The Star: January 11, 2018

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10 Thursday January 11 2018 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi 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 16th February to 2nd March. In 2018, the first day of the Chinese New Year is on 16th February. 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 ill-fortune 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 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. Members of the family who are married also give red envelopes containing cash known as Hongbao (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.” 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 This advertorial page is supported by The Chinese Consulate (i.e.: shoes and sandals);mirrors; homonyms for unpleasant topics (i.e.: “pear” sounds like “separate”, and “umbrella” sounds like “fall apart” in Chinese). 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 dog. 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. Dog is man’s good friend who can understand the human’s spirit and obey its master whether he is wealthy or not, so the year of the Dog is one of understanding, faith and devotion. The Chinese regard the dog as an auspicious animal. If a dog happens to come to a house, usually the host will be very glad to adopt it for it symbolizes the coming of fortune. The invincible God Erlang in Chinese legend used a loyal wolfhound to help him capture monsters. 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 dog.
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday January 11 2018 11 News GOOD TIMES THIS SUMMER Historic homestead rises again WORK WILL start this month on rebuilding the historic Risingholme homestead in Opawa. The 153-year-old building, which was home to a community centre in Cholmondeley Ave, was damaged in the September 4, 2010, and February 22, 2011, earthquakes, forcing it to close. Risingholme then sustained further damage in an arson attack in June, 2016. The fire came a year after community centre staff told Star Media they were concerned the building was a “sitting duck” for vandals and feared it would be burnt to the ground. When the arson attack happened, the city council was preparing to seek tenders for the building’s repair. The fire ripped through the roof and top storey of the heritage-listed building and caused so much damage part of the upstairs had to be deconstructed. The building was wrapped to protect it and prevent further damage from occurring while engineers and heritage experts worked to develop a plan for restoring it. HISTORIC: Risingholme Community Centre before it was hit by an arson attack in 2016. (Above right) – The building was covered in plastic wrap to prevent further damage. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN “Right from the start, the goal has been to get Risingholme back to the way it was but we’ve had to work through a number of issues, including the fire, and obtain building and resource consents before work on-site could begin,’’ city council heritage rebuild programme manager Richie Moyle said. “Those consents have all now Richie Moyle been obtained and the contractors, Cook Brothers, are ready to begin work later this month. They’re going to be rebuilding the top storey and strengthening and repairing the remainder of the building to bring it up to 67 per cent of the New Building Standard.” Mr Moyle said as much of the heritage fabric of the original building as possible •The Risingholme Community Centre was originally built in 1864 as a private residence by William and Mary Reeves, the parents of noted politician William Pember Reeves. •After the death of Mr Reeves in 1891, the house had several private owners until 1943 when it was bought by philanthropist Sir John McKenzie, who gifted it to the city council for the “health, amusement and instruction of the public.’’ would be reinstated.“The project is probably going to take most of the year to complete but when it is done Risingholme will be back to its former glory.’’ The Risingholme hall and craft workshops, which date back to the 1940s and 1950s, are also going to be refurbished and strengthened. Work on those buildings is expected to start next month and take about nine months. Orangutans feast on Botanic Gardens PRUNED FOLIAGE from the Botanic Gardens is being fed to orangutans at Orana Wildlife Park to liven up their diet. Two loads of foliage from the gardens that would otherwise have been dumped as green waste have already been delivered to Orana at McLeans Island. It included a goody bag of mulberry, roses, day lilies, bamboo, elm, kawakawa, mahoe (whiteywood), and coprosma grandifolia dropped off for the apes in December. Fern fronds and banana palm leaves were provided for them to play with. The Great Ape Centre at Orana has three orangutans – Charlie, 37, and two females Melur, 27, and Wanita, 39, who arrived in late November. They will live at the park for two years while Auckland Zoo builds its South-east Asian precinct. “For the orangutans . . . there isn’t as much tropical plant material here as there was in Auckland for them. Even if we can provide a few banana palm leaves, that provides some variety and enrichment benefits for them,’’ said operations manager gardens and heritage Nicky Brown. THE SOUTH ISLAND’S ONLY DEDICATED OUTLET CENTRE Over 50 stores | Free Parking We are Outlet Shopping With 50 stores, including new additions Cotton On Body, Under Armour and Keen. Make amazing savings on recognised high street brands all at outlet prices. Sign up to Smart Deals & be in the monthly draw for a $100 Dress-Smart gift card! HORNBY 409 Main South Road Open 10am-5pm, 7 Days www.dress-smart.co.nz
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The Star: January 11, 2018

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