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Farewell to the Old, Reunion for the New Year:
A Journey Through Spring Festival Traditions

辞旧迎新团圆年：春节新年礼俗漫说

December 13, 2025

9:00 - 11:00 AM ET

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In 2024, the Spring Festival was officially recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, marking it as a festival holiday shared and cherished by people around the world.

Commonly referred to as “过年” (Guo Nian, cross the year) in China, the Spring Festival marks a passage through a series of meaningful rituals. Centered on bidding farewell to the old year, welcoming the new, praying for blessings, and family reunion, the festival unfolds in three major phases: seeing off the old year, gathering for the family reunion dinner and staying up late on New Year’s Eve, and welcoming the arrival of the new year.

The most comprehensive and celebrated holiday, the Spring Festival traditions include many lasting and evolving activities: Sweeping dust, cleaning the house, and decorating doorways; Ceremoniously sending off the Kitchen God and welcoming ancestors home; Preparing special New Year foods and hosting year-end gatherings; Enjoying the New Year’s Eve family reunion dinner; staying up late on New Year’s Eve (Shou Sui 守岁) to share stories and family time; Setting off firecrackers at the opening of the door to welcome the new year.; and paying New Year visits, exchanging greetings, and celebrating the season.

This seminar will take K-16 Chinese language teachers on a journey through the rich rituals and customs of the Spring Festival, as well as the believes, values and morals reflected in its colorful and meaningful traditions. Besides delicious food, fun activities and a break from the busy daily life, the Spring Festival continues to express the enduring values of harmony, gratitude, renewal, and family that have shaped Chinese culture for thousands of years.

2 hours of CTLE credits are offered for New York State teachers attending this program.
In partnership with New England Chinese Language Teachers Association (NECLTA) and Chinese Program at Tufts University, PDP certificate is available for NECLTA members.

For questions, please contact Yongqiang Lin at [email protected]

This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。

Speaker
Xiao Fang 萧放

萧放 Xiao Fang , Ph.D. in Folklore, is a Professor at Beijing Normal University. He serves as the Head of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, School of Sociology, Director of the Academic Committee of the School of Sociology, and Director of the Folklore Section at the Research Center for Folklore, Classics, and Chinese Characters. His major social positions include: Vice President and Chinese President of the International Society for Asian Folklore, Council Member of the Chinese Folk Artists Association, and Advisor to the Chinese Folklore Society. He has previously served as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan), and in the Chinese Departments of Fu Jen Catholic University and National Dong Hwa University in the Taiwan region of China. His research focuses on Historical Folklore Studies, History of Folk Culture, Traditional Festivals, Ritual Customs, and Intangible Cultural Heritage Studies.
He has published numerous works on festival studies, including “The Seasons: Temporal Life of Traditional Chinese People岁时——传统中国民众的时间生活” (Zhonghua Book Company, 2002), “Spring Festival春节” (Beijing SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2009), and “Festivals节庆” (Changchun Publishing House, 2016), among others. He has also published 200 academic papers on festival culture. As a festival expert, he participated in the work related to the Spring Festival’s nomination for the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This program is made possible through the support of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, the ECNU Center, and generous supporters of China Institute of America.
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