Spring Festival) Nónglì Nián (Chūnjié) 农历年 (春节)

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New Year (Spring Festival) Nónglì Nián (Chūnjié) 农历年 (春节)

Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, show that more than 3,000 years ago the Chinese already is as important to the Chinese in China and had begun celebrating their harvests and offering sacri- around the world as Christmas is to the West. fices to their ancestors at the beginning of the new year. It has a legendary origin and a rich tradition A legend, however, tells a different story. Nian was a long- horned monster preying on humans every New Year’s of celebrations including ancestor worship, Eve. A god taught them to survive this attack by decorat- fireworks, feasting, shopping, gift-giving, ing their houses in red, keeping all their lights on, and and, most important, reuniting with family. burning bamboo to create loud crackling noises. Because Lasting fifteen days, the Spring Festival sea- “to survive Nian,” or guonian, sounds like “to celebrate the son ends with a Lantern Festival. year,” the festival tradition came into being. The traditional(pre- twentieth century) Chinese calendar followed the movement of the moon in determining the yearly cycles. Each month begins with the new he Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year moon on the first day, reaches its midpoint (or full moon) (Nongli Nian), is the most important seasonal on the fifteenth, and ends the month with the descending festival in China. It marks the end of the old year moon on the twenty-ninth or thirtieth day. This yearly and the beginning of the new. Unlike the Western New cycle contains twelve months, numerically named (the Year, the Lunar New Year is not fixed to a particular date first month, the second month, and so forth), each hav- but instead is determined by the phase of the moon. The ing between twenty-eight and thirty days, for a total of new year traditionally begins on the first new moon of 354 days. In general, traditional Chinese used this lunar the first lunar month of the year, usually in late January calendar (yinli) as the reference point to record or plan or early February. The festival, however, extends from the personal events, such as a birth date, wedding, and funeral sixteenth day of the twelfth month to the fifteen day of the (in feng shui calculations) and seasonal festivals. Follow- first month. It is the longest festival in China’s calendar of ing this system, the Lunar New Year’s Eve falls on the festivals and affects every aspect of life. evening of the thirtieth day of the twelfth month.

An Ancient Celebration Calendar Reckoning The Chinese character for the word nian (year) sheds In spite of its importance in predicting the rhythm of some light on the festival’s origins. Its oracle-bone glyph the moon, especially the appearance of the full moon, indicates a person carrying a bundle of grain. Records the lunar calendar is incompatible with the rotation of 1602 www.berkshirepublishing.com © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC T New Year (Spring Festival) n Nónglì Nián (Chūnjié) n 农历年 (春节) 1603

For overseas Chinese the Lion and Dragon Dance, as well as an especially festive marketplace boast- ing stalls devoted to food, cultural exhibits, and calligraphy, is a much- anticipated New Year’s event in Chinatowns worldwide. Photo by Paul and Bernice Noll.

the sun, which dictates that the yearly cycle should be to indicate major seasonal changes and the time for proper 365.24 days. To accommodate the discrepancy between agricultural activities. the sun and the moon in determining the length of the The Nationalist Revolution in 1911–1912 and the Com- yearly cycle, a solar calculation system was inserted in munist Revolution in 1949 not only brought about funda- ancient China around 104 bce. This solar calendar divides mental changes in political institutions but also removed the yearly cycle into twenty-four solar “nodes” (jie 节 or the lunar calendar as the official reckoning system of the jieqi 节气) spaced approximately fifteen or sixteen days year in an attempt to “modernize” China. The Gregorian apart to reach the total of 365 days. The primary nodes are calendar was adopted as the official calendar, and New the spring equinox 春分, summer solstice 夏至, autumn Year’s Day was moved to 1 January of each year. At the equinox 秋分, and winter solstice 冬至. same time, the Lunar New Year was renamed the Spring The juxtaposition of these two calendar systems, how- Festival. ever, puts the Chinese New Year, which is based on the The adoption of the Gregorian calendar, however, has period between successive new moons, at odds with the not dampened popular enthusiasm for the Lunar New solar calendar of the year. Throughout much of Chinese Year, nor has it resolved the difficulty in timing the -ex dynastic history, from the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 bce) act day of the holiday. Even today the date of the Spring to the early twentieth century, the reconciliation of the Festival still fluctuates between 21 January and 20 Feb- two incompatible reckoning systems had become one of ruary and is determined year by year. To accommodate the major official responsibilities through the issuing of the time needed for celebrating the Spring Festival— the imperial calendar (huangli) by the court each year. invariably called Spring Vacation in China, Hong Kong, The imperial calendar uses the lunar cycle to calculate and Taiwan—all yearly plans of major activities, both major annual events but affixes the solar nodes alongside public and private, must be individually shaped.

