Is there a Chinese New Year in Japan and Korea? That is, is it a rice cake festival in Korea today? What is it in Japan? What other countries celebrate the festival again today?

(Japanese New Year's Dinner)

Eating New Year's dinner together as a family on New Year's Eve is one of the must-have New Year's celebrations for both Chinese and Japanese people. Similar to China, the Japanese have a "first-born son inherits the family business" system, which means that the other children have to go out to earn a living. Families may be spread out over the years in major cities, but on New Year's Eve (known as "Daikichi" in Japanese), family members who have been scattered around the world will return to their hometowns and have a New Year's Eve dinner together. The Japanese New Year's dinner is called "omatsuri" and serves the same purpose as the Chinese New Year's dinner.

The custom of worshipping the gods

(Worshiping the gods is also a Japanese New Year's custom)

China and Japan both experienced a long period of feudalism, in which the kings and kings down to the common people were very superstitious, and people believed in the existence of ghosts and gods in the world. Both China and Japan have historically developed indigenous religious beliefs, such as Taoism in China and Shintoism in Japan. At the same time, the Buddhist culture has had a profound influence on China and Japan, and there is a large Buddhist population in both countries. During major folk festivals such as New Year's Day, both Chinese and Japanese people have the custom of praying for peace and happiness in the coming year by worshipping the gods. Some worship the gods at home, while others go to temples and shrines to pray for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas.

The custom of giving money to the younger generation

(Japanese Rishis are "Onen-yoku")

The giving of money to the younger generation by the older generation is the same New Year's custom in China and Japan, and it is a form of New Year's blessing from the older generation to the younger generation. The Chinese call it "New Year's money" or "red packets" and usually wrap a certain amount of paper money in a red paper bag or red paper and then give it to others; the Japanese call it "onen-yu" (御年玉). ". If the Chinese call it "red packet", then the Japanese call it "white packet". This is because the bag that the Japanese use to put the money in is usually white and is called an "onen-yu bag", and the onen-yu bag is usually painted with a variety of symbols of good luck, such as a kadomatsu (door pine), a karmic object, and so on. Although the colors of the Chinese "red bags" and the Japanese "white bags" are different, they express the same meaning and are an essential part of the New Year's traditions in both countries.

Customs of New Year's greetings

Chinese people often refer to what leaders casually promise over drinks as "New Year's greetings," which means that they talk a good game but may not be able to fulfill it, and is a kind of ironic language. However, the original "New Year's words" is the words of people to express their sincere wishes for each other, in both China and Japan are very popular. Chinese people usually say "Congratulations on the New Year" and "Happy New Year", while Japanese people usually say "New Year's greetings", "New Year's ome de too", Japanese New Year's greetings are usually "新年おめでとう", "谨賀新年", "明けましておめでとう", etc., which are similar to the Chinese ones. After all, there is still a lot of Chinese blood in Japanese traditional culture.

Customs of eating gyoza and dumplings

Eating gyoza and dumplings on New Year's Day is another New Year's custom that is common to both China and Japan, and reflects the profound influence of ancient Chinese culture on Japan. However, there are some differences between the gyoza and mochi of the two countries. For example, Japanese gyoza are smaller and have a higher proportion of meat, which is different from the big dumplings in northern China; Chinese rice cakes are usually served in big plates, but Japanese rice cakes are more delicate and have a more springy texture.

Lunar New Year in Korea

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, those who are already married are expected to wear traditional Hanbok. Some grandfathers who come to their homes to honor their ancestors are also required to wear tall sarongs on their heads

The Lunar New Year is also a traditional holiday in Korea. Even though many Koreans nowadays don't remember why they celebrate the Lunar New Year, the festivities are still very much in the air.

Our family is a very traditional one, with my parents retiring to the countryside to live with my grandmother. The day before the Spring Festival, which is the Chinese New Year's Eve, the women of the family would prepare the things for the next day's celebration. On the first day of the Spring Festival, which is the Chinese New Year's Day, we in Korea honor our ancestors at home.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, family members get up early to freshen up and put on new clothes. Those who are already married wear traditional Korean clothes. Some grandfathers who come to the house to honor their ancestors not only wear hanbok, but also have tall sarongs on their heads. Young men who are not married can choose western clothes, and girls can wear pretty dresses, all of which must be clean and new. The father, as the eldest son of the family, writes a talisman in traditional Chinese characters and pastes it in a traditional wooden box. All the men in the family have to kneel down and bow, but the women are not allowed to participate in this ceremony. As to what my father wrote, I do not know. Only the eldest son was authorized to do this, and as a girl, it was not something I was assigned to do.

