Compiled by Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, evening class 8 to 9, Monday to Friday
It is China’s most important traditional festival. It is
also the most important celebration for families, and a week of official public
holiday.
Chinese New Year 2016 is on Monday 8 February. The date of Chinese New Year
is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, not the Gregorian
calendar, but is always somewhere in the period from January 21 to February 20.
Chinese New Year — Joint Longest Public Holiday in China
Lion Dance
What
are the Chinese new year animals? The
Chinese lunar calendar is associated with the Chinese zodiac, which has 12
animal signs: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey,
Rooster, dog, and pig. Each animal represents a year in a 12-year cycle,
beginning on Chinese New Year's Day. 2015 is a year of the goat. 2016 is a year of the Monkey according to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle. Other Monkey
years include: …1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004… If you were born then
you’re a Monkey. Each Chinese zodiac year begins on Chinese New Year's Day. Monkey
years are believed to be the most unlucky for people born in a year of the
Monkey.In 2016, most Chinese will be off
work 7 days from Sunday, February 7 (New Year's Eve) to Saturday, February
13 (Chinese New Year day 6). China Highlights’ office will be closed during
this period, and we will be back at work on Sunday, February 14, (The other
7-day public holiday is National Day holiday.)
Why
Do People Celebrate Chinese New Year? Although
there are many interesting legends and stories explaining the
start of the Chinese New Year festival, the main two reasons for the festival
are: To celebrate a year of hard work, have a good rest, and relax with family and
to wish for a lucky and prosperous coming year Chinese people believe that a good
start to the year will lead to a lucky year. Chinese traditionally celebrated
the start of a new year of farm work, and wished for a good harvest (when most
were farmers). This has now evolved to celebrating the start of a new business
year and wishing for profits and success in various vocations.
How
Do the Chinese Celebrate the Festival
The main traditional celebrations of
the festival include eating reunion dinner with family, giving red envelopes,
firecrackers, new clothes, and decorations. More modern celebrations include
watching the CCTV Gala, instant message greetings, and cyber money gifts.
A
Festival for Family – Chinese get together and enjoy family time. Chinese New Year's Reunion Dinner. Chinese New Year is a
time for families to be together. Wherever they are, people come home to
celebrate the festival with their families. The New Year's Eve dinner is called
"reunion dinner", and is believed to be the most important
meal of the year. Big families of several generations sit around round tables
and enjoy the food and time together.
Decorating
Buildings, Houses, and Streets with Lucky Red Items
Every street, building, and house
where CNY is celebrated is decorated with red. Red is the main color for the
festival, as it is believed to be an auspicious color. Red lanterns hang in
streets; red couplets are pasted on doors; banks and official buildings are
decorated with red New Year pictures depicting images of prosperity. Most of the decoration is
traditionally done on Chinese New Year’s Eve.As 2016 is the year of monkey, decorations
related to monkeys will be commonly seen. There are red monkey dolls for
children and New Year paintings with monkeys on.
Many cultural activities are arranged during the festival. Rural areas and small
towns retain more traditional celebrations than the cities, such as setting off
firecrackers, ancestor worship, and dragon dances. Setting off fireworks is
common during the Spring Festival season all over China.
At temple fairs in many Chinese cities traditional performances can be
seen: dragon dances, lion dances, and imperial performances like an emperor's
wedding. A great variety of traditional Chinese products are on offer there,
and strange Chinese snacks, rarely seen the rest of the year. Beijing's temple fairs are held in parks from the
first day of the lunar year to the Lantern Festival.In North China people perform
various versions of the Rice Sprout Song, a traditional Chinese dance
performed by a group of colorfully-dressed women and men.
Giving
Red Envelopes to Pass On Best Wishes Giving
red envelops or Hongbao is a custom at Chinese New Year Like Christmas in the West, people exchange
gifts during the Spring Festival. The most common gifts are red envelopes. Red
envelopes have money in, and are given to children and (retired) seniors. It is
not a customs to give red envelopes to (working) adults, except by employers. Red
envelopes are used in the hope of giving good luck (as well as money) to the
receivers.
