Chinese new year cheat sheet for the year of the boar

You can't miss the festive feeling in places where Chinese live this time of year. Lucky red objects are on sale everywhere, and distinctive festive music fills the air. Chinese new year begins February 5 in 2019, and auspicious language will be the norm from the first till the 15th day of the lunar new year.

A wish for lots of business opportunities.

The greetings begin on the first day of Chinese new year. Common ones are 新年快乐 (xin nian kuai le), 'happy new year' and 恭喜发财 (gong xi fa cai), 'congratulations on receiving riches and prosperity'. Riches are fundamental to Chinese culture, and especially so around Chinese new year. 心想事成 (xin xiang shi cheng), 'may your wishes come true', and 福气满满 (fu qi man man), 'prosperity in abundance', will all be well received.

Fortune-related greetings in business settings include:

- 步步高升 (bu bu gao sheng), or 'rising higher with each step taken',

- 财源广进 (cai yuan guang jin), or 'may riches enter in huge volumes', or 财源滚滚 (cai yuan gun gun), 'may riches gush in',

- 东成西就 (dong cheng xi jiu), or 'achievements everywhere, literally from east to west',

- 工作顺利 (gong zuo shun li), 'may your work go smoothly',

- 鸿运当头 (hong yun dang tou), 'may fortune find you',
- 货如轮转 (huo ru lun zhuan), 'may your products sell like hotcakes, as quickly as wheels turn',

- 马到成功 (ma dao cheng gong), 'instant success',

- 年年有馀 (nian nian you yu), 'surpluses every year',

- 平步青云 (ping bu qing yun), 'an easy path to a meteoric rise',

- 升官发财 (sheng guan fa cai) 'get a promotion and a raise',

- 生意兴隆 (sheng yi xing long), or 'may the business thrive greatly',

- 事业有成 (shi ye you cheng) 'success in what you're working on' , 

- 新年进步 (xin nian jin bu), which means 'making progress in the new year', 

- 一本万利 (yi ben wan li), 'reap much more than you invest'.

Greetings can also involve the animal for the year, such as ___年大吉 (___ nian da ji), 'great fortune in the year of the ___', and ___年行大運/___年行大运, 'great luck in the year of the ___' depending on which animal whose year it is. It is the year of the boar in 2019, the rat in 2020 and the ox in 2021 - just substitute the underlined character with the appropriate animal.

Chinatown in Singapore features pigs in a focal display.

Puns on the word for 'pig' were rare, compared to those for other years. This Magiclean ad features a pig as well as a dog with the words "Looking forward to spring and seeing off the dog: may all things be clean".

Lucky red packets with a pun on 'wishing you', 祝您, converted to 猪您, or 'pig you'.

 

Brands often relate festive greetings to the animal of the year. For 2018, the year of the dog, the word 旺, which has connotations of abundance and prosperity, is common in festive decor as it sounds similar to the sound a dog makes, 汪. 2019 was particularly unusual for featuring very few puns on pigs in Singapore. Generic new year greetings were common, with the odd pun on other things.

Lee Kum Kee, for instance, went for a clever pun on its own Mandarin name 李錦記 (Li Jin Ji) instead, turning it into 你紧记 (ni jin ji) or 'you will never forget'.

 

Lee Kum Kee's ad features the reunion dinner held on the eve of Chinese new year. The heading reads 'the taste of reunion: great flavours that you will never forget'.

 

In 2017, the year of the chicken, drinks manufacturer Pokka wished everyone 吉祥如意 (ji xiang ru yi) - all the happiness and prosperity that you hope for, but with a pun on 鸡, which sounds similar, and another on 翔, which sounds like 祥, but means to 'soar' in keeping with the avian theme.

2015 was the year of the goat (or sheep), and there are a few festive greetings that take advantage of how the word for goat, 羊 (yang), is a homonym found in various Chinese idioms. 阳光灿烂 (yang guang can lan) is a wish for bright sunlight or a bright future; 喜气洋洋, converted to 喜气羊羊 (xi qi yang yang) for the year, refers to happiness everywhere; while 羊羊得意, really 洋洋得意 (yang yang de yi), is a wish that the recipient will get whatever he or she wants, in the best way possible.

马到成功 is especially apt in the year of the horse (most recently, 2014), as the character for horse, 马, begins the greeting, but it can be used at any other time as well.

The lohei platter before the lohei starts. Each ingredient has an auspicious meaning, including the raw salmon (abundance) in the middle, and the crackers (money).

Such greetings are recited at traditional Chinese new year banquets in Malaysia and Singapore, during the lohei (撈起) part which precedes the meal proper. Loheis can start weeks before Chinese new year and are available until the 15th day.

A platter of yusheng (鱼生), a raw fish* salad, is first brought to the table after which toppings are ceremoniously added individually, accompanied by auspicious sayings. Specific toppings are associated with specific sayings. The sweet sauce is typically poured while saying 甜甜蜜蜜 (tiantian mimi, a wish that life will be sweet) and the fish or seafood component arranged on the salad while saying 年年有余 because 余, yu or surplus, sounds like 鱼, yu or fish.

Once complete, diners mix (lo) the salad with chopsticks while calling out greetings as wishes for the coming year. The higher the salad is raised (hei), the better the luck for the coming year.

If you can't remember too many greetings, don't worry - a simple 'happy new year' is fine. The whole idea is to start off the year right, and it's traditional to hope for fortune, prosperity and success. Just stay away from anything negative. 万事如意 (wan shi ru yi), 'may all things be as you wish'!

*Various chefs have experimented with different takes on the salad. The raw fish component can be replaced by smoked salmon, sliced abalone or lobster for example, while the salad may be replaced by fruit. Fancier toppings such as gold flakes or caviar have also appeared in recent years.