On the 22nd local time, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to designate the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) as a United Nations holiday. The adoption of the resolution will give this traditional festival more cosmopolitan, promote the wide dissemination of the rich cultural connotation of the Spring Festival, and promote exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations in the world. Do you know how many UN holidays there are? Apart from China, which other countries celebrate the Spring Festival?
On December 23, 2023, in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, in a small commodity market in Jiangsu Province, citizens are shopping for New Year's jewelry. Figure/IC
Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations:
It fully demonstrates the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization
Ambassador Dai Bing, Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations, said after the adoption of the resolution of the UN General Assembly that the Spring Festival, as a traditional Chinese folk festival, is not only a day for family reunions, farewell to the old and welcome the new, but also carries the common values of all mankind, such as peace, harmony and harmony, as well as the common values of all mankind, such as family harmony, social tolerance, and harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Many countries and regions observe the Spring Festival as a legal holiday, and about one-fifth of the world's population celebrates the Spring Festival in different forms.
Ambassador Dai Bing pointed out that China's promotion of the Spring Festival as a UN holiday is a pragmatic action to implement the Global Civilization Initiative and advocate respect for the diversity of world civilizations. The Spring Festival has officially become a United Nations holiday, which fully demonstrates the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization, will effectively promote exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations in the world, and actively reflect the cultural values of diversity and inclusiveness advocated by the United Nations. The United Nations General Assembly resolution designating the Spring Festival as a United Nations holiday has been warmly welcomed and enthusiastically supported by United Nations Member States and the staff of the United Nations Secretariat.
In addition to the important official holidays of the host country, the United Nations General Assembly may adopt a resolution to designate the holidays that are widely celebrated worldwide as United Nations holidays, and to avoid meeting activities on such days as possible. Every year, the UN Secretary-General delivers a congratulatory message during the Chinese New Year, extending festive greetings and best wishes to China and all the people of all countries who celebrate the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year).
What other holidays are UN holidays?
September 12, 2023 local time, New York, United States, United Nations Headquarters Building. Figure/IC
Official holidays celebrated at United Nations Headquarters in New York are approved by the United Nations General Assembly and generally last 10 days per year, including official holidays and important religious holidays in the host country, the United States. In 2015, for example, in addition to the familiar Gregorian New Year (1 January) and Christmas Day (25 December), President's Day (16 February), Good Friday (3 April), Memorial Day (25 May), Independence Day (4 July), Eid al-Fitr (17 July), Labor Day (7 September), Eid al-Adha (23 September) and Thanksgiving (26 November) were celebrated. The United Nations has one day off each of the 10 holidays. At the end of 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing five other major religious holidays: Yom Kippur in Judaism, Vesak in Buddhism, Diwali in Hindu, Sikh and Jain Christianity, GurPurab and Orthodox Christmas, and included these five holidays in the United Nations calendar of conferences and meetings to avoid scheduling meetings during these festivals. Since 2016, the United Nations Headquarters has revised the original 10 days of official holidays, making nine holidays except "President's Day" a fixed holiday, and "President's Day", "Orthodox Good Friday" and the five religious holidays mentioned above as seven floating holidays. United Nations staff members may choose one of the floating holidays as the tenth day of the holiday according to their needs.
Apart from China, which other countries celebrate the Spring Festival?
The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important, grand, and distinctive traditional festival of the Chinese nation, Chinese the Spring Festival has a history of more than 4,000 years. With Chinese travelers and overseas Chinese all over the world, local Chinese also celebrate this grand festival with their families and friends during the Spring Festival. In addition to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea and other countries that belong to the Han cultural circle also retain the Xi of celebrating the Spring Festival. Especially in the multiculturalism of Southeast Asian countries, there are still some cultural traditions that are very rare in China.
Many countries in Asia: important traditional festivals
Photo/School of International Education, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
Singapore, which has a high proportion of Chinese, is one of the countries with the most enthusiastic atmosphere for the Chinese New Year. Every Spring Festival, Chinatown "Chinatown" is a celebration venue for New Year's goods streets, zodiac lighting, dragon and lion dances, and the God of Wealth around the street to send blessings. Singapore's Chinese community has a very special Xi for the Spring Festival, which is to "fish for fish", which is the highlight of the Chinese in Singapore to open the Spring Festival. In addition to the fish fillet, there are also colorful toppings such as shredded carrots, crushed peanuts, shredded lettuce, and sour plum paste.
