Time To Celebrate the New Year Again
January 21st, 2009
Submitted by: Jimmy Spann
The Chinese New Year is almost upon us. This year the celebration starts on January 26th and is the year of the Ox, also known by is formal name Ji Chou. The cycle, which is similar to our century, lasts for 60 years and this year will be the 4706th year of celebration. The celebration consists of 15 days of festivities. Some of which are days of rest. The Festival of Lanterns concludes the celebrations on the 15th day where different types of lanterns light the streets.
Now you may be wondering why the Chinese New Year is on a different day than our New Year. The Chinese New Year is based off of the Lunar Calendar and is always the second new moon after the winter solstice. As an ancient legend goes, at the end of winter, the beast Nien would come attack and kill villagers. The villagers would use the color red, loud noises, and bright lights to scare off the beast. These are still seen today with fireworks and bright red costumes and scenery. Families would all come together to see who had survived the past year and to celebrate the upcoming year.
There are many traditions that come along with this celebration. One is that a fish and chicken will be served at the meal. Both will be served with its head and tail in tact, to represent the beginning and end of the year. The Fish symbolizes abundance, while the Chicken symbolizes good luck. After dinner Red Envelopes, called ?hong bao? in Mandarin, are filled with money and given out to little children.
The History Channel had short little video that provided some insight on this topic. You can view it here as well as it has some other information about the Chinese New Year. You can also find a calendar to find out which animal coincides with your own year of birth.
I know that the Cal Poly Chinese Student Association, puts on a New Year?s celebration. This year it is taking place on January 27th form 11:00 am to 12:00 pm in UU 217 (MCC Lounge). The admission is free and more information can be found here.
Attached is a copy.
Some other links that I used to gather information about this topic were:
http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
http://www.studentlife.calpoly.edu/mul/events.asp?dept=mul
http://www.history.com/content/chinesenewyear
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, China
5 Comments Add your own
1. Frank Blazkiewicz | January 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Impressive work.
I think I’ll be going to this next Tuesday. I don’t see any other GSBA events that would prevent anyone else. We could go as a group and represent.
2. Jenna Healy | January 21st, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Great post Jimmy—I love the Chinese system of astrology! I have a somewhat weird knack for horoscopes, superstitions and even premonitions. I know… we’re not surprised.
For those of you science minded, there is some proof behind this stuff. The theory is, when the planets align a certain way, the energy on earth is different. Each person is born during a unique energy field. In the Chinese way of thinking, the energy cycles every 12 years.
http://chinese.astrology.com/ this is a really cool site. You can find out what your main animal is (based on year born) and check compatibility with a mate… but I wouldn’t take this all to heart. This is only what you are born into… there’s a whole nature vs. nurture argument. You can also have your daily horoscope emailed to you in a variety of different forms. Examples: momscopes, financescopes, lesbianscopes, beautyscope, etc. Is it legitimate? You be the judge. The calculator is correct in telling you the animal of your birth year though.
“According to Chinese mysterious astronomy, a person’s destiny can be determined by the position of the major planets at the person’s birth along with the positions of the Sun, Moon and comets and the person’s time of birth and Zodiac Sign.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology
You have elements associated with your birth date, and 3 different animals… one for the year, one for the month and one for the time of day. One of my favorite massage therapists speaks about how the 3 animals interact (theoretically) and some are more dominant than others. It’s the doubled up ones that can be intense. For instance, a double ox will be the most stubborn strong minded, powerful, yet patient and honest upfront person you’ve ever seen. For those of you doing the math, Oxen would be turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 this year.
Now I know this all sounds silly, but I’ve classified a lot of truth to this philosophy. This stuff is usually spot on!
3. Chris Carr | January 21st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
In the Year of the Ox ….
4. Jimmy Spann | January 21st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I like the comment Jenna. And I do like going into sites like these, putting in my birthday and finding out what my birthday can really tell someone about my life. In the case of Chinese Astrology and the website that you have linked here…. I am a tiger and my element is fire. And most of the information that was given there seemed to fit right in with my personality. I am curious if me wanting it to be correct has anything to do with how correct I think it is??? In either case, i think this astrology stuff is always interesting. Thanks for the added information
5. Mark Polydoris | January 22nd, 2009 at 7:22 am
Great post, Jimmy. Most of what I know about the Chinese year cycle is what I’ve learned while reading placemats at Chinese restaurants. I also used to also pretend that the Chinese cycle on the placemat was the menu, which I would try to order. Something like, “Oh, I’ll have the dragon…”
But your post also reminded me of this book I read in Junior High many years ago, called “Donald Duk” by Frank Chin. It’s geared towards kids, but the premise of the book is this Chinese-American kid, named Donald Duk, who hates being Chinese and really wants to be American (he also hates his name, since everyone makes fun of him). He is ashamed of his Chinese heritage but also does not quite feel like he fits in the US, either. A lot of the book centers around the Chinese culture, especially the Chinese New Year.
One of the other themes in the book deals with how the Chinese people have fit into our American culture, dealing with a lot of the stereotypes and history between China and America. It’s amazing to think that the Chinese have been coming to America for a long, long time…and yet it seems that many Americans are only now making the journey east to visit (or live in!) China.
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