese means “gold”. “Ju” has a similar pronunciation to the Chinese word for “good luck”. So, having a kumquat tree in your home means wishing you both wealth and good luck. The kumquat tree is a very popular plant that is display around homes to bring in good fortune.
Blooming flowers
Lunar New Year is celebrated in spring. As you know, spring is a time of renewal of life. Flowers are a good choice for decoration, especially the one that blooms, as there is a Chinese proverb that says: “If it blooms, you are lucky”. Orchids, peach and plum blossoms are the popular ones. Remember to only look for the bright colours as dull colours are not welcomed during festive seasons. You can also add lush greenery in the form of lucky plants or lucky bamboos. These beautiful flowers are a good symbol of new beginnings and a wonderful decorative element.