In the Lüshi Chunqiu, in Qin state an exorcism ritual to expel illness, called "Big Nuo", was recorded as being carried out on the last day of the year.

In the book Simin Yueling (四民月令), written by the Eastern Han agronomist Cui Shi (崔寔), a celebration was described: "The starting day of the first month, is called Zheng Ri.

Poet and chancellor of the Tang dynasty, Lai Gu, also described this tradition in his poem Early Spring (早春): "新曆才將半紙開，小亭猶聚爆竿灰", meaning "Another new year just started as a half opening paper, and the family gathered around the dust of exploded bamboo pole.

[36] Another theory is that bai nian tie was derived from the Han dynasty's name tag, men zhuang (門狀, "door opening").

As imperial examinations became essential and reached their heyday under the Tang dynasty, candidates curried favour to become pupils of respected teachers in order to get recommendation letters.

Eventually, men zhuang became a symbol of good luck, and people started sending them to friends on New Year's Day, calling them by a new name, bai nian tie.

The famous Northern Song politician, litterateur, philosopher, and poet Wang Anshi recorded the custom in his poem "元日" ("New Year's Day").

In the chapter, "Ending of a Year" (歲除) in Wulin jiushi (武林舊事), concubines of the emperor prepared a hundred and twenty coins for princes and princesses to wish them longevity.

It is described in the book Youzhongzhi (酌中志): "People get up at 5 in the morning of new year's day, burn incense and light firecrackers, throw door latch or wooden bars in the air three times, drink pepper and thuja wine, eat dumplings.

The book Qing Jia Lu (清嘉錄) recorded: "elders give children coins threaded together by a red string, and the money is called Ya Sui Qian.

Some people give their homes, doors, and window-frames a new coat of red paint; decorators and paper-hangers experience a year-end rush of business prior to Chinese New Year.

In the South, it is customary to make a glutinous new year cake (niangao) and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days.

The second day also saw giving offering money and sacrifices to the God of Wealth (Chinese: 财神) to symbolize a rewarding time after hardship in the preceding year.

Chigou, literally "red dog", is an epithet of "the God of Blazing Wrath" (Chinese: 熛怒之神; pinyin: Biāo nù zhī shén).

In some overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore, it is also the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten for continued wealth and prosperity.

The ninth day is traditionally known as the birthday of the Jade Emperor of Heaven (Chinese: 玉皇; pinyin: Yù Huáng) and many people offered prayer in the Taoist Pantheon as thanks or gratitude.

[82] Legends holds that the Hokkien were spared from a massacre by Japanese pirates by hiding in a sugarcane plantation between the eighth and ninth days of the Chinese New Year, coinciding with the Jade Emperor's birthday.

[97] The act of asking for red packets (Mandarin: 討紅包; tǎo hóngbāo, Cantonese: 逗利是; dauh laih sih) wouldn't be turned down by a married person as it would mean that he or she would be "out of luck" in the new year.

[100][101] In ancient times, there was a monster named sui (祟) which comes out on New Year's Eve and touches the heads of sleeping children.

[103] In addition to red envelopes, typically given from older individuals to younger ones, small gifts such as food or sweets are exchanged between friends or relatives from different households during Chinese New Year.

Instead, they emphasize the connection to the traditional Chinese calendar by calling it 農曆新年, or simply refer to it as 過年, which is more casual and widely used among families and friends.

In Taiwan, Chinese New Year (農曆新年) emphasizes honoring ancestors through elaborate rituals, including offering food and incense at home altars.

In the morning of the ninth day (traditionally anytime between midnight and 7 am), Taiwanese households set up an altar table with three layers: one top (containing offertories of six vegetables (Chinese: 六齋; pinyin: liù zhāi; those being noodles, fruits, cakes, tangyuan, vegetable bowls, and unripe betel), all decorated with paper lanterns) and two lower levels (five sacrifices and wines) to honour the deities below the Jade Emperor.

[81] Incense, tea, fruit, vegetarian food or roast pig, and gold paper are served as customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person.

The primary mode of transportation in western Taiwan is oriented in a north–south direction, facilitating long-distance travel between the urbanized north and rural hometowns in the south.

They invited a variety of other groups from the city to participate, and they marched down what today are Grant Avenue and Kearny Street carrying colourful flags, banners, lanterns, drums, and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits.

[180] Neighboring Fountain Valley also hosts an annual Chinese New Year carnival in Mile Square Regional Park with many food vendors and a ferris wheel.

[206] The Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, often referred to as 吉祥話 (jíxiánghuà) in Mandarin or 吉利說話 (Kat Lei Seut Wa) in Cantonese, loosely translated as auspicious words or phrases.

Children and teenagers sometimes jokingly use the phrase "恭喜發財，紅包拿來" (pinyin: gōngxǐfācái, hóngbāo nálái; Cantonese: 恭喜發財,利是逗來; Jyutping: gung1hei2 faat3coi4, lei6 si6 dau6 loi4), roughly translated as "Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!".

Later in the 1970s, children in Hong Kong used the saying: 恭喜發財，利是逗來，伍毫嫌少，壹蚊唔愛, roughly translated as "Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope, fifty cents is too little, don't want a dollar either."