Chinese New Year | Chinese New Year Decorations, Plants And Flowers Part 1

Chinese New Year Spring Couplets / Banners

This ancient Chinese New Year symbol holds traditional significance.  It is traditionally written with black ink on red paper and hung in front of one’s house or shop before the arrival of Chinese New Year. It expresses ‘best wishes, aspirations and good fortune for the coming year’.

Tangerines and Oranges In Chinese New Year

Tangerines and oranges are commonly displayed in homes and shops. Tangerines symbolises ‘good tidings’ as it sounds like ‘good luck’ in Chinese.  Oranges symbolises wealth as it sounds like ‘gold’ in Cantonese.

Chinese New Year 'Tray of Togetherness'

Every family keeps a tray full of auspicious food items to welcome guests and relatives. This tray is called a ‘Tray of Togetherness’ or ‘Chun He’ in Chinese. This Chinese New Year symbol is traditionally made up of eight compartments. The number ‘eight’ symbolises good fortune. For this reason, it is also sometimes called as ‘Ba Bao He’ or ‘Eight Treasures Box’. Each compartment is completely filled with an auspicious food item of significance to the Chinese New Year season. There are more than 8 items to pick and choose from, and it just depends on the family members preferences. Each item represents some kind of good fortune.

• Sweeten Candied Winter Melons – ‘Tian Tian Mi Mi’ signify ‘a sweet and easy life’
• Sweeten Lotus Root – ‘Jia Ou Tian Chen’ signify ‘marital bliss’ or ‘match made in heaven’
• Sweeten Tangerine – ‘Ji Xiang Ru Yi’ signify ‘auspiciousness’
• Sweeten Shredded Coconut Pieces – ‘Yong Jie Tong Xin’ signify ‘everlasting love’
• Sweeten Ginger – ‘Wan So Wu Jiang’ signify ‘longevity’
• Sweeten Carrots – ‘Jin Ying Cai Bao’ signify ‘wealth and precious jewels’
• Sweeten Lotus Seeds – ‘Lian Shen Gui Zi’ signify ‘fertility’
• Sweeten Dried Red Dates – ‘Hong Yun Dang Tou’ signify ‘good luck in every endeavour’
• Sweeten Water Chestnut – ‘Dong Chen Xi Jiu’ signify ‘accomplishment in all activities’
• Sweeten Pineapple – ‘Fei Huang Teng Da’ signify ‘great achievement in career or business’
• Sweet Potato – ‘Huang Jing Man Tong’ signify ‘overflowing pot of gold’
• Sweeten Mandarin Orange – ‘Da Ji Da Li’ signify ‘auspiciousness’
• Sweeten Dried Longans – signify ‘many good sons’
• Pistachio Nuts – ‘Kai Xin Guo’ in Chinese which means ‘happiness’
• Red Melon Seeds – red colour signify ‘joy and happiness’

In modern times, sweets such as ‘Rabbit’ candy, chocolate coins or ingots are used to represent a sweet and joyful new year and the abundance of wealth.

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Chinese New Year Plants And Flowers

Plants and Flowers play a significant role in the Chinese New Year decorations as they symbolise hopes of good luck, prosperity & happiness either by the literal or phonetic meaning of the names of the plants or by the colour of the flowers. A home is considered lucky if a plant blooms on New Year's Day as it signifies a year of prosperity. Below are some of the plants and flowers most commonly associated with Chinese New Year.

Peach Blossom

Peach blossom symbolises ‘courage and hope’. The blossoms burst forth at the end of winter season on a seemingly lifeless branch.

Water Narcissus

Water Narcissus signifies ‘good luck and prosperity’. If the narcissus flowers blossom on the first day of the New Year, it indicates good fortune for the rest of the year.

Lucky Bamboo

It is known as ‘Kai Yun Zhu’ in Chinese, which means ‘bamboo that invites good fortune’. Lucky Bamboo represents the natural 5 elements of water, earth, wood, metal and fire to balance the flow of energy or ‘chi’ in the house.  A red ribbon is tied around the stalks to represent the fire element. The number of bamboo stalks and layers has its own symbolic meaning:

• 2 for Love & Marriage
• 3 for Happiness
• 5 for Perfection
• 6 for Luck
• 8 for Wealth and Abundance
• 9 for Everlasting Good Fortune and Happiness

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Introduction To Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year Celebrations Part 1
Chinese New Year Celebrations Part 2
Chinese New Year Traditional Beliefs
Chinese New Year Decorations, Plants And Flowers Part 1
Chinese New Year Decorations, Plants And Flowers Part 2
Chinese New Year Images