Recollections of Chinese New Year from my childhood Julius S. Chang ( 張時禹 ) Chinese culture, by various accounts, has over 6000 years of written history. Of course, not all of the earliest writings were readable by modern standard. Oral traditions however have been passed on from generations to generations through practices, not through writings. Within this rich cultural heritage, chief among them are the traditions and celebrations at Chinese New Year. Until about 100 years ago China was an agricultural society. While it has many unique inventions such as gunpowder, silk, movable type printing, compass etc. it nevertheless was deeply rooted in agricultural practices. As such it used the lunar calendar following the cycle of the moon. The mismatch with the western calendar was corrected ever so often with leap days (not always in February) and even leap month not always fixed either. There is however a well documented system for determining when to do the best corrections so that the important agricultural markers in each year fall at about the right times of the annual cultivating seasons, such as when to start plowing the field, when to plant and when to harvest. The lunar January 1 is the Chinese New Year. In 2015 this falls on February 19. In China and in Taiwan the Chinese New Year is officially designated as the Spring Festival to lessen the confusion with the world wide New Year. Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year and Spring Festival are all used interchangeably in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Historically, New Year Day was designated by the emperor s court decree and changed among the first days of lunar December, January and February. Starting about 1800 years ago it has been unchanged, the lunar January 1st of each year. Travel in ancient China has always been difficult, especially in the north-south directions due to the mountain ranges emanating from the Himalaya Mountains. As a result, New Year traditions from the north to the south and westward differ in details. What I remember from my childhood, and later readings and observations, can only represent my best understandings and recollections. I believe they represent some of the most common practices in central coastal regions and at least the essential elements in most regions. 1
After the Fall harvest and preparation for the long winter ahead, a farmer s attention turns to a period of rest and celebration. The most essential components of this are family reunion and renewal of friendships and relations. Actual New Year preparation usually starts after December 8 with the family winter porridge, a fancy stew of grain and other goodies which farmer families rarely can afford in normal time. Soon each family starts earnestly getting new clothing for all family members, cleaning the house and other properties, and preparing salted meats and preserved vegetables for the coming winter and, of course, the biggest celebration of the year. It is a time for getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. For merchants and moneylenders it is also the time to settle all debts and payments. Throughout the year, for various cultural reasons, it may not be proper to press for payments and debt owed. At this time, however, it is most proper to do so without embarrassment or hurting business or personal relationships. This clearly creates great difficulties for those on the receiving side. Various regions of China developed customary ways of avoiding meeting debt collectors such as attending all night long outdoor theater performances, hiding in the crowd and in the dark. In the cities, one often sees many people holding red lanterns scurrying from one location to another rushing to finding the debtors. At sunrise all such activities cease and the lucky debtors will have another year to dance around paying debt owed. In the last dynasty, Ching dynasty, before the modern times, at around December 23 all government offices will seal the Official Seals. In the old society, government offices will only close at New Year time. From this day to the middle of January an office can seal its Official Seal. All official business must be conducted and passed through each office with its own Seal on the official document. After the Official Seal of a local government has been sealed following a traditional ceremony, everyone can go home until the next year when the Official Seal will be unsealed. Unfortunately, this applies to all police and security officials. That is a time when the unruly and bandits will run unchecked. That is a period when much is depended on each individual. Many contemporary scholars consider this tradition as rather counterproductive to society. On January 15 a very elaborate ceremony will unwrap the Official Seal. The skill of the official doing the unwrapping ceremony will foretell how smoothly their office will operate in the coming year. All the preparations come to a head on the evening of December 30 (lunar calendar has no December 31). That is when the whole family led by the head of the family (male only) gather around the kitchen to thank the kitchen god for his protection (fire protection and other accidents). Many foods are offered to him, foods farmers normally can never afford to savor throughout the year. In most households, the kitchen god was a portrait printed on paper. After the traditional prayer and words of thank this portrait was taken down and grease and honey (or molasses) were smeared on his lips. This is to grease his mouth and sweeten his words so he will report the best for the family in front of the gods in heaven. Further, among his offerings there are many pastries made from sweet rice, a group of sticky rice cakes, to seal his mouth, so he will say less of the negative about the family. This will assure the best protection from the gods for the coming year. Finally his 2
portrait will be burned in the courtyard along with some paper horses and carriage to speed his journey to the heaven. After all this is when the children came alive because all the sweet offerings are divided among them both to reward them for good behavior and to bring god s blessings. Then the family feast begins! Chinese New Year s feast is US s Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one celebration. All the offerings to the kitchen gods cannot go to waste, so all will be gratefully consumed. All family members near and far will gather for this dinner. That is why one hears of the great traffic jams in China and Taiwan and the hundred millions of travelers in China. Everyone earning a living in far places will have to go home for this most important gathering of the family. After this big feast is the time all the children of China have been waiting for. It is time for the red package. All the elders will give their children and younger relatives a red envelope containing some money. The amount in each envelope, of course, depends on the givers wealth and their closeness to the younger person. In our family my grandparents gave red package to everyone even adult children (often significant amounts). Chinese children do not receive regular spending money. All the red packages will be their spending money for the year. Unfortunately, very few children knew how to manage sudden wealth and all the merchants and peddlers