The Meaning of Various Fish
What fish should be chosen for the New Year feast is based on auspicious homophonics.
• Crucian carp: As the first character of ‘crucian carp' (鲫鱼 jìyú jee-yoo) sounds like the Chinese word 吉 (jí /jee/ ‘good luck'), eating crucian carp is considered to bring good luck for the next year.
• Chinese mud carp: The first part of the Chinese for “mud carp” (鲤鱼 lǐyú /lee-yoo/) is pronounced like the word for gifts (礼 lǐ /lee/). So Chinese people think eating mud carp during the Chinese New Year symbolizes wishing for good fortune.
• Catfish: The Chinese for “catfish” (鲶鱼 niányú /nyen-yoo/) sounds like 年余 (nián yú) meaning ‘year surplus'. So eating catfish is a wish for a surplus in the year.
• Eating two fish, one on New Year's Eve and one on New Year's Day, (if written in a certain way) sounds like a wish for a surplus year-after-year.
• If only one catfish is eaten, eating the upper part of the fish on New Year's Eve and the remainder on the first day of the new year can be spoken with the same homophonic meaning.