Eating
Lucky Foods for Increased Luck in the Year Ahead Certain foods are eaten during the festival (especially at
the New Year’s Eve dinner) because of their symbolic meanings, based on their
names or appearances. Fish is a must for Chinese New Year as the Chinese
word for fish sounds like the word for surplus. Eating fish is believed to
bring a surplus of money and good luck in the coming year. Other Chinese New Year foods include dumplings, spring rolls,
glutinous rice cakes, and sweet rice balls.
Setting
off Firecrackers — "Goodbye Old Year; Welcome New Year!" It has long been a Chinese tradition to set off firecrackers
when the New Year clock strikes. The tradition is to set off one string
of small firecrackers first, followed by three big firecrackers, which
symbolize "sounding out" the old year and "sounding in" the
new year. The louder the three firecrackers, the better and luckier it’s
believed it will be for business and farming in the coming year.
Praying
in a Temple to Receive a Year-Long Blessing Praying
in a temple during Chinese New Year is said to be a particularly blessed
activity, and will lead to a smooth coming year. In Shanghai, China's biggest
city, thousands flock to Longhua Temple, the city's biggest temple, to
pray for good fortune.
Things
You Must/Mustn’t Do to Avoid a Year of Bad Luck As Chinese people believe that the year’s start affects the
whole year, are many superstitions and taboos for the Spring Festival season. These
taboos usually apply up to a month before the festival and continue to the
end of the festival (day 15, the Lantern Festival).
- Some Chinese people believe that they mustn't do cleaning or wash their hair in the first three days as that will sweep/wash away good luck.
- A cry of a child is believed to bring bad luck to the family, so the young are placated fastidiously.
- No begging: To ask for a loan is a big "no-no".
- Another interesting thing is the red underwear…
You will see red underwear sold at
supermarkets and street markets. Red is believed to ward off bad luck and
misfortune. For people born in a year of the Monkey, red underwear is a must
for 2016!
Chinese
New Year Now — Modern CNY Activities Chinese New Year celebrations and activities are changing. A
change in attitude to the festival has occurred especially among China’s
younger generation. Most young people prefer surfing the Internet, playing with
smart phones, and sleepovers or spending time with friends to celebrating with
their extended families. Greeting
Each Other on Devices Sending cell phone messages had become the main way to greet people on Chinese New
Year's Eve this decade. In the past people sent New Year cards or called each
other to express their good wishes during the Spring Festival.
Now more people use instant messages on WeChat (the most
popular social media app in China, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in the
West) to greet their friends. App-sent/received "red envelopes"
appeared in 2015, and they soon become the most popular New Year activity among
the young. Many young people spend most of their 2015 New Year holiday time
exchanging cyber money via red envelope apps for fun.
Tough
Time for "Old" Singles — Solution: Fake Boy/Girlfriend Rental! Chinese new year is a tough time for "old" singles Chinese
New Year is a joyful time for most, but for singles above the normal
matrimonial age it is not so. Parents and relatives think they should be
settled down. In China, females are said to be marriageable up to 30, and males
before 32. Those who don't get married before these ages are thought to be the
dregs of society!
For these singles, parents are
extremely anxious. So New Year's Eve stress is heighted by embarrassing
interrogations of the singles. Desperate parents even arrange dating
(prospective marriages) for their single children.
To solve this problem an
interesting, and often ridiculous, solution has appeared — renting a
boyfriend or girlfriend for the New Year. There are websites and agents
specialized in this business. Taobao, China's largest online retailer, has a
section for fake boyfriend and girlfriend rentals. The price is about 100 yuan
(16 USD) a day.
100s
of Millions on the Move — CNY Traffic Chaos The
Chinese New Year period is a good time to visit China if you are interested in
traditional Chinese culture. But you should be prepared for travel chaos and
transport stress around China.
It seems the whole nation is on the
move during the festival. The festival is the busiest travel season in the
world, when trains and buses are fully packed. Even flight tickets can be
hard to get. Chinese people do whatever they can to go home to see their
families: from buying a ticket from scalpers at several times the price, to
queuing for three days, to fighting for a ticket, to standing for more than 20
hours in an over-packed train, or riding a bus with 20 extra passengers on
stools down the aisle for 12 hours or more. China's migrant workers are
the main force during this migration. They carry large and heavy bags full of
their worldly possessions and gifts, traveling generally from China's richer
east coast back to their hometowns. ~
No comments:
Post a Comment