So tomorrow is Chinese New Year otherwise known as Lunar New Year to those who are not Chinese but do celebrate it as well. These days it is also commonly known as the Spring Festival (春节/chun jie). It is considered one of the most important, or maybe even the most important date in the Chinese calendar, and there is basically 15 days of celebration (although these days only the 1st, 2nd and 15th days are technically celebrated).
When I was younger Chinese New Year was always a huge event with family reunions, going from house to house to visit relatives whom you didn’t even know existed, but these days we don’t really do that anymore. We only gather at one main house. Also this year is my first Chinese New Year back home for the past few years because I would always take up summer school, and it seems that we don’t make much of a fuss about it anymore.
Spring-cleaning
I’m not sure where or when the term spring-cleaning came about but before first day of the new year, there will always be a major cleaning-up for every household. Usually it is a few days process to make sure everything is spotless. This is also extremely important because we do not like to do any cleaning for at least the first few days of the new year because it is thought that we would be sweeping away all the luck from the new year. Oh by the way if you don’t know it already, let me just warn you that Chinese people are extremely superstitious.
Reunion Dinner
Traditionally every family will have a family reunion dinner on new years eve, and this will be a feast not just a meal. Even members who are overseas would try to make it back home for this. And coincidentally, my sister is flying back from the UK and will arrive tonight in time for dinner.
Ushering in the New Year
Traditionally also, there is a custom of staying up late to “unsher in the new year” called 守岁/shou sui. It’s believed that doing so is to ensure longevity of our parents.
Red Packets
Also known as 红包 hong bao or ang pao in Malaysia, red packets are basically little red envelopes with money in it and is given to children by married adults. It may be unbelievable that people will just give money away like that but it is irrelavent as to how much is in the packet, it is a symbol of celebration, well wishes and good fortune.
When receiving a hong bao, it is customary to receive with both hands and wish the giver well wishes.
Lion Dance and Dragon Dance
The lion dance is believed to ward off evil and bring luck, while the dragon dance expresses a wish for abundant rain fall for the year.
There are two types of lions for the lion dance: the nothern lions that are smaller, seem more gentle and playful, and always golden; and the southern lions that are bigger, more agile and aggressive, and come in many different colours.
Firecrackers
Until firecrackers were illegal, they were used to ‘ward off evil spirits’.
New Year Visits
Also known as 拜年/bai nian. We basically go from house to house, visiting our relatives and friends. We also bring along some gifts with us as it is rude to go empty handed, and the host will in turn give something back. Usually we will include a few mandarin oranges, which in Cantonese sounds like ‘gold’.
Symbolism of New Year Dishes
Dishes served during the reunion dinner will usually include ingredients which symbolise prosperity:
New Year Cake (年糕/nian gao) – increase in status every year
Sprig rolls – good harvest
Chinese cabbage – growth of all living things
Vermicelli – gold threads
Dumplings – shaped like gold ingots called Fortune God Dumplings
Bamboo shoots – growth in status and good business
Soybean sprouts – shaped like ruyi, a jade ornament that brings good luck
Fish (鱼/yu) – implies ‘nian nian you yu’ meaning there will be surplus every year
Origin of the New Year Cake
I have known nian gao to be the snack to eat during the new year celebration and even throughout the year. My favourite way to eat it is to combine a piece of nian gao and taro, dipped in a light batter and fried until crunchy, served warm. It’s sticky, chewy, and sweet.
It’s said that the nian gao originated in Suzhou during the Spring and Autumn period 770-47BC (Zhou Dynasty) in China. Suzhou was then the capital city of the Wu Kingdom, where its emperor He Lu was assisted by Wu Zixu in administration matters. There was extremely good weather one year which gave the people bountiful harvest for several seasons. Wu Zixu was assigned with the task of storing the harvest surplus. So he ordered that the excess grains to be steamed, mashed into paste, and compressed into bricks. Then the bricks are used to line the inside of the city walls and then covered with another layer of regular bricks. After emperor He Lu died, his son succeeded to the throne. He was power hungry and due to many slanderous rumours, forced Wu Zixu to commit suicide. During that time war caused the Wu Kingdom to fall into famine. That is when the people remembered the rice bricks stored within the walls of the city. To honour Wu Zixu who the people considered had saved their lives, rice bricks were baked and offered during the new year, which slowly evolved into the custom of eating the new year cake.
Origin of Jiao Zi Dumplings
Qing Taizu , the founder of the Qing Dynasty, was a tramp when he was in his early years. One new yeas eve, he ventured into an etremely quiet town. An old man who found him wandering the streets took him in and told him that there was a monsterous beast called ‘mahuzi’ eating people in th village. The people are afraid of going out and once their food source runs out, they will starve to death. Qing Taizu offered to brave the beast and slay it. He found the beast and killed it. The people of the village were extremely greatful and decided that since the beast gave them so much grief, they would mince its meat, wrap it in dough skin, and cook it. From then on, the people celebrated new year’s eve by making the little mince meat filled dough skin caclled jiao zi.
Yuan Xiao Festival
The 元宵节 Yuan Xiao Festival falls on the 15th day of new year which is the first night of a full moon. It is also known as a Lover’s Festival. On this day it is tradition to eat tang yuan, glutinous rice balls which symbolises completeness and happiness.
People also used to have a very interesting way of celebrating this day. There is a belief that on this day, if you throw a mandarin orange into your local river, the person who picks it up is your soulmate. I think the girls throw the mandarins and the guys pick them up. I think the government has banned it because there was just too many mandarins clogging up the rivers.
Origin of Yuan Xiao Festival
During the reign of emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty, Dongfang Shuo was strolling in the imperial garden one day. He stumbled upon a girl, Yuan Xiao, who was about to kill herself. He managed to convince her not to do so. She admitted to him that she was admitted into the palace and is not allowed out, therefore she was feeling extremely homesick. She begged him to think of a way to solve her problem. He promised her and headed off to find here family. He cames up with a very elaborate plan which led to the emperor allowing the palace occupants to go out for a night. So Yuan Xiao managed to reunite with her family that night. The emperor was extremely pleased with the result of the night and agreed to make it an annual event.
I am actually not sure how true these stories are but they are rather interesting. Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