on the street are keenly aware of this. I remember that within a few days all my sudden wealth would disappear and I had to resort to some very low tricks even to sustain myself through the New Year celebration period of 15 days. I often reflected on the fact that my communications skills and persuasive power were honed in Chinese New Year. I had to work very hard to convince my younger sister why her money would be well spent doing things I would share with her. As far as this goes, Tom Sawyer is no match for me. As she was a careful young lady, I worked on all angles including those I am too ashamed to admit. She has been reminding me of that for the past 60 years. What fun to be young again! Another New Year s Eve tradition is a little family gaming on this happy and raucous gathering. With the newfound wealth, a little friendly gambling naturally follows. Especially it is true that for many families to watch the New Year or to Guard the Old is a must. This means to stay awake until the coming of the first light for the New Year. To while away the time, family gambling such as mahjong and dice and dominos or equivalents are traditional. Age is no limit. Young children are allowed to play. Often they join their elders, sharing the winning but not the loses. I had always thought that was the most civilized way to play. On January 1 st, it is time to visit other family relatives and friends. Of course, as children we loved such occasions because that means more red packages. On meeting each other the common greeting is gong xi, gong xi meaning wishing you double fortunes. As China invented gunpowder a long time ago, firecrackers must have followed. Immediately after the stroke of midnight, the sound of exploding firecrackers starts to resonant up and down the street. Merchants especially are prepared for lighting firecrackers as it will ward away evil spirits. As children, we learned to light firecrackers very early and had various mischievous ways of playing 3
with them. For example, I learned how to stuff a firecracker into the barrel of a cork gun, light the firecracker and fire the gun just before it exploded a child s simulation of a real gun. A missed timing meant go work on my sister for the money to buy a new gun. Always promising her she could fire a few rounds. We also learned to light a large one held in our finger tips and threw them into the sewer or any water puddle just as it exploded. That takes skill and practice. But we were young and brave and there was plenty of red package money. In the adults world firecrackers became serious business. A number of traditions developed in many regions. For example, in southern Taiwan there is a village where they line both sides of a street with walls of skyrockets aimed horizontally. When they are lit the street is filled with exploding skyrockets, hundred thousands of them in each barrage. People are invited to walk through them, nominally to bring good luck. Even with a helmet, multilayer clothing, overcoats and faceguards, each year there are a number of serious injuries not to mention hundreds of minor ones. But tens of thousands of young and old flock to it every year. In another city in southeastern Taiwan on the 15 th of January there is a celebration of a local deity. A brave soul dressed in a red shorts and covering his face only with a small green buddle of brushes is paraded on a platform through a firecracker storm with pole after poles of 20 to 30 feet tall chains of firecrackers firing around him. This is to ward away all evils and brings good fortune to the participating merchants who have funded the firecrackers. It is said this brave soul will always end up in the hospital for some days to recover. But he earns a lot of money for his temple. The celebration of Chinese New Year lasts from Jan 1 st to the 15 th. On the night of the 15 th there is the lantern parade. The Lantern Festival starts right after the New Year but reaches its height on the 15 th. All the biggest, most complex and prettiest lanterns will be on display. They often are displayed in a public park. The parade will go around the city or village always accompanied with tons of firecrackers exploding at the feet of the parade. All the mythological characters in Chinese stories and historical figures guarding the futures of the Chinese are depicted in the parade. Of course, the central character is the dragon lantern. It is made up of many sections of lanterns on a ten-foot pole connected by painted drop cloth with a huge dragon lantern head. The whole lantern can be as long as 100 feet depending on the wealth of the sponsors. The lantern bearers must be trained to coordinate their movements to resemble serpentine undulations. Because these lanterns are heavy the performers come in shifts. In old time, they are farmers who are resting from farm works. Each village can sponsor one dragon and at the parade several dragons can compete in the dragon dance for grace and a show of strength and dominance. Dragons represent all that is positive in Chinese society. It is not the same dragon as in Western mythology. Chinese dragons live either in water (river or the sea) or in the clouds. There are many stories of dragons, good or bad, in Chinese mythology. But in the New Year, it is the ultimate good and its presence among the people that brings security and peace of mind to all. The upcoming lunar year is the year of the Ram. For over 1500 years Chinese have used 12 animals to cyclically represent the years. They are: rat, oxen, tiger, rabbit, 4
dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. All are real animals except for the dragon. In fact, it is documented in ancient writings that the 11 animals were the originals and dragon was added at a later time, around 1500 years ago. The dragon was added due to its exalted role in representing the emperor. The dragon as with the emperor bestows protection for all the people of China, therefore deserving of its place among the horoscopic animals. Why this list of animals is in such order was never discussed in ancient documents. In Chinese society, a polite way to figure out a new acquaintance s age it to ask his/her birth year animal. With that one can estimate ages within 12 years, a very sensible way to avoid a touchy issue. On the night of the Lantern Festival, it is also the Festival of the Glutinous Rice Ball. Not a pretty translation but accurate. It is made from glutinous rice, high starch rice flour kneaded into dough and made into small balls and then stuffed with sweet stuffing of sesame, peanuts, red bean paste, lotus seed paste or even meats of various kinds. These rice balls are then cooked in a sweet broth flavored with Sweet Olive flowers. Chinese take the round ball to symbolize unity of the family, and the sticky texture to mean staying close forever. With the core foundation of the Chinese society firmly united and protected by gods in heaven, life returns to normal and Chinese society will survive for another thousand years. This is but a brief note on several common activities that constitute Chinese New Year. There are many detailed variations and rich additions that I am not able to describe. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have in recollecting my childhood joys and my heritage. I wish you all a very Happy Chinese New Year! 5