The Star: January 12, 2017

12 Thursday January 12 2017
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The Star
Spring Festival,
the “Chinese Christmas”
With the Christmas season coming to an end, the Chinese
communities will soon celebrate another important festival
of their own, the Chinese New Year, also known the Spring
Festival. The significance of Spring Festival to them equals that
of Christmas to Westerners. It will be worthwhile to know a bit
about this “Chinese Christmas” as the celebrations draw close.
Spring Festival as the Chinese New Year is celebrated at the turn
of the lunar Chinese calendar. Celebrations run from the evening
preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of
the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the
new moon between 21 January and 20 February. In 2017, the first
day of the Chinese New Year is on 28 January.
earth, officially beginning at midnight. It is a traditional practice
to light fireworks to make as much of a din as possible to chase
off the evil spirits.
Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time to
honor one’s elders and families visit the oldest and most senior
members of their extended families, usually their parents,
grandparents and great-grandparents. Some families may invite
a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Chinese
New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises.
Gift Exchange
In addition to red envelopes, which are usually given from older
people to younger people, small gifts (usually food or sweets)
are also exchanged between friends or relatives (of different
households) during Chinese New Year. Gifts are usually brought
when visiting friends or relatives at their homes. Common gifts
include fruits, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, and candies. Certain
items should not be given, as they are considered taboo. Taboo
gifts include: items associated with funerals (i.e. handkerchiefs,
towels, chrysanthemums, items colored white and black);items
that show that time is running out (i.e. clocks and watches);sharp
objects that symbolize cutting a tie (i.e. scissors and knives);items
that symbolize that you want to walk away from a relationship
(i.e.: shoes and sandals);mirrors; homonyms for unpleasant topics
(i.e.: “pear” sounds like “separate”, and “umbrella” sounds like “fall
apart” in Chinese).
The Spring Festival is centuries old and traditionally the festival
is a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. It is also celebrated
in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations,
including Southeast Asia, North America, Australia and New
Zealand.
Mythology
According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese
New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian. Nian
would eat villagers, especially children. One year, all the villagers
decided to go hide from the beast. An old man appeared before
the villagers went into hiding and said that he would stay for the
night, and decided to get revenge on the Nian. All the villagers
thought he was insane. The old man put red papers up and set off
firecrackers. The day after, the villagers came back to their town
to see that nothing was destroyed. They assumed that the old man
was a deity who came to save them. The villagers then understood
that the Nian was afraid of the red color and loud noises. When
the New Year was about to come, the villagers would wear red
clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and
doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian.
From then on, Nian never came to the village again.
Customs and Traditions
With the Spring Festival coming,
it is traditional for every family
to thoroughly cleanse the house,
in order to sweep away any illfortune
and make way for good
incoming luck. Windows and
doors will be decorated with red
color paper-cuts and couplets
with popular themes of “good
fortune” or “happiness”, “wealth”,
and “longevity”.
The first day is for the welcoming
of the deities of the heavens and
Members of the family who are married also give red envelopes
containing cash known as Hongpau (Mandarin) or lai see
(Cantonese dialect), a form of blessings, to junior members of the
family, mostly children and teenagers. Business managers also
give bonuses through red packets to employees for good luck,
smooth-sailing, good health and wealth.
Family Reunion Dinner
Nian Ye Fan(Grand Dinner on New Year’s Eve) is held on New
Year’s Eve during which family members gather for celebration.
The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior
member of the family. Family members far away from home
will manage to come back, regardless of long-distance travel,
so the “Grand Dinner on New Year’s Eve” is also called “Family
Reunion Dinner”. Every family will make the dinner the most
sumptuous and ceremonious one in the year. Hostesses will fetch
out foodstuffs prepared in early time and all family members will
sit together and make dumplings in jollification. In most areas,
fish (yú) is included in the dinner, as the Chinese phrase “may
there be surpluses every year”(nián nián yǒu yú) sounds the same
as “let there be fish every year.”
Clothing
Clothing mainly featuring the color red or bright colors is
commonly worn throughout the
Chinese New Year because it was
once believed that red could scare
away evil spirits and bad fortune.
In addition, people typically wear
new clothes from head to toe to
symbolize a new beginning in the
new year.
Greetings
The Chinese New Year is often
accompanied by loud, enthusiastic
greetings of auspicious words or
phrases. Some of the most common greetings include guònián
Hǒo(happy new year), gōngxǒfācái (Congratulations and be
prosperous), and wànshìrúyì(May all your wishes be fulfilled).
Children and teenagers sometimes jokingly use the phrase
gōngxǒfācái hóngbāo nálái(congratulations and be prosperous,
now give me a red envelope).
Chinese Shengxiao
It is also worth mentioning that the coming Chinese lunar New
Year is the year of Rooster. It has something to do with the
Chinese animal zodiac, or shengxiao (“born resembling”) which
is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented
by an animal and its reputed attributes. Traditionally these zodiac
animals were used to date the years. In order, the 12 animals are:
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey,
Rooster, Dog and Pig.
The rooster being the sign of dawn and awakening, triumph
and success can only be achieved at the price of hard work and
patience. According to Chinese astrology, the Rooster years are
known to be filled with integrity and efficiency. This year is also
auspicious for marriage and relationships, and it is a good year for
singles to get married.
The City Council and the Chinese
communities will hold a series of
celebrations during the Spring
Festival season in Christchurch
every year, including the popular
Lanterns Show. We welcome you
to join the gala, and wish you all
have a merry “Chinese Christmas”
and a prosperous year of Rooster.
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