The
Triangle Area's largest Chinese New Year Festival will take place on January 26,
2008 in the Exposition Center at the NC State Fairgrounds. The festival
will include an Art and Essay contest during
the weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year. Please click for more
contest information.
We have designed
this special page to provide an introduction to the traditions of Chinese new
year. Here, you will find interesting facts and legends related to new
year ceremonies and practices, the zodiac of animal signs, lucky
Chinese foods, and a few words to say in Mandarin. All text and links were
checked to be appropriate for young audiences. Enjoy!
2008 is the Year of the Mouse
Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is celebrated in late
January or early February with the second new moon after the first day of
winter, the day of shortest day and longest night. In 2008 (of
the Julian calendar used in the most of the Western world), Chinese New Year's
Day is February 8. It will be the year 4706 in the Chinese calendar and the Year of the
Rat or Mouse in accordance
with the Chinese
zodiac with 12 animal signs.
Ceremonies and practices
Chinese New Year is the most exciting time of the year for
people in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as many Chinese
Americans in the United States. Chinese-Americans and many other
Asian Americans observe a variety of traditions, including family visits,
colorful new clothes, big meals with particular good luck foods , gifts of
oranges and apples, red envelops of money, and firecrackers. People greet one
another with "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Mandarin or "Gung Hay Fat
Choy" in Cantonese. Both mean "Happiness and Fortune (to you)!"
On New Year's eve, families get together for a New
Year's Eve banquet and say good-bye to the past year. The last course eaten is
fish because the word for fish in Chinese (yu) sounds like the word for
"great plenty." The adults give all the children bright red
"lucky money" envelops with money inside. Mothers and fathers paste
short poems called "Spring scrolls" or "spring couplets" on the doorways and gates of the
house to welcome the New Year. These couplets are written on red paper
because the color red signifies happiness. Everyone stays awake as long as they can, playing games,
telling stories, and making wishes to send the old year out.
On the first day of the new year, people put on new
clothes to symbolize the discarding of the old year and its misfortunes. They
take gifts to family and friends that usually include special rice flour cakes
and fruits such as kumquats and oranges or tangerines. Many adults,
particularly married ones, also follow an ancient custom of giving small red
packets of money (called hung-bao or lay shee) to children, unmarried adults,
and employees or servants. Among the spectacular festivities of Chinese
New Year are the dragon dance and lion dances.
As many as 50 or more people support long dragons and lions
while dancing in processions, often outdoors through city streets. The dancers
perform to the beating of gongs and drums, while other celebrants perform
acrobatic displays. The celebrations end with the lantern festival, an event in
which store merchants hang lighted paper lanterns outside their shops and
children often parade in festivals, carrying lanterns of various shapes and
patterns. To make a paper dragon or lantern, try other children's crafts, or
pick a classroom curriculum, go our web
links.
Lantern Festival
On Day 15 of the New Year (the first full moon of the year),
lanterns made of wood, bamboo, silk, paper, and even sesame seeds are carried
through the streets in the Lantern Festival to guide wandering ghosts home.
Later, people watch for a 100-foot long paper and silk dragon to come out of
hibernation, to show its strength and goodness. Lanterns come in all shapes and
sizes, including crab and bird shapes. Some lanterns called "pacing
horses" spin when they area heated from the flame of a candles or an
electric bulb. In Northern China, where winters are very cold, lanterns are
even carved from blocks of river ice.
Chinese Zodiac
Each year of this 12-year calendar is ruled by one of 12
animals. Five cycles of 12 years make up one complete cycle of 60 years - the
basis of the Chinese calendar. A legend about the zodiac animals is that they
all raced to cross a river. The mouse rode on the ox's back and humped off just
at the right time, winning the race. The ox came in second, and the pig came in
last, because he never rushes. The race results determined the order of the
animals in the zodiac: Mouse/Rat (1984, 1996, 2008), Ox (1985, 1997, 2009), Tiger,
Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
According to Chinese culture, every person's traits follow their animal birth
sign. But the Chinese perception of these animals may be different than your
American perception. For instance, people born in the year of the Mouse or the
Rat are considered organized, logical, and
careful; and Pigs are happy, good-natured, outspoken and trusting.
Click here to check out your
zodiac sign.
Year of the Mouse/Rat Su in Chinese (1936,
1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)
People born in the year of the Rat are charming, passionate, charismatic,
practical and hardworking. They work hard to achieve their goals, are most organized and
highly ambitious, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically
thrifty with money. They are most
compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.
Rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling as well, insisting on having
things their way no matter what the cost. Rats
need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail,
intolerant and strict, demanding order and perfection.
Good luck foods eaten
around Chinese New Year are plentiful and delicious!
-
Whole fish - represents
togetherness and abundance
- Whole chicken - presented
with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. A chicken is for
prosperity.
- Lotus seed - signifies having
many offspring or children
- Black moss seaweed - its
name, "Fa cai", is a homonym for "exceeding in wealth"
- Dried bean curd - another
homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness
- Bamboo shoots - a term which
sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
- Fresh bean curd or tofu is
not usually included on the menu as it is white and unlucky for Chinese New Year.
The color signifies death and misfortune.
- Uncut noodles - eaten because
they symbolize long life
- Tangerines with their green leaves assure that one's relationship with the other remains secure
- Other traditional Chinese New
Year delicacies include Nian Gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding and
Hur Yi Fun, glutinous rice wrapped up in reed leaves. Northern Chinese people
make and eat Jiao Zi, steamed dumplings filled with meat and vegetables, a
cold weather favorite, while Southerners make sweets with coconuts and
peanuts.
Chinese Americans in N.C.
and the U.S.
North Carolina's Triangle area is the proud home of tens of thousands of
first, second, and third generation Chinese-Americans. According to the 2000
Census, there were
more than 2.4 million Chinese Americans living in the U.S. nationwide. Chinese-Americans make up 21% of the nation's 12 million Asian
Americans and 1.02% of the U.S. population as a whole. For more demographic
information, please visit www.census.gov.
Easy Chinese phrases in Mandarin (Mandarin is the
official spoken dialect of the Chinese language)
Happy New Year! Xin
Nian Kuai Le (Sheen Nian Koo-eye Luh)
How are You? Ni
Hao Ma. Also commonly shorten to Ni
Hao!
This is a useful greeting that will probably be the first Chinese words that you
will need. Useful as a greeting or
a ice-breaker. Suitable for use with Chinese friends of all ages and
professions.
Thank You
Xie Xie. (or
Shee-ay Shee-ay, said in only two syllables total)
Saying Thank you is another basic polite and useful term.
You're welcome.
Bu
Ke Qi (or boo kuh chee)
This is the typical response to someone who thanked you.
It's not said when welcoming someone into a store, home, or country.
Very Good
Hen Hao.
This is useful when giving praise for a job or task well done. Also useful as a
reply to anyone who says "Ni Hao Ma?" to you.
Q: Ni Hao Ma? (How are you?)
A: Hen Hao (Very Good)
How much does it
cost? Duo
Shao Qian? (Qian
is pronounced chee-ain)
When shopping for food, clothes, or trinkets, you'll want to know how much it
costs.
Goodbye. Zai
Jian
When leaving your Chinese friends, be sure to say Zai Jian or
"See you again."
More details about Chinese New Year are available:
Chinese Festivals
Celebration of the Chinese New Year
Chinese Zodiac
Chinese Calendar
Chinese New Year's Cake
Crafts and Activities for Chinese New Year
Teacher's printable resources for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year Crafts
Make a
Chinese dragon toy
Chinese
Lantern
Chinese New Year Zodiac Wreath
Parade Dragon Puppet
Paper Dragon
