Chinese New Year
in Thailand | ตรุษจีน
Happy Chinese New Year Everyone 🙂
ปีนี้ปีมังกร /bpii níi bpii mang-gɔɔn/
This is a very important part of Thai Culture and is celebrated every year in early February. There are large numbers of Thai Chinese in Thailand and the origin of the Thai peoples comes partly from China itself hence Chinese New Year is widely celebrated. The exact date is set by the lunar calendar and as such, it moves every year.
Thai Vocabulary and information
Chinese New Year or we say วันตรุษจีน /wan dtrùt-jiin/ ie Thai-Chinese people have to follow the traditional 3 days which are:
1) วันจ่าย /wan jàai/ is the day people go to buy some things for their ceremony (the next day).
2) วันไหว้ /wan wâi/ is the main ceremony, Thai-Chinese people respect their ancestors and worship to their God and
3) วันปีใหม่ /wan bpii mài/ or วันเที่ยว /wan tîaw/ is a holiday, normally people will go to visit their relatives and give some gift and money to their younger relatives.
In the วันไหว้ /wan wâi/, you might see some kinds of desserts (ขนม /kà-nǒm/) that people believe that they will bring good lucks which are:
1.ขนมเข่ง /kà-nǒm kèng/ means “sweetness” and “smoothness” in life.
2.ขนมเทียน /kà-nǒm-tian/ has a shape like Chedi that we believe it is auspicious. This sweet means “life of sweetness and smoothness” as well.
3.ขนมไข่ /kà-nǒm-kài/ means “growing up”
4.ขนมถ้วยฟู /kà-nǒm-tûay-fuu/ the sound is like the word เฟื่องฟู which means “booming, prosper” so this dessert also means “booming, prosper”
5.ขนมสาลี่ /kà-nǒm-sǎa-lîi/ means “booming, prosper”
Chinese New Year beliefs
1) Don’t say rude words, death, ghost or bad things in the past. Should talk only about good things that will happen in the future
2) Don’t cry on New Year’s day because you will have sadness all year
3) The lucky colour is red
4) Don’t use a knife or scissors because they will cut off your good luck
I hope you have a good time with your family and สุขสันต์วันตรุษจีน /sùk-sǎn wan dtrùt-jiin/ (Happy Chinese New Year) kâ!!!
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Jang
Thai Language Teacher
