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Traditional Chinese New Year Greetings |
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Written by Bob Younce
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Wednesday, 23 January 2008 |
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A big part of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration is the greeting. Traditional Chinese New Year greetings are meant to be loud and enthusiastic
ways of greeting a friend or a relative. These greetings, sometimes known as Jíxiánghùa, or "auspicious words," can take many forms.
One traditional Chinese New Year greeting is very similar to new year greetings in the West. "San nin faai lok" is the Cantonese version of this particular Chinese New Year greeting. Simply translated, this greeting means, "Happy New Year." This greeting is generally used during the first five days of the Chinese New year.
Another traditional Chinese New Year greeting is "Gung hei faat choi." This greeting translates to "congratulations, and be prosperous." The phrase "faat choi" is especially interesting, in that one of the traditional foods served at the Chinese New Year's Even reunion dinner is a type of seaweed known as "fat choi."
There are other traditional Chinese New Year greetings, as well. Some of these greetings are meant for people, others are meant to be used as exclamations for certain situations. For example, when Chinese children are to receive a gift, they may use a phrase which translates as, ""Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope." (The red envelope, or red packet, is the traditional form that gifts take for Chinese New Year). When someone drops a dish, it is considered bad luck, so the person may exclaim, "Suìsuì píng'ān," which means "everlasting peace. Here again, there is a play on words, as the word "Suì" sounds like the word for "shatter." |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 November 2008 )
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