As our ancestors have always taught us to keep traditions alive, we revisit the best ways to only absorb positive vibrations in your life and your family this Chinese New Year.
The Lunar New Year is fast approaching. With only a few nights of sleep left, we’ll finally be entering the year of the metal ox. And as the Filipino-Chinese community in the Philippines is considerably large and has been here for the longest of time, there’s been a handful of ways to channel all the auspicious energy whenever we welcome a whole new year.
With that said, now is the right time to up the ante of good fortune, following all the traditions passed on to us through many generations. And in case you may have forgotten the most important aspects of celebrating the lunar new year, we listed down all the things you need to do and bring honor to your family.
Eat Steamed Fish for Prosperity
Fish has been a traditional Chinese New Year dish that should always be part of new year celebrations. That’s because fish in Chinese sounds like “surplus,” which is crucial to have at the end of the year because having enough surplus at the end of the year would mean that we could make even more in the coming year. Make sure that the fish is also placed on the center of the table and should be eaten last as this is auspiciously homophonic for having surpluses every year.
Eat Dumplings for Wealth
Dumplings will forever be a favorite in the menu simply because of how good they are. In fact, I haven’t known any Filipino-Chinese who doesn’t like dumplings such as kutchay and siomai. But apart from being delicious, dumplings can be made to look like Chinese silver ingots. And legend says that the more dumplings you eat in the new year, the more money you can make in next year.
Eat Tikoy for Higher Income or Position
Eating a glutinous rice cake such as Tikoy for the lunar new year is important if you would want to have higher grade, higher salary, be promoted at work, or simply be successful in your business endeavor. That’s because in Chinese, glutinous rice cake sounds like it means: “getting higher year-on-by year.” So, the higher you are, the more prosperous you will be.
Eat Noodles for Longevity
Noodles, such as the ever-famed pancit, are served during big celebrations regardless if it’s not the lunar new year. We normally see this served especially on birthdays as this symbolizes longevity.
Eat Round Fruits for Fullness and Wealth
When doing your grocery shopping, keep in mind to buy all fruits that are round—from oranges, ponkans, kyat-kyat, to pomelos. By doing these, it will represent fullness and wealth in your life, because these round “golden” fruits depict gold coins. In fact, you can also roll the tangerines going inside your main door so that more money will surely come into your household.
Wear The Lucky Colors
There are three lucky colors for the lunar new year: yellow, green, and red. Wearing yellow will bring you more money and prosperity as it represents stability, which means your assets could grow. Green will help you in terms of networking or learning new things as it signifies growth. And the most important color for business is red. This is critical because many companies now are venturing further into the digital world given the unprecedented pandemic, and red is the color of technologies. So, if you want for your business to thrive—and not only survive—wear this color.
Give (or Receive) Ang Paos
Personally, this is the best thing during new year celebrations. Ever since I was growing up, I look forward to all the ang paos that my relatives would give me. It’s critical that you give (or receive) red envelopes containing an even-numbered amount since those numbers are considered lucky while odd numbers aren’t. Make sure to also stay away from anything with “four” since in Chinese the number is a homonym for “death.”
Perform A Cleansing Burn
Burning incense is an efficient way to refresh the chi energy where you live, work, or play. There is a variety of incense you can choose from, and each of them releases certain elements into the air which can help to remove built-up energies. Sandalwood clears negative energy, Rosemary creates new beginnings, Sage clears away all energy (both negative and positive) leaving a space to bring in new energy, and lavender supports healing energy. But personally, as well as for Chinita Princess Kim Chiu, sandalwood incense is our go-to.
