While reunion dinners and red packets remain staples when it comes to Chinese New Year, many other CNY traditions practised by our ancestors have sadly faded over time. But if your mantra is “new year, new me”, then it may be worth bringing these disappearing CNY traditions back for extra huat.
From customs dating back to the Han Dynasty to folklore beliefs, here are some CNY traditions to know, and maybe even practice to test the theory.
Table of Contents
Bribery is a practice as old as time, but this one is quite wholesome. In order to lead a harmonious life, families from as early as the Han Dynasty would display a painting of the Kitchen God above their hearths, and burn it on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month to send him back to the heavens and report on their deeds.
The send-off would involve offerings of sticky sweets like rice cakes and maltose candy – either so that he would only say sweet things about them, or so that the sugar would glue his mouth together lest he had complaints.
Families will then welcome the Kitchen God back on the 4th day of CNY with incense, paper money, and fruits, and hang up a new portrait of him for the year.
If you’d like to ensure heavenly blessings for your family, this year’s send-off will take place on 10th February 2026. Don’t forget to prepare plenty of treats.
Dumplings are often eaten during CNY, and it’s not just because they are delicious. These crescent-shaped parcels were actually made to resemble the shape of ancient gold and silver ingots back in the day, believed to usher in a prosperous new year. People used to hide a silver coin in one of the dumplings during the Ming Dynasty, and whoever was lucky enough to find it would be blessed with extra fortune.
But we recommend informing your diners of the coin beforehand to prevent any safety hazards. An alternative is to hide a piece of candy instead – it’s a safe and cost-effective alternative, and works especially well if you have children.
While most are familiar with the Nian legend behind Chinese New Year, one tradition that originated from it is becoming lost to time. We’re talking about shou sui, the tradition of staying up all night on the eve of CNY. The legend goes that villagers stayed awake till the dawn of the new year in order to keep vigil as the Nian monster prowled, but the custom has since been adapted to symbolise reminiscing about the old year and welcoming in the new. It’s even believed that the longer children stay up, the longer their parents will live.
Nowadays, most families no longer practice Shousui in its entirety, but will perhaps stay up a bit past midnight to make the celebrations last. If you’d like to commit to this tradition, though, we recommend watching the live CCTV Spring Festival Gala till 1am on YouTube and spending the rest of the time playing these addictive poker card games.
There’s the Tooth Fairy in Western culture, but back in the day, Chinese children also woke up with money under their pillow. In ancient times, it’s said that a demon called Sui would visit sleeping children on the eve of CNY and curse them with illnesses. A desperate elderly couple wrapped 8 coins in red paper and placed them under their child’s pillow for protection, which emitted a bright light that scared off Sui.
This tradition became widespread and eventually evolved into putting cash in red packets under pillows instead. Yes, this is the origin of angpao, or ya sui qian – literally “money to suppress Sui”.
Nowadays, red packets are given to children upfront, so perhaps Sui has been chased off for good. But if your kiddo is worried about monsters under their bed, this ancient tradition may allay their fears and give them a nice surprise for the 1st day of CNY.
The Buddha’s Delight dish.
Image credit: smelly lunchbox
Another low-effort, dying tradition is going vegetarian on the 1st day of CNY. This practice has origins in Mahayana Buddhism, which follows the rule of being compassionate to all creatures. But besides that, avoiding meat is also thought to purify the body and spirit so that you can start afresh for the new year.
If you’re worried about missing out on good food this way, fear not – there’s plenty of delicious vegetarian dishes available. The best one has got to be Luo Han Jai or Buddha’s Delight, a braised veggie dish enjoyed by monks that’s become a CNY staple for this reason.
Everyone knows that 4 is considered an inauspicious number as it sounds similar to “death” in Chinese, but the belief also extends to the amount of money we should put in CNY red packets. As a rule, the total value should not have the number 4 in it – that means no $4, $14, $40, and so on.
However, it’s pretty common to find $4 in your red packet nowadays, so we suppose the rule has lost its hold. But if you’d like to get into your relatives’ good graces this year, we suggest reading up on angbao must-knows and our guide to booking and collecting CNY notes.
Image credit: @thesmartlocalsg via Instagram
If your social battery has worn out after the first 2 days of CNY visitations, the good news is that you get to take a breather on the 3rd. The 3rd day of Chinese New Year is known as Chi Gou Ri, or Red Dog Day – a reference to the God of Blazing Wrath. On this day, this deity will walk the streets and bring misfortune upon anyone who comes across him. Therefore, it was common practice for families to hunker down and stay indoors.
As only the first 2 days of CNY are public holidays in Singapore, it’s pretty hard for most folks to stay home on Chi Gou Ri. Hence, we can see how this tradition is tough to keep up – so maybe just cross your fingers when heading out.
CNY is all about maximising your prosperity – and besides bringing in wealth, there’s also an ancient method of literally chasing away poverty. In Chinese folklore, there’s a God of Poverty that lives extremely frugally, wears only tattered clothes, and survives on porridge. Homes that are left dirty on the 6th day of CNY may attract this god and his misfortune, which is why sending off the God of Poverty was a popular practice during the Tang Dynasty.
The tradition is actually really simple: just sweep your house clean and dispose of all accumulated garbage on the 6th day, to symbolise the departure of bad fortune. In that respect, perhaps many of us are still continuing this ancient CNY tradition without knowing it.
While some of these CNY traditions may be outdated for a reason, they still carry meaningful reminders about family, harmony, and starting the year with good intentions. Whether you’d like to give these customs a go or not, they offer a precious glimpse into how past generations have celebrated this important holiday.
More CNY-related news:
Cover image adapted from: @babanyonyamuseum & @pigboss_id via Instagram, Huiyuan You
Give your scalp a treat.
There’s always somewhere new to eat in Singapore.
Your day trips to the Indonesian Island are going to get a whole lot speedier.
Your grandparents would love this one.
These SingLit books are technically free with your SG Culture Pass.
Get ready to be spellbound with some of the most iconic Disney and Pixar characters…