| 释义 |
年夜饭 niányèfàn noun family reunion dinner on lunar New Year’s Eve 年夜饭The meal eaten on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. On this day family members reunite, couplets are pasted on the door (→ 对联), firecrackers are let off, and in many places people make offerings to the ancestors. The food eaten at the meal will have propitious associations. For example, 鱼 (fish) and 余 (surplus) have the same pronunciation in Chinese (yu). By eating fish at this time diners are observing the idiom ‘nian nian you yu’(年年有余, ‘year after year there is a surplus’). The idea is that not all of the fish should be eaten, so that there is some left over. After the meal the older generation give children money (→ 压岁钱), and many people stay up all night. |