It has been a marathon of festivities (and sales) in this country. First it was the Muslim Hari Raya and Hindu Deepavali in October, then it was Christmas in December and now it is the Chinese New Year!
Surprisingly, I often get asked if I celebrate Chinese New Year, as though being a Christian (or married to a Caucasion) makes me any less Chinese. However, this confusion can be explained by the simple fact that most other major festivals in this country are closely linked to religion. We can probably draw a parallel to the celebration of Christmas in the UK - CNY is more of a traditional celebration of ethnic Chinese all over the world, with a cultural rather than religious significance.
In fact, so much of the superstitious and religious practices of the festivities have been omitted in our own family that substantial research had to go into this blog!
Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year is based on the Lunar calendar. Celebrations start on the first day of the first month of the lunar year, and concludes on the 15th day, also called Lantern Festival or the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Yet, perhaps the most important day of the celebrations actually falls on the eve of the Chinese New Year:
The eve of CNY, also known as Chu xi, is marked by the all important Reunion Dinner. The meal is usually held in the home of the patriach, or the most senior member of the extended family. Although I have fond memories of CNY past where families of all 8 uncles and aunties used to gather under the roof of my paternal grandfather's house, we had a far more relaxing time in our small KL apartment with close family members.
Surprisingly, I often get asked if I celebrate Chinese New Year, as though being a Christian (or married to a Caucasion) makes me any less Chinese. However, this confusion can be explained by the simple fact that most other major festivals in this country are closely linked to religion. We can probably draw a parallel to the celebration of Christmas in the UK - CNY is more of a traditional celebration of ethnic Chinese all over the world, with a cultural rather than religious significance.
In fact, so much of the superstitious and religious practices of the festivities have been omitted in our own family that substantial research had to go into this blog!
Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year is based on the Lunar calendar. Celebrations start on the first day of the first month of the lunar year, and concludes on the 15th day, also called Lantern Festival or the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Yet, perhaps the most important day of the celebrations actually falls on the eve of the Chinese New Year:
The eve of CNY, also known as Chu xi, is marked by the all important Reunion Dinner. The meal is usually held in the home of the patriach, or the most senior member of the extended family. Although I have fond memories of CNY past where families of all 8 uncles and aunties used to gather under the roof of my paternal grandfather's house, we had a far more relaxing time in our small KL apartment with close family members.
Day 1 Buddhists typically abstain from meat on the first day of CNY. Most households will also welcome deities at the stroke of midnight, particularly the God of Prosperity. For our family however, it was church as usual. All the children were decked out in their CNY finery, Chinese or not!
Red packets, or ang pows, are distributed by married adults throughout the 15 day celebrations to children and unmarried adults. Although the original intention was to "suppress or put down the evil spirits" (a homonym), red packets containing money of various denominations are now given, well, just to keep the children happy!
Not to be left behind, Hannah could barely wait to collect her first angpow and decided to descend on her sleepy grandparents first thing on CNY morning. Hannah was later spotted comparing angpows with the children in church...
Day Two Traditionally, married women had little opportunity to visit their birth families. On this day however, married couples return to their wife's family homes to visit her parents.
Day Three and Four are considered inappropriate days to visit relatives for different reasons (more homonyms). Yet for our family, we took advantage of the public holidays and did more visiting. We managed to visit all the families with babies and made endless comparisons!
Day Five is Po Woo, where families traditionally stay at home to welcome the god of wealth. Businessmen often start work in this day accompanied by a display of firecrackers to symbolise a good start to the new year for their businesses.
Day Seven is considered a birthday for everyone, or the 'common man's birthday'. People often gather together for meals including 'Yu Sheng', best described as a tossed salad with many commercial variants.
Day Eight is a day of special significance for the Hokkiens, who may have another family reunion dinner (we didn't) and pray to the Tian Gong, the Jade Emperor (at the stroke of midnight of Day Nine).
And let's just fast forward to
Day Fifteen, called Chap Goh Mei in the Hokkien dialect. While some countries may celebrate it as a Lantern Festival, we have a rather unique practice of throwing fruits in the sea. More specifically, singles are encouraged to throw mandarin oranges into the sea in an attempt to find their lifetime partners (hence the alternate name ' Chinese Valentine's Day).
However, in practical terms, all children consider this the final day to reap in financial gains for the year, i.e. ang pows.
Day Fifteen, called Chap Goh Mei in the Hokkien dialect. While some countries may celebrate it as a Lantern Festival, we have a rather unique practice of throwing fruits in the sea. More specifically, singles are encouraged to throw mandarin oranges into the sea in an attempt to find their lifetime partners (hence the alternate name ' Chinese Valentine's Day).
However, in practical terms, all children consider this the final day to reap in financial gains for the year, i.e. ang pows.
There are endless superstitions related to Chinese New Year - avoiding sharp objects and not sweeping the floor on the first day, eating various food with homonyms for all things good and prosperous, opening every door and window at the stroke of midnight to usher in the god of wealth and the new year, expelling the old, etc.
If your curiosity has been piqued, you can find more information on these sites:
3 comments:
Is that a globe cafe t shirt? If it is then I believe you have been wearing it for 8 years!! NO more to be said.
The photos of Hannah are gorgeous.
Globe T shirt, indeed! Still one of my fave T shirts, but I must admit it is getting frayed around the edges. It is like an old friend and I won't dream of throwing it away.
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