The Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. During this time, you will see Chinese New Year symbols in everything from the decorations displayed to the lucky foods eaten during this time.
Also called the Spring Festival, this celebration welcomes in the new year. The symbols of Chinese New Year help to encourage prosperity, luck, abundance and good fortune for the coming year.
While New Year’s Day (as determined by the Gregorian calendar) falls on January 1st annually, the date of the Chinese New Year changes every year. It occurs on the second new moon after the winter solstice, which is always some time between January 21 and February 20.
Even though the date of the the Spring Festival changes every year, the Chinese New Year symbols remain the same. Keep reading to learn about the symbols of Chinese New Year, and why they hold special meaning.
If you have kids, make sure to get our free Chinese New Year scavenger hunt here, or from the project card at the bottom of this post. We also have a Chinese Zodiac word search and a word search of the Chinese New Year symbols to celebrate the holiday.
Chinese New Year symbols found in traditions
There are many traditions that are also symbols of Chinese New Year. These Chinese New Year traditions include firecrackers, fireworks, lion dances and dragon dances.
Chinese New Year firecrackers and fireworks
Several holidays use fireworks to mark the occasion, like the fourth of July, and Bonfire Night. However, the Chinese New Year firecrackers and fireworks that are symbols of Chinese New Year have a different meaning than those for other holidays.
It is believed that the loud noises and the flashes of light from both firecrackers and fireworks could scare away evil spirits and usher in good fortune. Many homes hang firecrackers outside and large cities put on massive firework displays at midnight to deter evil spirits and welcome in good luck for the coming year.
This belief came from the story of Nian, who was a fearsome and ancient beast that lived under the sea. He would emerge once a year, on the Chinese New Year, to come into the villages and eat people and animals.
Nian was a powerful predator, feared by all. One year, a old man promised to scare away the beast. As usual, Nian ventured into town to feast on the animals and people that live within it, but the old man set off firecrackers and fireworks to scare him away.
When the people of the town woke up the next day to find Nian gone, and the town safe, the old man told them that the creature had three weaknesses: fire, loud noises, and the color red. For this reason firecrackers and fireworks became an important Chinese New Year symbol.
Lion dance
The lion dance is another one of the Chinese New Year symbols that originated from the story of Nian. Except in this version of the story, instead one one man scaring away the monstrous Nian, the whole village came together to bang on pots to make noise, and to create a large lion that would scare Nian away.
The Chinese New Year lion dance honors this story by having people play percussive instruments (drums symbols and gongs) while two people perform a dance in an elaborate lion costume.
One person acts as the head of the lion, and the other person acts as the body, performing acrobatic movements to mirror way a lion would move in time with the music. The dance begins with the lion asleep. Once he is woken up by the instruments, the lion shakes, gets up and beings playing.
He then becomes hungry and begins to search for food. This hunt for food is called “plucking the greens”, during which he searches high and low to retrieve auspicious foods like lettuce and mandarin oranges which are attached to red envelopes.
He eats the lettuce and oranges and “spits out” good fortune to everyone nearby, keeping the red envelopes for the dancers. The lion dance is thought to ward off evil spirits and bring prosperity and good fortune to everyone nearby, especially those who catch the food that the lion “spit out”.
Dragon dance
Like the lion dance, the dragon dance is another one of the Chinese New Year symbols that ushers in prosperity and good fortune for the coming year, and wards off evil spirits. While the dragon dance also involves music and movement the two dances are very different.
Instead of using two people like the lion dance, the dragon dance uses many people. The size of the dragon dances vary, but usually have over 9 people. The longest dragon dance on record used over 3,000 people, and the dragon was an impressive 5,568.46 meters (18,269 feet 2.3 inches) long.
Each person is holding a pole which is supporting part of a serpent-like dragon body. One person stands in front of the dragon, holding a ball attached to pole which represents a “Pearl of Wisdom”.
The person holding the pearl uses it to lead the dragon around on a quest for wisdom, knowledge and truth. The people puppeteering the dragon body have to follow the pearl, in time with the percussive elements of the music.
Decorations that are Chinese New Year symbols
Many of the decorative Chinese New Year symbols are red. It is an auspicious color in Chinese culture, and was also believed to be one of the things that scared Nian. For these reasons, the color red is very prevalent during the Chinese New Year.
Red lanterns
Lanterns are a very important Chinese New Year symbols and have a big role in the new year celebrations. On the last day of the Chinese New Year, there is a Lantern Festival, which marks the conclusion of the Spring Festival celebrations.
