Annual 15-day festival in China and Chinese communities around the world that begins with the first day of the first lunar month, which occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars, and lasts until the following full moon. The festival originated in ancestor and deity worship rituals in the Shang Dynasty (ca. 16th to 11th century BCE); it was firmly established in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-8 CE). Activities associated with the festival include cleaning the home, worship of deities and ancestors, family reunions, preparation of special foods, receiving cash in red envelopes, posting poetry, lighting candles, and setting off firecrackers, symbolizing wishes for a happy new year and a fortuitous future.