During the Chinese New Year's dinner, everyone sits around a table and raises chopsticks to pick up the yusheng, the higher the catch, the more auspicious, the more it is caught. Or just like the Hokkien people shouting "Fa la Fa La!" Or just like the Cantonese people will say, "Scoop up, scoop up! (Same as "Lao Xi" in Cantonese).
On January 21, 2022 local time, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, divers at the aquarium performed an underwater lion dance and a "God of Wealth" New Year's greeting performance to welcome the Chinese New Year. Figure/IC
In Singapore's neighbouring Malaysia, Chinese New Year is also a public holiday. Especially in the Chinese community, in addition to the traditional celebration methods such as eating reunion dinners and pasting Spring Festival couplets, "fishing for fish sheng" is also an indispensable "reserved program". Not only that, every Spring Festival, there will be a big traffic jam similar to the "Spring Festival" in Malaysia.
In recent years, the most popular figure for the Malaysian New Year is the God of Wealth, and the most popular cultural event is the lion dance. Even schools are not exempt from vulgarity, and will invite the God of Wealth and lion dances to the New Year's party, just like shops and clubs. Although the lion dance originated in China, it has flourished in Malaysia and has gradually become an international sport.
Twenty-four festival drum performance. Photo/Museum China Official Account
In addition, the Malaysian Chinese also created the "24 Festival Drums" in the Spring Festival performance. It is an important part of many local large-scale festivals and Spring Festival galas. Inspired by the traditional Chinese 24 festivals, it was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Malaysia in 2009.
In South Korea and North Korea, the Spring Festival is a legal holiday, and people usually pay homage to their ancestors and New Year's salutes on this day, especially when the younger generation makes a big bow to the elders, which means that the winter will be spent safely and the new year will be ushered in.
Photo/School of International Education, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
Korea is a country of great tradition, and the Spring Festival is a festival based on ancestor worship and filial piety. Koreans have always retained the Xi of welcoming the New Year on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, calling the Spring Festival "Sheer", which means the first of the new year, also known as "Old Jeong". During the national holidays, people return to their hometowns from the city, reunite with their families, worship their ancestors, put on hanbok, and pray for good luck at home. The Xi customs that are still preserved during the Korean Spring Festival include ancestor worship, annual worship, deoktan, "throwing wood four" and springboard. Koreans also have special food for the Spring Festival, which are collectively known as "New Year's meals". The most representative Chinese New Year dish that has been handed down to this day is the "rice cake slice soup".
South Korea, which pays attention to the order of the elders and the young, will pay New Year's greetings in the order of generations, and the younger generations will wish the elders a happy and healthy New Year with a bowing ceremony, and the elders will respond with some auspicious words and give the younger generations New Year's money. Unlike China, South Korea uses a white envelope or small bag with a Happy New Year on it as a "red envelope".
Spring Festival, also known as the lunar year by North Koreans, has always been a festival celebrated by North Koreans. The customs of celebrating the Spring Festival in North Korea are basically the same as in China, but the Korean people also have a unique way of celebrating it. When the Spring Festival arrives, every household is cleaned up, and the streets and villages are dressed in festive costumes. On Chinese New Year's Eve, relatives and friends gather together to greet each other and eat homemade cakes, rice cake soup, eight-treasure rice and rice wine, and on the first day of the new year, people go to the elders' homes to pay their respects to the New Year, and then go to participate in various folk games and cultural activities held by the people, or the whole family goes outdoors to fly kites, jump springboards, smoke spinning tops, kick shuttlecocks, play ice cars and other activities.
Local residents buy peach blossom branches at the flower market. On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, Vietnamese people will go to the flower market to buy peach blossom branches and place them at home before the festival to wish for good luck in the New Year. Data map/Xinhuanet
As the most important festival of the year, Vietnam attaches great importance to it, just like the mainland. In fact, Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world where the whole country celebrates the Spring Festival. Many of their Spring Festival Xi customs are exactly the same as those of the mainland, and even some of the Spring Festival Xi customs that have disappeared in China are still preserved in Vietnam. For example, they will plant a few peach branches at home every Spring Festival.
At the reunion dinner table of the Chinese New Year's Eve, unlike traditional Chinese dumplings, Vietnam must have square dumplings. This kind of zongzi is square, with mung beans and pork belly in it, and the size is much larger than that of Chinese zongzi, one weighing 1-2 catties. On Chinese New Year's Eve, Vietnam also has the Xi of "picking green". "Green" leads to "Lu", and green mining symbolizes bringing wealth to the new year. However, in recent years, due to the increasing environmental awareness of the Vietnamese government and people, people have gradually stopped picking leaves casually, and instead sold sugarcane leaves in temples and flower markets, which not only preserves traditional Xi customs, but also protects trees, killing two birds with one stone.
