2008 Woodie Awards
Year of the Rooster
Jessica Rasmussen
Issue date: 2/3/05 Section: TruLife
Xie Wei wears a silver charm around her neck, the center featuring a rat that spins as the necklace swings.
A sophomore international student from Shen Zhen, China, Xie was born in the Year of the Rat.
"For me, sometimes I even try to forget the new year," Xie said. "Don't want to think too much about the good things about staying at home, being with my family."
The first day of the Chinese New Year, which will mark the beginning of the Year of the Rooster, is Feb. 9. In terms of celebration, the Chinese new year is equivalent to the Christian observance of Christmas, Xie said. Families gather, devour a feast and pay respects to their ancestors. The celebration, which conforms to the lunar calendar, lasts about 15 days, with a lantern festival marking the end.
The legend of the new year
The word "Guonian," which means "celebration of the new year," literally can translate to "get over this beast," Xie said. The reason lies in the legend of the new year's origin.
According to the legend, a horrible monster tormented people on the evening that came to be new year's eve. To elude the beast, families locked themselves in their homes, ate a large meal and avoided sleep.
After dodging the monster for several years, the people relaxed their measures, but the monster attacked them again.
One family discovered that their wedding celebration, which featured traditional red garments and firecrackers, frightened the monster.
"So later, people think that 'OK, this beast is scared of red, bright, bright light and the sound of the fireworks,'" Xie said. "So they do lots of decoration, and they got some red paper and put red paper lanterns on the roof and play gongs and have fireworks and just try to get rid of the beast."
New year traditions
Today, Chinese families begin preparing for the new year about 10 days before the event. All members of a family spend the entire day cleaning Feb. 6 their home for the symbolic renewal.
Flower markets fill city districts as families decorate their homes with plants such as tangerine trees and blossoming flowers that symbolize wealth and honor, Xie said.
Good wishes, lanterns and couplets framed in red adorn homes and stores.
On the eve of the new year, families often make an offering to their ancestors. Many families have a shrine and ancestral tablet in their homes where they burn incense, offer food and wine and pay their respects, said Ding-hwa E. Hsieh, associate professor of philosophy and religion.
Hsieh, who is from Taiwan, said families also prepare an offering of new year's cake to their gods, specifically the kitchen or stove god.
"They believe that the god in the kitchen will keep the record of the family," she said. "In other words whatever you do, the god is watching you and recording it down."
After recording the goods and evils of a family, the god reports to the Heavenly Emperor, the highest deity, who will determine the family's fortune, Hsieh said. Therefore, the family makes an offering of cake, which, because of its sweetness, will result in positive words. According to other beliefs, the consistency of the cake will make the god's teeth stick together so his report is incoherent.
Shi Yingming, a graduate student from Nanjing, said although the old customs have a stronger presence in rural areas, many city families still adhere to new year's traditions. For instance, her family always eats fish for prosperity and yellow bean seed and bean cake to bring wealth and make everything proceed smoothly.
Her family hangs the Chinese character for "happiness" upside down in her home. Because the pronunciation for "upside down" is the same as that of "to arrive," the tradition results in the meaning "happiness will arrive," Shi said.
Similar practices are present throughout China, although the traditions vary from region to region. During the new year celebration, it generally is bad luck to say anything negative or to make any mistakes. Dropping chopsticks, however, brings happiness because the pronunciation of "dropped chopsticks" is the same as that for "happiness."
On the fifth day of the New Year, many people in Shi's region rise early to welcome the god of the treasury, she said. Whoever is the first to welcome the god is believed to receive the greatest riches in the new year. The greeting, which can begin as early as 5 a.m. and last until 7 a.m., consists of setting off firecrackers.
The celebration season concludes with the lantern festival on the eve of the first moon, the 15th day. This year colorful paper lanterns in the shape of a rooster will be prevalent throughout China, Shi said.
