Chinese New Year Superstitions

Chinese New Year may be a time for friends, family and fun, but is also a time for foreboding as the festival is riddled with superstitions. These are some tips that I have found out from some sources.

Good luck

• Feel the breeze~ Welcome in the New Year with a blast of fresh air, opening your windows is said to be welcoming good luck.

• Lights ON~ Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.

• Sweet Year~ Chinese New Year offers the perfect chance to raid the sweet shop, as eating candies is said to deliver a sweeter year to the consumer.

• Time to clean~ It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year and putting cleaning tools in the cupboard on New Year's Eve.

• Just DO it~ Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Chinese people will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.

• Slippers only~ Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.

• Pomelo bath~ The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.

• Time to 改变~ Changing different things in the house such as blankets, clothes, mattress covers etc. is also a well respected tradition in terms of cleaning the house in preparation for the new year.

• Men in Red~ Chinese New Year is packed with colors, and while all the colors of the rainbow bring good luck, it's the color red that is considered the ultimate luck bringer.

Bad luck

• Dirty Doings~ Put your feet up and relax. Certainly the most enjoyable of the Chinese New Year superstitions, sweeping and cleaning is strictly forbidden. The Chinese believe cleaning means you'll sweep all of your good luck out the front door.
  

• Choppy waters & No Shoe~ Make sure you avoid rough seas in the new year by not buying shoes over the holiday period. The character for "shoe" (鞋) is a homophone for the character 諧/谐, which means "rough" in Cantonese; in Mandarin it is also a homophone for the character for "evil" (邪).

• Don't Cut your hair! Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year's Eve.

• Don't wash your hair! Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)

• Careful with your words~ Saying words like "finished" and "gone" is inauspicious on the New Year, so sometimes people would avoid these words by saying "I have completed eating my meal" rather than say "I have finished my meal."

• No to "death"~ Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious.

• Read between the Lines~ Be sure to stock up on reading materials before Chinese New Year, as Hong Kong's bookshops will be padlocked tight. Buying (or reading) books is bad luck because the character for "book" (書/书) is a homonym to the character for "lose" (輸/输).

• Black and White~ Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral colour.

• NO "F", "D" or "S" words! Foul language is inappropriate during the Chinese New Year.

• 死火! Offering anything in fours, as the number four (四), pronounced sì, can sound like "death" (死), pronounced sĭ, in Chinese.
  

• NO Clock~ One should never buy a clock for someone or for oneself because a clock in Chinese tradition means one's life is limited or "the end," which is also forbidden.

• No Drugs~ Avoid medicine and medicine related activities (at least on the first day) as it will give a bad fortune on one's health and lessen the luck one can obtain from New Years.

• Balance the Book~ If you're in debt, it's time to dip into your pockets and pay people off. The Chinese believe that if you start the new year in the red, you'll finish it the same way.

• Ghostly Conversation~ Caught round a campfire over the holiday period? No ghost stories. Tales of death, dying and ghosts is considered supremely inauspicious, especially during Chinese New Year.

• Get to the point~ Sharp objects are said to be harbingers of bad luck, as their sharp points cut out your good luck, pack them away.You should also avoid the hairdressers or you'll have your good luck chopped off.

They may be some more rules vary from different group but it's still depend on the individual whether if they want to follow the culture traditional or not.