Another important activity in Vietnamese Tet Xi is the "New Year's Celebration" on the morning of the first day of the new year, that is, the first person to enter the house often determines the fortune of the host's family for a year. Therefore, in Vietnam, people often choose the object of "New Year's Celebration" according to the eight characters of the birthday, and the selected person is often warmly entertained by the owner.
A shop hanging a red lantern in Indonesia. Photo/CCTV
Indonesia and Brunei, both in Southeast Asia, have also designated the Spring Festival as a statutory public holiday, forming a pluralistic symbiosis situation dominated by the local Chinese community and with the participation of various ethnic groups, which also adds fresh elements to the diversification of the Spring Festival.
Spring Festival family: constantly ushering in "new members"
In recent years, with the gradual increase in the influence of traditional Chinese culture in the world, the Spring Festival family has also ushered in some "new members".
On January 29, 2023 local time, in Toronto, Canada, a lion dance performance was held to celebrate the Spring Festival. Figure/IC
In 2017, Canada officially established the Spring Festival as a national holiday, and the local Chinese community will hold celebrations during the Spring Festival, and government officials at all levels and local people will also actively participate in it, and officials will also distribute red envelopes and other blessings on the spot to share the festivities.
The opening program of the Suriname Spring Festival Gala is the Chinese lion dance. Photo/Chinanews.com
Suriname is the first country in South America to make the Chinese New Year an official holiday. In Suriname, the Spring Festival has become a festival celebrated by people of all ethnic groups. Chinese communities in Suriname hold grand Spring Festival banquets to attract Chinese and foreign people to celebrate together, while local government officials at all levels and people from all walks of life will actively participate in celebrations such as Spring Festival temple fairs and large-scale Spring Festival Galas.
In addition to the national level, in recent years, at the local level in some countries, the Spring Festival has also acquired an "official status".
In August 2018, the California State Legislature passed a bill to officially make the Spring Festival a legal holiday in California, and encourage schools and educational institutions to actively organize activities to promote and pass on the cultural traditions of the Spring Festival.
On January 29, 2022 local time, a small Lunar New Year parade was held in San Francisco's Chinatown, USA. The two-day Spring Festival Flower Market also opened on the same day, attracting a large number of citizens to shop. Figure/IC
Every year during the Spring Festival, San Francisco's Chinatown will hold a variety of celebrations, including float parades, Miss Chinatown pageants, etc., becoming a "New Year feast" for local people and tourists, this series of celebrations not only provides a joyful cultural experience for local residents, but also builds a broader platform for the spread of Spring Festival culture in the United States.
On January 20, 2023 local time, the Empire State Building in New York was lit up with "Chinese Red" to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. Figure/IC
In New York, the largest city in the United States, the Spring Festival also has a very important position. On February 2, 2023, the General Assembly of the New York City Council passed the "Lunar New Year Resolution", officially making the Lunar New Year a statutory holiday in New York City.
Similarly, the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro passed a bill in October 2016 to officially list the Spring Festival as the official state holiday, and each February is the state's "Chinese New Year Month".
According to incomplete statistics so far, about 20 countries and local levels around the world have officially established the Spring Festival as a legal holiday. With the blessing of "official status", the Spring Festival culture has been able to transcend the traditional Chinese community and be more widely welcomed by local residents.
Behind the Spring Festival to the world is the increasing influence of Chinese culture. Globally, turmoil, war and other issues continue to plague the world, and unilateralism, protectionism and bullying are rampant. Chinese culture adheres to the value orientation of "harmony is precious, harmony is different", pursues the lofty ideal of "harmony and coexistence", advocates "beauty and beauty in different countries and cultures, and the world is in harmony", and advocates "harmony between the people and all nations...... All these provide important insights for answering the world's questions.
The Spring Festival symbolizes the beginning of spring and is full of people's expectations for the renewal of Vientiane. In the context of the 21st century, countries are increasingly interdependent and share a common destiny, and the world is embracing the Spring Festival and looking forward to embracing a better tomorrow.
In addition to what is mentioned in the article, which countries do you know about the Spring Festival?
Source: Official website of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, official Weibo of the Department of Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Boao Forum for Asia, Xinhua News Agency, Xinhuanet, Beijing News, Chinanews.com, Qingdao Intellectual Property Public Service Platform, School of International Education, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Suining, China Overseas Chinese Network, Qingchun Suyu
Edited by Ai Zheng Proofread by Fu Chunxuan