INTRODUCTION 1 Background of study
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1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of study
Culture or cultures derived from Sanskrit which buddhayah, which is the plural form of buddhi mind or intellect is defined as the things pertaining to the
mind and human reason. Lim Ai Meng says that is derived from the cultivation of culture and power. Budi is a sense that a spiritual element in culture, whereas the
mean power of any act or endeavor as a physical element, so the culture is defined as the result of reason and human effort.
Culture is a way of life that developed and owned jointly by a group of people and passed down from generation to generation. Culture formed a complex
of many elements, including religious and political systems, customs, languages, clothing, buildings, and works of art.
Culture is a holistic lifestyle, culture is complex, abstract, and broad. Many aspects of culture also determine communicative behavior. The elements of
the socio-cultural spread and includes many social activities humans. The meaning of Imlek for the society of Chinese in Medan is remainder of
the ancient Chinese tradition. Before 1985, Imlek was celebrated by the Chinese a large scale, but afterwards the celebration becomes simple although it still retains
its social ritual meaning for them. Certainly, the celebration of Imlek New Year has changed. In China,
Imlek New Year is no longer celebrated as a ceremonial tradition to welcome the Chinese New Year anymore, because the government has adopted 1
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January as the formal New Year. Nowadays, people celebrates Imlek New Year only as a
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Festival of Spring season to welcome the first day of Spring season. However, it does not mean that the tradition of celebrating Imlek New Year has gone at all.
Most of the Chinese still believe that the rules of tradition influence their life. According to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, Imlek New Year is
celebrated by Chinese in the first day of the first moon whereas in the official calendar, it is celebrated at the end of January it may come in the first of February.
According to the official lunar calendar, Imlek New Year does not take place in a certain date because in Chinese traditional calendar, there are twin
months in each three years. For example, if in 1990, there were double may then in the next three years, the same twin months will appear again.