Everyday Life
Must lights stay on and everyone remain awake throughout Lunar New Year's Eve?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
New Year's Eve can retain the auspicious intention of lights and staying up without requiring every room illuminated all night or everyone forbidden to sleep. I keep lights on that evening but turn off the bedroom light when sleeping.
Bright lights symbolize light and hope in the new year. Discussing the Nian beast, I also understood the custom through seasonal and fortune transitions. Earlier lighting was limited, so specially illuminating New Year's Eve made the welcome for a new beginning more tangible.
Arrange according to each household's situation. Keeping lights through midnight and the zi hour, then resting, is one possibility. Continuing until dawn is also fine. If fewer lights are desired, mainly illuminating the hall where deities and ancestors are worshiped is another approach.
Staying up also expresses younger people's wishes for elders' blessings and longevity. Some now consider it completed after midnight; I think people can make their own arrangements. Understand the auspicious meaning and choose a suitable method, rather than turn a blessing into a prohibition that creates anxiety.