This last week I have been cleaning and scrubbing the house as I have finally found a new-found interest in my culture. As a Chinese girl born and raised in America my upbringing was mostly, well, American. I've learned and experienced bits and pieces of my heritage throughout the years but not until recently have I truly had a curiosity and desire to learn more.
I remember in elementary school being teased about my nationality. This immediately made me feel different. I felt I stood out like a sore thumb in a mostly white school. Mind you these kind of incidences happened very rarely throughout my life but I allowed them to affect the way I thought about myself. Today I am happy to say that I am comfortable in my own skin and proud to be who and what I am! And I am glad these occurrences happened as they allow me to empathize with those who have been made to feel different and today I can emphasize to them how truly special and beautiful they really are. Being a Chinese-American alcoholic woman in recovery really helps to guide me to this appreciation of acceptance and gratitude of worthiness.
Chinese New Year 2014 is just around the corner, January 31st, and as you already know is celebrated all around the world. I have discovered many interesting and fun facts that I would like to share with you...
Chinese New Year is the most important and, at 15 days, the longest holiday in China. Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the lunar calendar, so it is also called Lunar New Year, and it is considered the beginning of spring, so it is also called Spring Festival. After ringing in the New Year on New Year's Eve, revelers spend the first day of the Chinese New Year doing a variety of activities.
Wear New Clothes:
Every member of the family starts the New Year off right with new clothes. From head to toe, all clothes and accessories worn on New Year’s Day should be brand new. Some families still wear traditional Chinese clothing like qipao but many families now wear regular, Western-style clothing like dresses, skirts, pants and shirts on Chinese New Year’s Day. Many opt to wear lucky red underwear. ...can't wait to wear my lucky red underwear! Graeme might like, too!
Worship Ancestors:
The first stop of the day is the temple to worship ancestors and welcome the New Year. Families bring offerings of food such has fruit, dates, and candied peanuts and burn sticks of incense and stacks of paper money. ...this will be the first year I shall be doing this on my own and am as excited as hell to have all my ancestors laughing their heads off when they witness my attempt to worship them.
Give Red Envelopes:
Family and friends distribute 紅包, (hóngbāo, red envelopes) filled with money. Married couples give red envelopes to unmarried adults and kids. Children especially look forward to receiving red envelopes which are given in lieu of gifts. ...as a kid I loved receiving lai see (lucky money in red paper) that we were required to spend on something fun! I'm married now so I get to give out lucky money. How fun!
Play Mahjong:
Mahjong (麻將, má jiàng) is a fast-paced, four-player game played throughout the year but particularly during Chinese New Year. Learn all about mahjong and how to play. ...I remember the "old" ladies playing mahjong when I was young. I loved hearing the sound of the ivory tiles being "shuffled". Mahjong is like gin rummy played with small tiles instead of playing cards. Shall wear my mahjong earrings with my red panties on New Year's Day!
Launch Fireworks:
Starting at midnight New Year’s Eve and continuing throughout the day, fireworks of all shapes and sizes are lit and launched. The tradition began with the legend of Nian, a ferocious monster that was afraid of red and loud noises. It is believed the noisy fireworks scared the monster. Now, it is believed the more fireworks and noise there are, the more luck there will be in the New Year. ...I saved a few fireworks from traditional New Years that I shall light and scare away Nian, the pigs, cows, mongoose, turkey and cats that live in the neighborhood.
Avoid Taboos:
There many superstitions surrounding Chinese New Year. The following activities are avoided by most Chinese on Chinese New Year’s Day:
Breaking dishes = bring bad luck
Getting rid of trash = sweeping away good fortune
Scolding children = signs of bad luck
Crying = signs of bad luck
Saying inauspicious words = signs of bad luck
Sweeping the floor = bring bad luck
Washing hair = bring bad luck
Chinese New Year may be a time for friends, family and fun, but is also a time for foreboding as the festival is riddled with superstitions.
1. Dirty Doings
Put your feet up and relax. Certainly the most enjoyable of the Chinese New Year superstitions, sweeping and cleaning is strictly forbidden. The Chinese believe cleaning means you'll sweep all of your good luck out the front door. ...lovely to know that cleaning is forbidden. How cool is that?
2. Time to Come Clean
Before you can enjoy number two, you need to give the house a full spring clean, before putting cleaning tools in the cupboard on New Year's Eve. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that the newly arrived good luck cannot be swept away. ...this is where I came in...cleaning like a crazy person. Keep it clean throughout the year, Dee, and not a big deal next year. Yeah, right.
