There are many Chinese New Year traditions about dos and don'ts. Find out the top 18 things you should not do. Some are taboos on the first day of the Chinese New Year and some are superstitions for the whole New Year Festival season (from the 1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year). 1. Avoid taking medicine. People should not get their hair cut during the first lunar month, for it indicates the death of their uncle (mother's brother), and of course it is a thing you should never do during the Chinese New Year. Although it sounds absurd, people are glad to abide by this tradition. However, it is okay to cut your hair before the new year. “That will bring in new wealth,” Lin stated. RELATED: The Luckiest Months Of The Lunar Year Of The Snake For Each Chinese Zodiac Sign 6. DON’T wash or cut your hair Don’t wash or cut your hair on the first day of Chinese New Year (Photography: Element5 Digital via Pexels) On the first day of Chinese New Year, you must not wash or cut your hair. In Cantonese, hair is pronounced as faat (髮), which is the same as the word for “getting rich” (發). If you wash your hair Chinese New Year is just around the corner. To ensure that you start your new year on the right foot, here is a list of things that you should and should not do on Chinese New Year. 1. Washing and cutting hair Can we wash hair on first day of Chinese New Year? On the first day of Chinese New Year, you must not wash or cut your hair. In Cantonese, hair is pronounced as faat (髮), which is the same as the word for “getting rich” (發). If you wash your hair, it means that you’re washing your own fortune away for the coming 364 days. The Chinese word for “book” (shū) sounds exactly the same as the word for “lose” – so buying a book right after ringing in the New Year is considered an invitation for bad luck. The Chinese believe that cutting or washing your hair on the first day of the New Year is bad luck, because the Chinese word for hair (fa) is the same character used in the word “prosper” (facai; 发财). Don't cut or wash hair on Chinese New Year's Day. Do these in the week or so leading up to New Year's Day, but don't do it on the day of as you don't want to wash away or cut short your luck! The Karen Yee of San Francisco, says she doesn't cut or wash her hair on New Year's Day. "Hair and luck in Chinese are homonyms," she said. "So if you cut or wash your hair on the day of the Lunar New 9 Chinese New Year Superstitions Don’t cut your hair!According to Chinese superstition, haircuts should be scheduled before the Chinese New Year begins. Housecleaning should be done before the Chinese New Year’s Day to sweep away bad luck from the previous year. It is bad luck to cut anything during the 15 day Chinese New Year period, hence the Chinese tend to go for a haircut before the last day of the Lunar year so that they will not look unkempt, and also because a clean, well maintained appearance matters to usher in a prosperous new year. With the Lunar New Year fast approaching, salons worldwide are experiencing their busiest times, thanks to the Chinese tradition of getting a fresh haircut to ring in the new year. We can’t guarantee that a new hairstyle will bring you new wealth in the coming year but it certainly will make you feel fabulous during the festivities. DON’T do laundry, wash or cut your hair on New Year’s Day (the day before is fine) but you don’t want to wash away your good luck! DON’T break any dishes or glasses!Jan 25, 2022 DON’T break any dishes or glasses!Jan 25, 2022 Washing your hair on the first and second day of the new year is believed to be bad luck – it symbolises washing away your fortune. Not a very auspicious start to 2024! The same goes for cutting your hair. On the first day of Chinese New Year, you must not wash or cut your hair. In Cantonese, hair is pronounced as faat (髮), which is the same as the word for “getting rich” (發). If you wash your hair, it means that you’re washing your own fortune away for the coming 364 days. The language expert explained that this was because the word for hair in Chinese sounded very similar to the word for rich. 'You don't want to wash your fortune away at the beginning of the New It is bad luck to cut anything during the 15 day Chinese New Year period, hence the Chinese tend to go for a haircut before the last day of the Lunar year so that they will not look unkempt, and also because a clean, well maintained appearance matters to usher in a prosperous new year. The Chinese word for “book” (shū) sounds exactly the same as the word for “lose” – so buying a book right after ringing in the New Year is considered an invitation for bad luck. Style Very Superstitious: The Do’s and Don’ts of Chinese New Year Justin Wong on January 26, 2017 . Every culture has their own superstitions: Americans believe it’s bad luck if you cross paths with a black cat, Japanese avoid taking pictures in groups of three because it brings misfortune — even death — upon the individual in the middle, and Greeks throw salt over their left
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