Jacky Qi, a visiting Chinese cultures professor, gives some history to the Chinese New Year:
In ancient times, there was a horrible monster called “the year” in China. At the end of the year, the monster “the year “came out in China and did some horrible things like eat people or destroy houses. At the end of the year people work together and fight against the monster because the monster was afraid of many people. Then the monster got away from people. This is the original meaning of Chinese New Year. People celebrated the time when the monster is away.
Sister Kyong jun, sophomore and religious studies major, tells us about her family’s traditions:
All the families are gathered together at one place usually at the eldest son’s place or the place where the oldest persons, like grand parents, are living in. And we get to meet our cousins and relatives who are hard to meet. Everyone in the house should vow each other to wish for good health for the year. After that, younger family members get some money from older members that means like getting first money from the family members. Then have a big lunch or dinner together and sit down to play a special tradition game.