Putting up offerings is a woman's business. My mother and sister-in-law did this, and I, the youngest sister-in-law, just helped serve the dishes. The offerings included rice cakes, scallion pancakes, fried foods, steamed fish, traditional rice crackers, dates, chestnuts, and fruits such as apples, persimmons, watermelons, and pears. Watermelon is a must-have, even though you need to get it in winter. Pears are different from Chinese pears and are very large, almost the size of a pomelo. There is an order in which the offerings are placed, and the young people are not quite sure how exactly. Maybe only mom knows.

Father pours out the sake, toasts the ancestors, and symbolically asks them to eat first. After the festival, we were to eat rice cake soup. It is just like Chinese people eat dumplings on New Year's Day. The offerings on the table are also ready to be eaten. After eating, my father and mother left to pay their respects to the elders of the village and the relatives of the family who live nearby. The women start preparing lunch, aunts and sisters-in-law are busy inside and out, but the men do nothing but lie around and watch TV.

After lunch, the family takes offerings to the graves of their ancestors. The men bow with their knees down and their daughters-in-law bow cross-legged. After all these things are done, the sister-in-law can go back to her mother's home. The sister-in-law can spend the night in her mother's house and return to her husband's house the next day.

We also get New Year's money, just like in China. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, after putting on our new clothes and making offerings to our ancestors, we bow to our elders. In my family, the order of elders is grandma, dad and uncles. The elders would give us New Year's money, usually, 10,000 won for elementary and junior high school kids, 20,000 won for high school kids, and when I was a foreign student in China, the elders would give me 30,000 won each if they thought I needed the money. Whenever I go back to Beijing for Chinese New Year, I know that some foreign students make a lot of money during the New Year. Those who had rich families and many uncles would get 800,000 to 900,000 won. When the won is not devalued, it is equivalent to more than 8,000 RMB, which can buy a lot of things. I was really envious! Now that I have a job, my elders no longer give me New Year's money.

Chinese people set off firecrackers on New Year's Day, and there are firecrackers on New Year's Day in Korea, too. However, very few people set them off and only children play with them. Korea also bans firecrackers in the cities, and when I was a kid, I used to run to the suburbs to secretly set them off. I spent Chinese New Year in China, and Chinese people like to set off firecrackers, which are very loud. At night, I wouldn't be able to sleep. I heard that Chinese people do not sleep on New Year's Eve when they have to observe the New Year's Eve. In Korea, many families don't traditionally celebrate Chinese New Year anymore. Young people just hang out together or travel abroad during the 3-day national holiday. In China, on the other hand, all the stores close very early on New Year's Eve. Everyone goes home for the New Year. I would like to enroll in a language learning class, but none of the classes are open during Chinese New Year. If, however, I could go to my Chinese friends' homes for Chinese New Year, I think it would be very lively and special.

In Korea, many traditional things are disappearing. The intrusion of foreign culture is too strong. Many Chinese people think Korea is very traditional, but in fact they are influenced by Korean dramas and have a misunderstanding of Korean culture and the current situation. Nowadays, a lot of concepts have changed in Korea, and it's not like all the people in the family live together as shown in the dramas. Parents can also find it inconvenient to live with their children. My family is very traditional, but my parents lived in the city before, and now they are back in the countryside living with my grandmother because they want a peaceful country life after retirement. Nowadays, not many people can make kimchi in Korea. Moms can still make it, but sisters-in-law can't anymore. If we want to eat it, we let our moms make it or go out and buy it. It's easy to buy it and it's also better than home made. But I think I'll have to learn how to make kimchi sometime in the future, a skill that, I'm afraid, won't be available in the future.

When I was a child, we had very traditional games during the Spring Festival. There was a game where a wooden plate was placed on a small round stone. By tapping one side of the wooden plate with your hand, the plate would fly up and fall down again. Now, this game is not played anymore.

Adults play a complex game consisting of 47 cards. This game is said to have come from Japan. But it is pronounced "go, stop" in English. The reason why children are not allowed to play is because it is a gambling game. I think it's more like Chinese mahjong.

China has a very lively Spring Festival party. I think it's really interesting that the whole country comes together to watch a party on the night of the 30th, and it's only after that that we can celebrate the New Year. My Chinese friends tell me that this is a new folk custom in China. In South Korea, there is no national party, but every TV station puts on a special Lunar New Year program, inviting big stars and showing new movies, and the atmosphere is much more lively than usual.

Also China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and other countries belonging to the Han Chinese Cultural Circle have adopted the Lunar New Year as an official holiday.

In other countries, because there are a lot of Chinese, overseas Chinese, these people in these countries also celebrate the Spring Festival, and may also be more lively than the domestic. Nowadays, Chinese New Year is celebrated wherever there are Chinese and overseas Chinese, all over the world.

1. What are some of their customs that are the same as ours?

They all share the same customs and are more lively than in China, where customs from all over the country are blended together

2. What else is different from ours?

The difference is that it is more lively than ours, because there is a single form at home, but abroad it is all together.