The majority of Taiwan’s present population was born in Taiwan. The long-in-use nomenclature “aborigine,” “this province people” (本省人), describing those whose ancestors came to Taiwan before 1949, “other province people” (外省人), describing those who came around 1949 and their descendants, and “Hakka” (客家), have largely fallen by the wayside. But when it comes to celebrating the Chinese New Year, families continue to hold dear the group customs of yesteryear, bringing a feast of unique flavors to the holidays.

The Taiwan New Year – Deep Conviction, Beseeching Fortune

The majority of the local population follow a mix of Buddhism and Daoism, and most practice ancestor worship. Many festival traditions thus incorporate a mix of religious and ancestor worship elements. Each year the weiya (尾牙) season starts on the 16th day of the 12th month in the lunar calendar. What are called zuoya (做牙) sacrifices are staged on the 2nd and 16th day of each month; these are sacrifices to the Earth God (土地公), with prayers asking for prosperity and good fortune. The weiya or “end ya” is the last such sacrifice of the year, and during the period that follows the New Year atmosphere builds noticeably. Families generally prepare gebao (割包; steamed buns with braised pork) or runbing (潤餅; soft spring rolls) on this day. These are traditional end-of-year prayer blessings and rewards for both self and family. Businessmen will give thanks to the Earth God for the god’s protection and blessings during the past year, and will prepare a sumptuous feast, with prizes and performances, to thank employees for their hard work. After the weiya it’s time for the year-end clean-up, “sweeping out the old to bring in the new,” and for preparing all the traditional New Year goodies needed.

On the 23rd or 24th day of the 12th lunar month, a rich array of sacrificial offerings will be prepared for the Kitchen God (灶神), who protects hearth and family. All families also put up auspicious Spring Festival couplets (春聯) outside their doors for the New Year, beseeching good luck. The ancient forerunners of modern-day couplets was the peachwood charm (桃符), with first peachwood and then red paper featuring paintings of gods that drove off evil spirits, protecting the home and keeping the family safe. The practice of writing couplets on the paper evolved later.

The New Year holidays kick off on New Year’s Eve, when the whole family gets together for a family-reunion feast. This is called weilu (圍爐), literally meaning “surround the stove.” The table is piled with dishes brimming with auspicious symbolism. The characters for “fish” (魚) and “surplus” (餘) are homonyms, so a fish dish represents the expression nian nian you yu (年年有餘) or “every year a surplus.” A whole chicken is a must, symbolizing the rhyming Taiwanese aphorism chiah ke khi ke (食雞起家), meaning “eat a chicken, establish a home,” denoting family togetherness. The characters for “green” (青) and “pure” (清) are also homonyms, so green vegetables symbolize qing ji ru yi (清吉如意), meaning “everything as you wish.” Mustard greens or “long years vegetable” (長年菜) symbolize chang chang jiu jiu (長長久久), meaning “long, long time” – i.e. living to a ripe old age. In Taiwanese, “radish” (菜頭) and “fortune” (彩頭) share the same pronunciation, so radish cake is served, representing ho chhai-thau (好彩頭) or “good fortune.” The word fa (發) means “to grow,” so a type of sponge cake called fagao (發糕) that grows when steamed is eaten, symbolizing facai (發財) or “grow money/get rich.” “cake” (糕) and “high” (高) sound the same, so eating niangao (年糕) or “New Year cake” symbolizes bu bu gao sheng (步步高升), or “step by step ever higher.” The red turtle cake (紅龜粿), a small cake with bean-paste filling shaped like a turtle, symbolizes yan nian yi shou (延年益壽), or longevity.

After the meal, the family’s older members give “lucky money” (壓歲錢) to younger members. Children take the money, put it under their pillow, and pray for good fortune when they go to sleep; by pressing down on the money they symbolically suppress evil spirits and demons. Adult members who are already married give lucky red envelopes with money inside to parents, expressing filial piety and respect and the hope that they’ll live a long life. This is followed by shou sui (守歲), or “seeing in the new year,” with the whole family sitting around together and chatting until past midnight. This also represents the hope that parents enjoy longevity. As the first day of the New Year arrives firecrackers are set off, the fiery bursts and loud noise chasing away any evil otherworldly types lingering about.

During New Year friends and family exchange auspicious bai nian (拜年) or “New Year greetings” with each other. Bai nian also means to “pay a New Year courtesy call.” A family being visited will offer guests candy, auspicious kumquats, and other treats, and the two sides will present red envelopes to each other’s younger members. Each act adds to the festive atmosphere and strengthens the bond of friendship. An old custom practiced on the first day of the New Year is to zou chun (走春), literally “walk spring,” meaning to take a walk to make courtesy calls. This practice arose in old farming communities. Taiwanese pick both an auspicious time and direction to set out, which attracts good luck and also increases one’s chances of meeting the God of Wealth (財神) at the door. Nowadays many people will visit a temple to pray as part of their zou chun, asking that all will go well in the year to come. Many also clean ancestral tombs on this day, to let those that have passed on know they are remembered and cherished.

