How much do you know about Chinese New Year? Probably not as much as you think, or maybe you don’t know anything at all. Though not many people know about Chinese New Year, over 2 billion people celebrate it. Chinese New Year is celebrated all over the world, especially in Southern Asia.
The color red is very significant during the Chinese New Year. The color red symbolizes energy, happiness, and good luck in Chinese cultures. Most people at Edison intermediate School (EIS) did not know the significance of red, but some knew that the color red was a big part of the holiday. eighth grader Mia Gerstenfeld at EIS stated, “There’s a lot of red! People receive money in red envelopes.”
There are some traditions that a lot of people know about, even if they don’t celebrate the holiday. Lucca Perrotto, a 6th grader at EIS, expresses some of her knowledge about traditions during the Chinese New Year. “People dress up and have a big celebration. I also know that people clean out their houses to get bad luck and bad energy out for a good new year.”
The most popular tradition that people knew about was the big dragon float that is carried around during Chinese New Year parades. Speaking of animals, this year (2024) is the year of the dragon. There are 12 different animals that move in a continuous cycle through the years. The other animals are a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a snake, a horse, a goat, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, and a pig. Your zodiac animal is determined by the year you were born. If you want to learn about your zodiac animal, click this link.
We surveyed students and staff at EIS and found out that very few people have knowledge about the Chinese New Year. The survey show
ed a small amount of knowledge about the Chinese New Year, as seen on the pie chart.
Chinese New Year is an important celebration with lots of traditions and history. Learning about it in school can teach us about different cultures and religions. Andrew Cusumano, the Media Specialist at EIS, stated, “Cultures around the world should be a class everyone should take to be educated on different religions and cultures. It is a very interesting topic to learn about.”
Adding Chinese New Year to our school lessons can help us see the world from different perspectives, be more aware of other cultures, and respect our global community.