In addition to the seeing lanterns during the Lantern Festival, you will also see red lanterns during the entire Chinese New Year. Since red lanterns are Nian’s most feared color, you will see them hanging in front of homes to ward off evil spirits and to bring in good luck.
Red lanterns also represent wealth and prosperity, and for this reason they are hung in front of businesses. Often, they are left up all year long to bring prosperity and wealth to the business.
Chinese New Year couplets
Another one of the Chinese New Year symbols that you will find used as decoration during the Spring Festival are Chinese New Year couplets. Couplets are a set of two vertical strips of red paper with poetry calligraphed on them in black or gold writing that are hung on opposite sides of a doorway.
The poetry on both of the vertical couplets must be the same number of characters long, and the order of each character’s part of speech must correspond on both couplets. The messages on the couplets have opposite but related meanings of good wishes for the coming year.
Sometimes there is a third horizontal scroll hung above the doorway to accompany the couplets. The horizontal scroll summarizes the meaning of the vertical couplets and is four characters long.
Chinese New Year paper cuttings
Some other Chinese New Year symbols that you might see featured in decorations are paper cuttings. Paper cuttings are designs that are cut into red paper which are normally taped to the outside of windows so the light can shine through them.
Paper cutting artists use scissors with a sharp point for precision and detailed designs. However the designs don’t have to be intricate to bring in good luck; you can make your own paper cuttings with regular scissors or buy premade paper cuttings.
The designs you choose can be of other symbols of Chinese New Year, or of Chinese characters. The meaning of the design will be what you’re trying to attract for the coming year.
It’s important to note that it’s considered unlucky to use scissors or any other cutting instrument during the Chinese New Year, as it is believed to cut off you luck. So make sure to create your paper cuttings before the Chinese New Year.
Fu character
The Chinese fu character, meaning good fortune and blessings, is one of the most commonly found Chinese New Year symbols. It is written on a red, diamond shaped piece of paper, which is often hung upside down on the outside of the front door.
The reason these fu papers are hung this way is because the word for “upside down” is similar to the word “arrive”. Hanging the fu character upside down signals that good fortune and blessings will arrive at your home for the new year.
Flowers for Chinese New Year
Many people decorate their homes with symbolic plants and flowers for Chinese New Year, hoping to call in the things that the flowers represent. Some notable Chinese New Year flowers and plants are peach blossoms, plum blossoms, lucky bamboo, kumquat trees, orchids and chrysanthemums.
Displaying peach blossoms is thought to attract love and new relationships in the coming year as they signify romance, longevity and prosperity. Displaying plum blossoms is thought to aid a person when times are hard, and encourage them to keep moving forward as they signify courage, resilience, perseverance and hope.
Lucky bamboo is a great choice to call in good luck for the coming year. It’s important to note the number of stalks in your lucky bamboo, as each number corresponds to a different meaning.
Kumquat trees are both a lucky food, and lucky plant for Chinese New Year. Decorating a home with a kumquat tree calls in wealth and prosperity for the new year, as the word for “kumquat” sounds like the word for “gold”.
If you’re wanting to call in fertility and abundance, orchids are a great flower to choose. Chrysanthemums symbolize longevity, happiness and vitality and are an excellent choice for the Chinese New Year.
More symbols of Chinese New Year
In addition to Chinese New Year symbols being found in decorations and through traditions, some of the symbols of Chinese New Year are also found in gifts and foods.
Red envelopes
Family and close friends hand out red envelopes, called hóngbāo in Mandarin, with money in them. Giving Chinese New Year red envelopes signifies that you want the recipient to have good luck and prosperity for the coming year.
In addition to being one of the Chinese New Year symbols, lucky red envelopes are also given during special occasions like weddings, graduations and birthdays.
There are a few guidelines for the money in red envelopes. Only clean, unwrinkled bills should be put in red envelopes; it’s considered in poor taste to include old or wrinkled bills.
Red envelopes should contain even amounts of money and certain numbers are considered more auspicious than others. The amount of money shouldn’t have the number four in it (eg. 4, 40, 44, etc), because the word for “four” sounds like the word for “death” and is considered unlucky.
However, it’s considered lucky to have amounts of money with the number eight in it, because the word for “eight” sounds like the word meaning “to prosper”.
Lucky Chinese New Year foods
Gathering with family to share a meal and leaving food offerings for ancestors are important traditions during the Spring Festival. All of the foods chosen are Chinese New Year symbols that each have a special meaning that corresponds with a wish for the new year.
