Happy Chinese New Year, also known as “spring festival” because it marks the end of the winter season, similar to the Western celebration of carnival. The new years celebration lasts for 15 days and the last day is celebrated with a lantern festival. Chinese new year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar. This is the biggest holiday in China, and families all gather together to celebrate the beginning of a new and prosperous year.
Chinese New Year is also celebrated by its neighboring countries and communities with large Chinese populations, such as Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere, like here in Boston.
This year is the year of the dragon! One source said that “A dragon is a legendary creature. All legendary stories about Chinese dragons are from the sky, which means heaven in China. The image of dragon is blurred, misty, mystic, occulted, noble and untouchable. For China, it is the symbol of power from heaven. The Chinese emperor was considered the son of heaven. An emperor has the authority to send command to Dragons. One Chinese story mentioned an emperor killed a dragon in his dream. After 581 AD, Chinese emperors began to wear imperial robes with dragon symbols. During the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), the dragon can be seen everywhere on the roofs, doors, pillars, bridges, utensils in the Forbidden City. The most powerful dragon is the five-clawed dragon. It appears only on the yellow imperial robe. Because of this, Dragon is one of most auspicious animals in China.” If you were born in ’52, ’64, ’76, ’88, or 2000, this is your year!
The fifteenth day of the new year is known as the Lantern Festival. Rice dumplings, a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, are eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns.
In Malaysia and Singapore, this day is celebrated by individuals seeking for a love partner, a different version of Valentine's Day. Normally, single women would write their contact number on mandarin oranges and throw it in a river or a lake while single men would collect them and eat the oranges. The taste is an indication of their possible love: sweet represents a good fate while sour represents a bad fate.
This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.
We here at Koo de Monde would like to wish Art Vietnam, Gallery EM, Green T House, Hiro Odaira, and Pham Huy Thong a happy and prosperous new year! Through writing this blog we have learned so much about their culture and for that, we thank them!
If you would like to know more about Chinese New Year visit: http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/2012.htm
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