3. Read Between the Lines
Be sure to stock up on reading materials before Chinese New Year, as Hong Kong's bookshops will be padlocked tight. In Cantonese, book is a homonym for 'lose'. ...love these word "games" as I am a stickler for anything words. Put some culture and superstition in there and I'm in heaven!
4. Choppy Waters
Make sure you avoid rough seas in the new year by not buying shoes over the holiday period. In Cantonese, shoes are a homonym for 'rough'. ...shall wear my old slippahs.
5. Balance the Books
If you're in debt, it's time to dip into your pockets and pay people off. The Chinese believe that if you start the new year in the red, you'll finish it the same way. ...okay, Mom, you're getting paid!
6. Ghostly Conversations
Caught round a campfire over the holiday period? No ghost stories. Tales of death, dying and ghosts is considered supremely inauspicious, especially during Chinese New Year. ...as a lover of guts and gore, I shall have to work hard on this one. My sick sense of humor pops up constantly.
7. Lady in Red
Chinese New Year is packed with colors, and while all the colors of the rainbow bring good luck, it's the color red that is considered the ultimate luck bringer. ...tie-dye t-shirt, red panties, and mahjong earrings. Run, Graeme!
8. Sweet Year
Hong Kongers have a sweet touch at the best of times, but Chinese New Year offers the perfect chance to raid the sweet shop, as eating candies is said to deliver a sweeter year. ...just as well See's Candies not on this island.
9. Feel the Breeze
Welcome in the New Year with a blast of fresh air, opening your windows is said to let in good luck. ...no better place to have doors and windows open in January than Hawaii.
10. Get to the Point
Sharp objects are said to be harbingers of bad luck, as their sharp points cut out your good luck, pack them away. You should also avoid the hairdressers or you'll have your good luck chopped off. ...so cut your nails and hair, prep your food, shave your pits all before the New Year.
Purchasing new clothing and shoes also symbolize a new start. Any hair cuts need to be completed before the New Year, as cutting hair on New Year is considered bad luck due to the homonymic nature of the word "hair" (fa) and the word for "prosperity".
Given the importance of food in Chinese culture, it is not surprising that food plays a major role in Chinese New Year celebrations. "Lucky" foods are served through the two week Chinese New Year celebration, also called the Spring festival.
Symbolic Chinese Foods
What gives a certain food symbolic significance? Sometimes it is based on appearance. For example, serving a whole chicken during the Chinese New Year season symbolizes family togetherness. Noodles represent a long life; an old superstition says that it's bad luck to cut them. Both clams and Spring Rolls symbolize wealth; clams because of their resemblance to bouillon, and Spring Rolls because their shape is similar to gold bars. ...Auntie says whole chicken means whole chicken, feet, head and beak included. Need to open beak during prayer to ancestors so they can eat too and show that they've eaten. All righty, then.
On the other hand, a food may have special significance during Chinese New Year because of the way the Chinese word for it sounds. For example, the Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like rising fortune, so it is very common to serve a lettuce wrap filled with other lucky food. Tangerines and oranges are passed out freely during Chinese New Year as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively. And let's not forget pomelos. This large ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word for "to have." ...When visiting we always brought tangerines and oranges, preferably leaves attached, in a brown paper bag to give to our hosts...and vice versa. Also placed lai see in the bag for additional good luck.
Fish also play a large role in festive celebrations. The word for fish, "Yu," sounds like the words both for wish and abundance. As a result, on New Year's Eve it is customary to serve a fish at the end of the evening meal, symbolizing a wish for abundance in the coming year. For added symbolism, the fish is served whole, with head and tail attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year. ...lots of good fresh yu in Hawaii!
And what about the sweet, steamed cakes that are so popular during the Chinese New Year season? Cakes such as Sticky Rice Cake have symbolic significance on many levels. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich, sweet life, while the layers symbolize rising abundance for the coming year. Finally, the round shape signifies family reunion. ...Shall have to find a recipe for Sticky Rice Cake. So much to remember to end this year and start the New year off properly.
I am so stoked to be doing all this and learning so much. Last year was awesome and I didn't do any of the above. If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Nah...I am so looking forward to what this new year has in store for me, and I'm going out with a bang, and coming in gangbusters!
Gung Hay Fat Choy to you all! Have a mighty fine day...Aloha, Dee
P.S. For those interested in Chinese New Year gifts, I have enclosed some beautiful lai see papers in glass on which I have attached beads. Check them out on my website at www.DeesignsByHarris.com. Mahalo!
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