Chinese New Year: What does the Year of the Snake mean for you?
By Davina Howatson
Credit Elvir K via Unsplash: Chinese lanterns traditionally released on New Years
The Chinese New Year is one of the most important days and holidays of the year.
The first day of the Chinese New Year varies, but it normally begins with the new moon that occurs between January 21 and February 20, and it marks the end of winter and the blossoming beginning of spring.
This year it started on January 29 and will end its celebrations with the ‘Lantern Festival’ which aims to foster reconciliation and forgiveness.
While it’s rooted in Chinese culture, and originated almost 3,500 years ago, it is celebrated and enjoyed worldwide with over 2 billion people joining in on the festivities this year.
Traditionally, the festival was about celebrating and paying honour to your ancestors and deities.
But what about the holiday itself?
It began with the fierce legend of Nian.
In ancient China there was a lion-esq monster, called Nian, that lived on the bottom of the seabed where it would appear every New Year’s Eve and would cause fear and terror by hunting livestock, eating people, and raiding.
Every year, on that night, people would eat early, lock up their livestock securely, and safely flee into the mountains. However, they learned that Nian feared the colour red and the sound of firecrackers.
One night, as Nian was beginning his terror, a man came forward, donned in red, and set off firecrackers which scared the monster and sent him running off. This led to everyone realising that donning red and setting off firecrackers would keep Nian away.
This is still echoed in the festival today with red being the most vibrant and usual colour seen and fireworks being seen in the sky. On the eve of Chinese New Year fireworks are set off at midnight to ward off the dangerous Nian and bad luck. In fact, the most fireworks set off in the world are on that night.
To prepare for this holiday families clean their houses to sweep away the year and welcome in the new one alongside wearing new clothes to symbolise this beginning.
Families will prepare chuen hup which is a Chinese New Year snack box, full of sweets and snacks, but they all have meaning. Candied lotus seed represents bearing of children, winter melon candy symbolises a good year from beginning to end, with fried foods like melon seeds, sesame balls, and yau gok which are all connected with prosperity. Elders and married people will gift lai see which are red envelopes filled with ‘lucky’ money to children to ward off evil spirits.
This year it is the Year of the Snake.
The Chinese zodiac calendar is a 12-year cycle that is represented through animals. Every year has its own specific animal that is said to influence and uniquely effect people who are born under that sign.
The 12 animals themselves are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
The snake, in Chinese culture, is hugely represented through mythology, art, and literature. An important and unique deity is called Nüwa who is a goddess that was said to have created mankind who has a snake’s body and woman’s face. Snakes, in the zodiac, represent health, renewal, and rebirth.
But what does that mean for you?
As snakes are known for shedding off their old skin, you are encouraged to shed your old self and discover a renewal of self and jump at new opportunities.
2025 will mainly be a year of growth and of moving forward with contentment and confidence in yourself and in the decisions you make. You are encouraged to rethink your mindset, your goals, and welcome changes. The Year of the Snake is a time of reflection and transformation.
While it’s a holiday and celebration, it means so much more than that.
For those celebrating it’s a time to be together and be united in hope for the year ahead.