Spring Festival: all you need to know about China’s most important new year festival (3)

食(shi)-年夜饭 (Spring Festival Reunion Dinner)

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The family reunion dinner is a very culturally significant event. Served on Spring Festival eve, it is a 4,000-year-old tradition passed down through generations in China. Usually involving a hearty feast, the dinner is also a historical record of Chinese traditions and culture, with every dish containing its own auspicious symbolism.

According to the 荆楚岁时记 (Records of Jinchu), China’s encyclopedia of folk customs during the 6th and 7th centuries, the reunion dinner is usually held in or near the home of the most senior member of the family, while all family members work together to prepare a feast.

For Chinese families, fish is an indispensable part of the reunion dinner. In Chinese, fish has the same pronunciation as 余 (yu), which means ‘surplus’. For Chinese people, it is always good to have saved something by the end of the year, so that more good fortune will follow.

The typical blessing that comes with the fish dish is 年年有余, an idiom wishing people a surplus of food and money in the new year. It is also very important to choose the right type of fish. Crucian carp and Chinese mud carp are most often used for reunion dinners, as the first character of crucian carp (鲫鱼, jiyu) sounds like the Chinese character 吉 (ji), which means good luck, while the Chinese character 礼 (li), meaning ‘gift’, has a similar pronunciation as the first character of mud carp (鲤鱼, liyu) .

With people’s living standards improving significantly in recent years, more and more Chinese prefer to eat out for New Year rather than cook at home. More advanced Internet technologies have also made it possible for people to order half-finished dishes online, or even invite a chef to help out at home. The form of the reunion dinner may have changed a lot, but the essence of family love still warms the heart of every Chinese person.