Lunar New Year is traditionally celebrated throughout Asia in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and more. But, with the help of global translation services, people from around the world now partake in the celebrations of this holiday. Let’s take a look at some of the traditional practices the whole world can now participate in and enjoy due to global translators:
The Door Gods And Global Translation Services
Dating back to the Chinese Tang Dynasty, the mén shén are the guardians of an entrance and are believed to protect people’s homes from evil spirits. The localized translation of mén shén is “The Door Gods,” and this international translation has allowed a better understanding into these deities. During Lunar New Year, people add pictures of The Door Gods to their doors to protect the household and bring good fortune in the coming years.
The Color Red And Global Translation Services
During Lunar New Year festivities, you may notice an astonishing amount of red decorations hanging on every storefront and street. The color red is known to ward off Nian, a lion-like beast who is afraid of the color red. Professional translators derived the name “Nian” from Chinese mythology, where its original Chinese name was nián shòu.
The color red is also associated with wealth and good fortune. During Lunar New Year, one of the most recognizable symbols are red envelopes. Those red envelopes contain varying amounts of money and are given to children and young adults. Many global translation and localization services decided on literally translating it from Mandarin hong bao to English ‘red envelope.’ However, localized translation practices were put in place with this particular word. In Cantonese, these red envelopes are called lai see, which literally translates to “being useful.” So, to maintain the essence of both translations, language translation and interpreting services are careful to establish a connotation of wealth and good fortune associated with the term “red envelope.”
Global Translators Say To “Clean Your House Before Midnight”
One of the most popular practices during Lunar New Year is to clean your house before the start of the new year. Why is this one of the most common practices? With the help of language translation agencies and global translators, we now know that the word “dust” and “old” are homophones, so cleaning the house is symbolic of driving away the bad luck of the previous year and ushering in a fresh start. However, a Chinese superstition is to never clean the house during the first three days of the new year. If you do this, you may end up sweeping away all the upcoming wealth, fortune and good luck from the house.
Jiaozi Galore
During Lunar New Year, it’s common practice to feast upon mounds of dumplings. This practice is not only a delicious one–but also a practical one as it is believed that eating jiaozi brings good fortune and riches in the coming year (dumplings is the localized translation of jiaozi). Why does this practice bring fortune and riches? Because of their shape! Jiaozi resembles the gold or silver ingots used in ancient China for currency. So make sure to be hungry, surrounded by the color red, and have energy to clean on January 21st, Lunar New Year’s Eve, to welcome the new year in a traditional manner.
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