New Year between China and Thailand
Na Zhao
The New Year is the culture of every country, however, people worldwide celebrate New Year’s Day variously and the date is also different. In East Asia, some countries have the same cultures for the new year, but they also have intersections and differences. That is an interesting thing about the culture, people may share their culture with others and that is mutual. China is the biggest country in East Asia and Southeast Asia, despite Thailand is only about the size of a province in China, they have a similar New Year culture, they all celebrate the Lunar New Year and The Songkran Festival, but they have different calendars for the New Year.
In China, People use two calendars, although modern-day China uses the Gregorian calendar, which is like the normal calendar with all global. But also use the traditional Chinese calendars to govern holidays, such as the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year also called Spring Festival or Lunar New Year is the most important traditional festival in Chinese culture, it is the same as Christmas Day in Western countries, which symbolizes welcoming the new year. “Chinese New Year has a history of about 3,500 years. Its exact beginning date is not recorded. After 1949, the Chinese New Year was renamed the Spring Festival. It was listed as a nationwide public holiday” (Lam, “History of Chinese New Year”). The day before the Spring Festival is called New Year’s Eve, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, everyone cheers to welcome the new year. During this festival, the whole nation would have 7 days off to have the national celebration. “Even though it is winter, the Chinese New Year is popularly known as the Spring Festival in China. Because it starts from the Beginning of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coordination with the changes of Nature), it marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring”(Lam, “History of Chinese New Year”). That also is why this festival is the most important for the Chinese people, the spring festival symbolizes new beginnings and that will bring hope to people, so all people will wear new clothes on the first day of the new year. As long as I can remember, Chinese New Year was my favorite thing in my childhood because that day, all the kids had their new clothes and new toys, around a lot of delicious foods. Until now, the most meaningful thing about the Spring Festival is that we spend time with the family and the people we love and we know what that’s all about.
The Songkran Festival also called the Water-Sprinkling Festival, is the Thai people’s New Year, the public holiday from the 13th to the 15th of April every year, and is the most important festival in Thailand. The celebration lasts almost 3 days in mid-April. “The word “Songkran” literally “astrological passage”, meaning transformation or change. It coincides with the rise of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many calendars of Southeast and South Asia (“How New Year’s Day changed”). Thailand is a Buddhist country, most of the religions are Buddhist, so they usually hold ceremonies at Buddhist temples. But at this Festival, the most interesting part is the water sprinkling, all the people splash water on others in the street, whether you know each other, you got the water sprinkling more means you are more luckier, that symbolizes you can wash away the bad things of the past year and start the new year. “Traditionally during Songkran, the holiday marking the Buddhist new year, deferential youths sprinkle scented water on their elders in exchange for a new year’s blessing. But these days, especially in cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai, the sprinkling has become a soaking, with everyone a target”(“Asia: Thailand”,69). In the southwest of China, there is an autonomous prefecture Xishuangbanna, which is the Dai people of China gathering place, these people have the same festival(Water-sprinkling) as Thailand, this festival is famous in China, and that attracts so many tourists to go there to experience local culture. As Dai people belong to China, So there are two new years for Dai people per year(Spring festival & Songkran) If you are interested, you may come to see the Festival by yourself.
From the world map, Thailand is China’s neighboring country, And Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture is located in the west-south of China and is close to Thailand. The Dai nationality in Thailand is called “Tai nationality”, which is from the same origin as the Dai nationality in China and belongs to the Thai & Lao nationality broadly. So they may have similar cultures-The Songkran Festival(“Ethnic origin of Thai & Lao”). However, I have a friend from Thailand, who tells me they also celebrate the Lunar New Year in Thailand. Unlike other countries, the Lunar New Year introduced in Thailand from China, that is not in recent years, but under the influence of the older generation of overseas Chinese, the culture and customs have been continued from generation to generation, and the Lunar New Year has become a festival in Thailand. Thailand also has 12% Thai Chinese, during the Lunar New Year, the Thai royal family attaches great importance to this event, and members of the royal family attend and host it every year. Although both countries celebrate New Year and Songkran Festival, the difference is that the Lunar New Year uses the lunar calendar, which has an extra month added whenever the sun fails to progress to the next zodiac sign during a specified month. This additional month occurs seven times every nineteen years (Bellenir, “Religious Holidays & Calendars”). So the lunar calendar year has a different number of days each year, which corresponds to various dates on the solar calendar, Lunar New Year usually in January or February of the solar calendar. On the other hand, the Songkran Festival uses the solar calendar, the new year is always fixed day on 13 April. The Chinese have a nationwide celebration during the Lunar New Year, which is the biggest festival for Chinese people. In Thailand, the people most care about The Songkran Festival, which is considered the traditional significance of Thai New Year, and is Thailand’s biggest and most important annual festival (Symons, “What is Songkran”). The Lunar New Year is the first of the twenty-four terms in coordination with the changes of Nature, it marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The Songkran marks the beginning of the new solar year, It derives from the movement of the sun from first position to next in the zodiac. They all are symbolic of a new start of the new green shoot, showing new life and the earth’s thriving scene.
From my point of view, culture is an interesting thing for people, people live in close regions, and they have similar cultures. Most East Asians who eat rice and use chopsticks; usually share religious beliefs and superstitions. They all celebrate similar festivals. That is different from the Western countries, the Western people eat bread and use forks; they have the same beliefs and festivals, such as Christmas, and Halloween. Lunar New Year and The Songkran Festival also can be shared around the World, which symbolize the culture of Asia. The reason why culture could be shared and transmitted is because it allows people to communicate, interact, and cooperate in a meaningful way, creating a sense of shared identity and purpose.
Works Cited
Timothy S. Y. Lam, History of Chinese New Year. Museum of Anthropology. (2022, June 16). https://lammuseum.wfu.edu/education/teachers/chinese-new-year/history-of-chinese-new-year/
Nationthailand. (2023, December 28). “How New Year’s Day changed from April 13 to January 1 in Thailand”. https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40034215
“Party like it’s 2545; Thailand”. (Thailand’s new year). (2002). In The Economist (London) (Vol. 363, Issue 8269). Economist Intelligence Unit N.A. Incorporated.
Asian, E. (2021, November 12). Ethnic origin of Thai & Lao. http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-thai.html
In K. Bellenir, The Chinese lunar calendar. (2004). Religious Holidays & Calendars (3rd ed.). Omnigraphics, Inc. https://search.credoreference.com/zh/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDc3MTA=?aid=18199
Symons, A. (n.d.). Thai New Year returns this month with water fights and parties. euronews. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/04/14/what-is-songkran-everything-you-need-to-know-about-thailands-wet-and-wild-new-year-celebra