One important Chinese New Year foods you’re bound to see is fish. The word for “fish” sounds like the word for “surplus” so whole fish are eaten to usher in abundance in food and wealth for the coming year. In addition to being served whole, images of fish are also used as decorations to attract abundance.
The shape of dumplings (also called jiaozi) resemble the yuanbao, which was a type of ancient currency made from ingot (silver, gold or other metal). Eating dumplings is thought to attract wealth. The more you eat, the wealthier you are believed to become.
Tang yuan is a traditional Chinese New Year dessert which is served during the Lantern Festival consisting of sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. Their name and round shape signify family unity and togetherness.
Tangerines and oranges on Chinese New Year are believed to bring luck and wealth for the coming year because the word for “tangerine” sounds like the word for “luck”. The golden color of oranges and tangerines also correlates to wealth.
Another golden food that symbolizes wealth is the spring roll, also called chun juan. Not only does their color resemble wealth, but their shape is also looks like gold bars.
Make sure not to cut your noodles if you normally do so, because eating long, unbroken noodles in the dish called longevity noodles is believed to encourage longevity in life. It’s also bad luck to cut anything during Chinese New Year, because it is viewed as cutting off your luck.
Fa gao, also known as “prosperity cake” or “fortune cake” is a popular dessert made from rice flour and steamed until the top splits. The more sections formed by the split in the top denotes how lucky a person will be in the coming year.
Another lucky dessert, nian gao or “year cake” is made from sticky rice flour and can be sweet or savory. The name of this dessert sounds just like the words for “higher year” which symbolize progress, success and a better year than the last.
Chinese Zodiac animals
Chinese Zodiac animals are another one of the important Chinese New Year symbols. Each year is assigned an one of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac, in a certain order. Once the cycle of 12 years has passed, the cycle repeats.
The twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac are (in order) the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
It is believed that this order came from the legend of The Great Race. The Jade Emperor challenged all twelve animals to a race across a river. The order they completed the race became their spot in the order of the Chinese Zodiac.
Read our post on the Chinese Zodiac animals to learn about the elements and traits associated with each of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac.
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If you enjoyed learning about the symbols of Chinese New Year, you’ll be delighted to know that every holiday has symbols and colors that represent it. Check out the symbols of the holidays below:
- Valentine’s Day – February 14 wouldn’t be complete with out seeing images of Cupid, hearts, chocolates and the other Valentine’s Day symbols. Make sure to learn about the colors of Valentine’s Day too; each one has special meaning.
- Mardi Gras – It wouldn’t be Mardi Gras without the iconic king cake, Mardi Gras beads, colors and other Mardi Gras symbols.
- St. Patrick’s Day – If you think of the color green, corned beef and cabbage and leprechauns, you’re not alone. These are all symbols of St. Patrick’s Day.
- Easter – Most of the Easter symbols, like Easter eggs, the Easter lily, hot cross buns and the dogwood tree have religious meaning.
- Halloween – It just wouldn’t be Halloween without jack o lanterns, black cats and the rest of the symbols of Halloween.
- Thanksgiving – It’s no surprise cranberries and cornucopias are found on many Thanksgiving tables, as these items are Thanksgiving symbols.
- Christmas – Many of the Christmas symbols are greenery, like holly and mistletoe and poinsettias, but there’s others too! Christmas lights, Santa Claus and Christmas cards hold a special place in our hearts this time of year.
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If you’d like to learn more about the Chinese New Year, make sure to watch our YouTube video about the traditions of the Chinese New Year!
If you're celebrating Chinese New Year and want to help teach your kids about the symbols of the holiday, use this free scavenger hunt card as a teaching tool! Unlike other games which are competitive, everyone wins with this Chinese New Year treasure hunt. It's great to play during your Chinese New Year festivities. Give your kids a marker and this Chinese New Year scavenger hunt printable and have them draw a check mark on each of the Chinese New Year symbols they see during the day. You could also use this time to talk to them about each of the symbols of Chinese New Year and what they mean! Using this print function on this card will print a Chinese New Year treasure hunt card that fills about 3/4 of an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. To fill the entire page, choose "fit to page" on your printer if you have this setting, or use the link in the post above and print using the browser print feature. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Chinese New Year Scavenger Hunt Card Featuring the Symbols of Chinese New Year
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About the author
Since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jess has been living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She is a freelance writer, specializing in content related to fashion, food and drink and film industry topics. Find out more about Jess here.