On the second day of the New Year, married females hui niangjia (回娘家) or return to their parents’ home to visit family and relatives. The festive fun continues right through the holidays, and the holiday traditions end on Lantern Festival (元宵節), the 15th day of the new year. On this day everyone eats yuanxiao (元宵) or tangyuan (湯圓). Both are small dumplings made with rice flour, and their perfect roundness symbolizes the perfection of a full family reunion. At this time people also go out to admire traditional decorated lanterns.

The Hakka New Year – Happiness and Wealth

The New Year customs of Hakka people are for the most part similar to those of Taiwan’s other Han Chinese, but more emphasis is placed on rites honoring ancestors. When family members hurry back to their childhood home for the New Year family reunion, the first thing they do upon arrival is pray before the ancestral tablets, and head over to the main hall at their ancestral home for more worship rites. The Hakka also ru nianjia (入年假) or start the New Year celebrations on the 25th day of the 12th month by launching their New Year cleaning and shopping. They chu nianjia (出年假) or “exit the New Year celebrations” on the 5th day of the 1st month, returning to their regular routine.

The Hakka New Year’s Eve family-reunion meal is rich in fish and meat dishes. The must-have dishes are similar to those of Taiwan’s other Han Chinese folk, but Hakka dishes are known for being salty, fragrant, and fatty, because the Hakka tended to live in remote mountainous areas in the past, demanding environments that lacked many resources. Extra salt in foods replenished the salt lost through grueling work, and meats were commonly salted for storage. A sauce made with oranges would be put on dining tables to moisten the dried meat when eaten. The sauce is usually made in summer, marinated in salt, and would be ready for consumption when Chinese New Year arrived in the winter.

Farming families do not go out to pay courtesy calls on the first day of the New Year, and the year’s first breakfast must be vegetarian. Some do not eat fish or meat the entire day. This symbolizes that frugality will be practiced right from the beginning. Hakka entertain guests with xingren tang (星仁糖; peanuts with a candy coating), winter-melon candy, and sweetened sticky-rice cakes. The 20th day of the 1st lunar month is called Heaven Mending Day (天穿日), a day of celebration when Hakka folk in each farming community set down their tools for a day of rest and relaxation with each other. The rest of Taiwan calls this unique day “Hakka Day” (客家日).

Other New Year Customs

Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, of course, do not celebrate Chinese New Year. Their main celebrations are related to land and sea harvests. Those who came from mainland China after the Chinese Civil War, along with their descendants, share most customs with the Taiwanese and Hakka, with minor variations. Those with their roots in north China, where wheat rather than rice is a staple, eat jiaozi (餃子) as a main dish at the family-reunion meal. These are plump stuffed dumplings with skins made from wheat flour, and their shape reminds people of imperial-age ingots. To eat them beckons wealth. At New Year some families may hide a clean coin in one of the dumplings; whoever finds it will enjoy a year’s luck in making money.

Each year on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, popularly called laba (臘八), “Old Beijing” (老北京) folk will cook up a big pot of laba porridge (臘八粥). The porridge contains rice, beans, dried fruits, and other ingredients, symbolizing a good harvest in the new year. People with their roots in China’s Shandong (山東) province like to eat steamed buns called mantou (饅頭) with smoked black jujubes on top, symbolizing a prosperous family reunited. On New Year’s Eve those with roots in Shanghai (上海) must have two types of sweet cake – a kind of sponge cake called songgao (鬆糕) and New Year cakes with red beans. Those from Anhui (安徽) province eat fried green-bean balls. Legend tells people with Jiangsu (江蘇) province roots that if they eat tangyuan the God of Wealth will visit, and thus eat the dumplings throughout New Year, from morning on the first day to the Lantern Festival. Many families, whatever their origin, also believe that the New Year’s Eve food should not be completely eaten, for the leftovers signifies that they youyu (有餘) or “have a surplus.” Many wrap the leftovers in auspicious red paper, calling it genian fan (隔年飯) or “next year food,” symbolizing plenty to eat in the year to come.

Now that you know what to look for and why, an invitation to a Taiwan friend’s house to spend some time at New Year will be even more fun as you watch for which customs are followed and which aren’t. By showing up for your visit with the appropriate New Year goodies, and extending a hearty Gongxi Facai! (恭喜發財; “Congratulations, get rich!”) – or by taking the initiative and inviting Taiwan friends to zou chun and visit you – you’ll be experiencing New Year the authentic Taiwan way!