Sweep the House! and Other Lesser Known Traditions in the Run up To Chinese New Year

With all the excitement surrounding Spring Festival, it can be easy to lose sight of some of the traditions surrounding this ancient holiday. For instance, there’s a whole slew of activities that need to be addressed in the run-up to the main event if folks are to enjoy a truly prosperous new year. Incidentally, one of those activities happens to fall today, Feb 5, which, according to the Lunar Calendar, is actually the 24th day of the 12th lunar month.

On this day, ancient Chinese belief dictates that families are supposed to 扫房子 sǎo fángzi sweep the house, including every container, curtain, article of bedding, and hard to reach corner. Ultimately, the practice represents a desire to quite literally clean the past and bid a final farewell to the old year – something we’re probably all more than ready to do at this point.

One of the other lesser-known traditions preceding Chinese New Year is 拜灶神 bài zàoshén worshipping the kitchen god, which, unfortunately, occurred yesterday. Apparently, we were all supposed to leave candy, water, and beans as a sort of cosmic bribe for His Culinary Holiness, who visits the mortal world and then reports back to the Jade Emperor about the status of each family. Based on these reports, the Jade Emperor then decides whether to dole out good or bad fortune in the coming year. So, sorry about that. We should’ve told you earlier.

At any rate, it isn’t too late to sweep the house! And to help, we’ve compiled this little primer about that most famous of Chinese interior decorating principles, 风水 fēngshuǐ feng shui.

Feng shui (literally “wind and water”), is an ancient art form that posits that if the placement of your various adornments and decorations are correct and in order, you shall be endowed with fortune and good health.

According to philosophical practice, maintaining good feng shui keeps the 气 qì “energy” flowing, and although largely regarded as pseudo-science in the scientific community, its popularity endures among those who admire the simple – if not at times rather obvious – advice that it provides.

Here we'll outline a number of feng shui do’s and don’ts for what is arguably the most important room in your house: the bedroom.

• Don’t oversize your bedroom
• Don’t place the head of your bed directly under a window or ceiling beam, in a corner, or directly in line with the door
• Don’t place large furniture by your bed
• Don’t have mirrors facing or at the foot of your bed
• Don’t keep a fish tank or any large water containers in your bedroom
• Don’t decorate your bedroom with odd decorations, especially those with human faces or animal heads on them
• Don’t hang sharp or heavy objects over your bedside
• Don’t store clutter under your bed
• Don’t keep big plants in your bedroom, or if you do, place them as far away from your bed as possible
• Place your bed somewhere where you can see the door while in it
• Choose furniture with soft lines rather than sharp edges
• Use fabric or curtains to cover mirrors or TVs
• If you have an en suite, keep the bathroom door closed

And there you have it! Now that you've swept your home, reorganized your bedroom, and left some belated tokens of goodwill for the kitchen god, it's time to get out there and light some fireworks and down some baijiu. Happy Chinese New Year, Beijingers!

READ: Less Is Better Than None! Here Are the Places Where You Can Buy CNY Fireworks in Beijing

Images: homestratosphere.com, Brian Matangelo (via Unsplash), Giphy