These houses in southern China are decorated for the New Year. Small paintings and calligraphy honor the Kitchen God and other auspicious guardians who will keep the evil spirits away from the door. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen.

A Family Celebration The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month (somewhere between late January and early February) Weeks before New Year’s Day, the Chinese go on a shop- marks the second major ritual that involves individual ping spree as Westerners do before Christmas. They shop families. This is the day when each family sends its resi- for food, presents, decorations, and clothing. Presents dential kitchen god back to heaven to report to the Jade vary in different regions. Southerners prefer flowers while Emperor, the ruler of heaven. It is customary for each northerners like pastry and wines. Today, more and more family to prepare sweet foods, like tanggua (a kind of Chinese emphasize the significance of gifts regardless of malt-sugar candy) or foods made from glutinous rice as its monetary values. sacrifices to the kitchen god. The belief is that with his Businesses large and small celebrate this festival sea- mouth full of sticky and sweet rice, the kitchen god can son with a year-end banquet, generally around mid- to mumble only a few sweet words when he makes the yearly late January. Bonuses of cash in red envelopes are given to report about the family to the Jade Emperor. employees so that they can travel home for the holiday. In On New Year’s Eve, all family members gather for the China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the year-end evening meal. By lighting incense before the meal, the banquet also signals the beginning of the Lunar New Year head of the family symbolically invites the departed an- holiday season. Most businesses close or curtail opera- cestors and deities to join the occasion. The food served at tions throughout the holiday season. the evening meal varies from region to region. Generally,

northerners eat jiaozi (dumplings) as the entree while After the meal, children pay respects to their par- southerners eat niangao (rice cakes), both supplemented ents by bowing (in China) or kowtowing (in Taiwan and with plenty of meat and vegetable dishes. There are sev- Hong Kong) to them. In return parents give their children eral explanations for the significance ofjiaozi. One is that money in red envelopes. At midnight children and their the first character of the wordjiao 饺 is homophonic with parents light fireworks, as Americans do on the evening 交, which means “intersect,” and the second character of Independence Day, but they all do it at the same time zi 子 means zishi or “the time of zi,” which refers to the and in a much larger scale, so much so that the entire sky three hours across the midnight. Jiaozi 交子 thus means is lit up. Families stay awake through the night, leaving the time that connects the past and the new year and on all the lights in the house, a tradition known as shousui jiaozi 饺子 becomes the food for New Year celebration. (watching the year in). The word niangao is a pun for “life improved year after Worshipping ancestors is the first ritual on the morn- year.” Almost all Chinese eat fish 鱼 as part of the feast ing of New Year’s Day. Traditionally, the Chinese then because it is homonymous with the Chinese word for put on new clothes and visit their kin, friends, and neigh- “abundance” 余; the character is a combination of cloth- bors. In the past people wandered out to greet anyone ing and food. who crossed their path, but today text-message greetings

Children look at a lantern display during the climax of the New Year’s celebrations, the Lantern Festival. The evening will bring a fabulous display of lanterns of all sizes, shapes, and materials. Especially catchy are those in the shapes of real and imaginary animals and popular figures appearing in Chinese classics and legends. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen.