Dominated by red, which is symbolic of happiness and good luck, the new year is a time of intense color and creativity.
But above all, the Chinese new year is a celebration of family unity, Shi said.
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A sophomore international student from Shen Zhen, China, Xie was born in the Year of the Rat.
"For me, sometimes I even try to forget the new year," Xie said. "Don't want to think too much about the good things about staying at home, being with my family."
The first day of the Chinese New Year, which will mark the beginning of the Year of the Rooster, is Feb. 9. In terms of celebration, the Chinese new year is equivalent to the Christian observance of Christmas, Xie said. Families gather, devour a feast and pay respects to their ancestors. The celebration, which conforms to the lunar calendar, lasts about 15 days, with a lantern festival marking the end.
The word "Guonian," which means "celebration of the new year," literally can translate to "get over this beast," Xie said. The reason lies in the legend of the new year's origin.
According to the legend, a horrible monster tormented people on the evening that came to be new year's eve. To elude the beast, families locked themselves in their homes, ate a large meal and avoided sleep.
After dodging the monster for several years, the people relaxed their measures, but the monster attacked them again.
One family discovered that their wedding celebration, which featured traditional red garments and firecrackers, frightened the monster.
"So later, people think that 'OK, this beast is scared of red, bright, bright light and the sound of the fireworks,'" Xie said. "So they do lots of decoration, and they got some red paper and put red paper lanterns on the roof and play gongs and have fireworks and just try to get rid of the beast."
Today, Chinese families begin preparing for the new year about 10 days before the event. All members of a family spend the entire day cleaning Feb. 6 their home for the symbolic renewal.
Flower markets fill city districts as families decorate their homes with plants such as tangerine trees and blossoming flowers that symbolize wealth and honor, Xie said.
Good wishes, lanterns and couplets framed in red adorn homes and stores.
On the eve of the new year, families often make an offering to their ancestors. Many families have a shrine and ancestral tablet in their homes where they burn incense, offer food and wine and pay their respects, said Ding-hwa E. Hsieh, associate professor of philosophy and religion.
Hsieh, who is from Taiwan, said families also prepare an offering of new year's cake to their gods, specifically the kitchen or stove god.
"They believe that the god in the kitchen will keep the record of the family," she said. "In other words whatever you do, the god is watching you and recording it down."
After recording the goods and evils of a family, the god reports to the Heavenly Emperor, the highest deity, who will determine the family's fortune, Hsieh said. Therefore, the family makes an offering of cake, which, because of its sweetness, will result in positive words. According to other beliefs, the consistency of the cake will make the god's teeth stick together so his report is incoherent.
Shi Yingming, a graduate student from Nanjing, said although the old customs have a stronger presence in rural areas, many city families still adhere to new year's traditions. For instance, her family always eats fish for prosperity and yellow bean seed and bean cake to bring wealth and make everything proceed smoothly.
Her family hangs the Chinese character for "happiness" upside down in her home. Because the pronunciation for "upside down" is the same as that of "to arrive," the tradition results in the meaning "happiness will arrive," Shi said.
Similar practices are present throughout China, although the traditions vary from region to region. During the new year celebration, it generally is bad luck to say anything negative or to make any mistakes. Dropping chopsticks, however, brings happiness because the pronunciation of "dropped chopsticks" is the same as that for "happiness."
On the fifth day of the New Year, many people in Shi's region rise early to welcome the god of the treasury, she said. Whoever is the first to welcome the god is believed to receive the greatest riches in the new year. The greeting, which can begin as early as 5 a.m. and last until 7 a.m., consists of setting off firecrackers.
The celebration season concludes with the lantern festival on the eve of the first moon, the 15th day. This year colorful paper lanterns in the shape of a rooster will be prevalent throughout China, Shi said.
Dominated by red, which is symbolic of happiness and good luck, the new year is a time of intense color and creativity.
But above all, the Chinese new year is a celebration of family unity, Shi said.
