SPRING FESTIVAL

Spring Festival is a translated word transcribed from the Chinese language into English by similar meaning. But in fact, it is not accurate enough to describe the largest traditional Chinese festival by using the Spring Festival. The word "Spring" just literally equals the Chinese character "春 (chūn)" which mainly refers to the spring season but is unable to convey more meaningful cultures and traditions this festival stands for. Instead, using the terms like "Chinese New Year" or the more accurate "Chinese lunar new year" is much better for others to understand this festival quickly and further can differ from the Common New Year (based on the solar calendar) celebrated by the majorities worldwide.

Back to the Chiese word for Spring Festival "春节 (chūn jié)", the second character "节 (jié)" here refers to the word "festival" in English. Thus, we could combine it with other characters and guess the meanings like "节日 (jié rì)" equivalent to festival day or the festival holidays. What's more, one word with many different meanings is very common to see in the Chinese language. So "节 (jié)" also means the section, joint, node as a noun, such as "关节 (guān jié, the joint)", or as a verb means to save or to economize something, such as "节约时间 (jié yuē shí jiān, save time)", or even as a measurement quantifier means a section of something, such as "一节竹子 (yì jié zhú zi, a section of bamboo)", and etc.