have increasingly replaced physical visits. In traditional This day is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Yu- neighborhoods people attend public dragon dancing per- anxiao Festival (yuanxiao means “the night of the firstyuan, ” formances put on by teams of young men who practice one of three divisions in the year in ancient China). There martial arts and dancing throughout the year to prepare are several legends about its otherwise unknown origins. It for the festivities. is believed that a god told humans to light their communi- The celebrations generally last three to five days while ties with lanterns to cheat the Emperor of Heaven, who was businesses are closed. On the fifth day, businesses start to about to destroy them by the fire of his wrath. Others argue operate after a ceremony of welcoming the god of wealth, that because deng (lantern) is close to the word ding (popu- and people begin to go back to work and their routines. lation), lantern display is a way of wishing for fertility. Many taboos enforced during the first few days of the The traditional food of the Lantern Festival, originally New Year season are lifted. For instance, people can dump called fuyuanzi (floating balls), later adopted the name their trash without fear of casting out their family fortune of yuanxiao in the north and tangyuan (soup balls) in the in the process. The fifth day, known powuas (breaking out south. Shaped like meatballs of different sizes, yuanxiao of the fifth), is thus celebrated with the eating of jiaozi. is made of glutinous rice with a candied or meaty stuffing Despite this winding down of celebration, the New Year and served with the soup in which it is boiled. Its round season lingers till the fifteenth day of the month when it shape resembles the full moon that appears that night and reaches its climax. symbolizes family unity and harmony.

Lucky red New Year’s envelopes, filled with money. Employers give their employees red envelopes containing a New Year’s cash bonus, and children receive red envelopes with money from their parents in return for bowing and paying respects to their elders.

Passersby look at lanterns for sale during the Lan- tern Festival, the origins of which are the stuff of Chinese legend. One ver- sion has it that a god told humans to light their com- munities with lanterns to cheat the Emperor of Heaven, who was about to destroy them with the fire of his wrath. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen.

People pour into the streets to celebrate. During the A Worldwide Party day people are entertained by shehuo, shows put on mostly by amateurs. The performances include various kinds of Though a festival of the Han Chinese, the Spring Festival folk dances, such as the dragon dance, lion dance, yangge is also celebrated by twenty-nine of the fifty-five ethnic dance (rural folk dance), hanchuan (folk dance with minorities in China. As a result of cultural diffusion, it model boat, donkey, and other props), gaoqiao (stilts), is also part of traditions in Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and a variety of drum dances. The evening is brightly lit Singapore, and Vietnam. Chinese immigrants have also by a fabulous display of lanterns of all sizes, shapes, and brought Spring Festival celebrations to their adoptive materials. Especially catchy among the lanterns are those countries throughout the world. in the shapes of assorted real and imaginary animals and HUANG Shu-min and Haiwang YUAN popular figures appearing in Chinese classics and legends. Clusters of lanterns can be stacked in the shape of a large tortoise, known as aoshan, and can be built into a gate tower called xiulou. Lanterns are everywhere: hung in the Further Reading air, placed on the ground, and floating on the water. The Bodde, D. (1975). Festivals in classical China: New Year night concludes with a magnificent display of fireworks. and other annual observances during the Han Dynasty, Like the other traditions of the Chinese New Year, 206 bce – 220 ce. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. those of the Lantern Festival also vary from place to place. Eberhard, W. (1958). Chinese festivals. New York: Abelard- People on the Pescadores archipelago of Taiwan, for in- Schuman. stance, observe the custom of qigui (begging for turtles) Lim, J. (2004). Zhongguo xin nian xi shu (Popular tradi- in addition to the display of lanterns. Temples exhibit tions and customs of Chinese New Year). London: turtle-shaped lucky symbols made of all kinds of rice and Cypress Book Co. allow worshipers to take them home. Dubbed pingangui Yuan, Haiwang. (2006). The magic lotus lantern and other (turtle of peace and security), a rice turtle taken home is tales from the Han Chinese. World Folklore Series. believed to bring good luck to the family that houses it. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.