Chinese New Year always brings along excitement and anticipation for new beginnings. A holiday celebrated all over the globe, Chinese New Year (also called “Lunar New Year” or “Spring Festival”) is a special time to spend with family and friends. It is important, however, to acknowledge the countless myths and traditions, other than feasting with family, that lie behind this widely-celebrated holiday.
Dating back to the Shang Dynasty about 3,500 years ago, Chinese New Year has evolved over an extensive period of time, and its customs slowly formed into what it is today. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it was an event to honor the gods and goddesses while praying for a good harvest. Now, it has transformed into a custom where people reunite with their families and honor age-old customs and superstitions.
The myth surrounding Chinese New Year goes all the way back to ancient times. A monster called Nien (年) terrorized humans and feasted on them every New Year. Villagers would hide in the mountains and wait for the monster to pass. One day, a beggar was taken in by an old woman, and in gratification, promised to chase the monster away. As Nien approaches, the man set off firecrackers, scaring the monster, and warded it off with red decorations. Nowadays, families adorn their house with red decorations and wear red clothing to celebrate the man in the legend.
The origin myth of the red envelope (red pocket) concerns a different monster, Sui (祟). Sui would appear to haunt the children while they were sleeping. The children would wake up with a fever. To prevent this, parents kept their children up all night and guarded them. One child was given eight coins by his parents, and when he fell asleep, the parents placed the coins next to his pillow. When night arrived with Sui, Sui reached for the boy and was scared off by the flashing light of the coins. Envelopes filled with money are given today to honor this myth. Another version of the myth calls back to the Nien monster. Parents would give their children red envelopes since the monster is scared of the color red. Either way, it’s a nice excuse to get some money, until the time comes where you’re the one who has to pack the money. 🙁
You can read more about different Chinese New Year myths here.
If you’ve been looking around in China (which I hope you haven’t been, with the current global virus situation and traveling issues), you might have wondered “Hey, why is there so much red underwear around these stores?” You might have been even more confused by people gifting red underwear to each other. That sort of thing shouldn’t be so public, right? Well, not exactly. This practice calls back to one’s Benming year (本命年), a person’s zodiac animal year. Chinese traditional belief dictates that your Benming year will attract countless demons bringing bad luck, and the only way to counter that is by wearing red. Red, symbolizing loyalty, success, and happiness, is one of the luckiest colors in Chinese culture. As such, it is important to wear red every day during your Benming year. Some people don’t enjoy wearing red, as it might clash with their fashion, so boom! Red underwear solves it all! Even if it’s not your Benming year, nobody’s stopping you if you want to wear red. It’s a nice color, and a little bit of extra luck wouldn’t hurt, right? 🙂
Contrary to the Western zodiac, where every person is assigned a sign based on their birth month and day, a person’s Chinese zodiac sign depends on their birth year. A common tale of the zodiac recounts a race held by the Jade Emperor to decide the twelve animals of the calendar. The rat woke up early, forgetting about the cat, to ensure his position as one of the twelve animals. The rat negotiated a deal with the ox–the rat will sing for the ox while the ox carries him to the finish line. However, as the ox almost reached the end, the rat jumped down and claimed first place. After him followed the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and lastly, the pig. These twelve animals were thus crowned as the twelve zodiac animals. Here is a more detailed account of the story.
Following this legend, this year is the year of the Ox! The ox is an esteemed animal in Chinese culture, with its role in agriculture, as well as its hardworking quality and honest nature. As such, it is a belief that people born in the year of the Ox are hardworking, honest, earnest, and show a great deal of humility. Even though they don’t brag about their talent, they’ll often gain recognition. They are kind, and they rarely lose their temper. However, they can be quite opinionated and stubborn. In this year’s horoscope, 2021 might be an unstable year for people of the Ox, and they might encounter significant challenges—both in education and daily life. That’s when their special quality comes in. When luck does not satisfy, use hard work to get back on track! The lucky months are April, September, and December while the unlucky months are May, June, and July. If this is your Benming year, exercise caution and wear red underwear to avoid bad luck.
Other than popular legends, there is also a variety of foods generally associated with the Chinese New Year. Long noodles, for example, represent longevity. The longer the noodle is, the longer one’s life will be. Like noodles, other foods also symbolize different things for the new year. In glutinous rice cake (年糕), the “糕” is homophonous to “高,” meaning “high.” The word thus means to “get higher every year”—aiming higher, achieving a higher position, improvement, etc. Another food that is commonly eaten is the jiaozi (餃子), or dumplings. These dumplings look like a form of Ancient Chinese currency–boat-shaped silver ingots, representing wealth and prosperity. There is, however, another interpretation. “餃子” (jiǎo zi) sounds like “交子” (jiāo zi), meaning “exchange.” Thus, the dumplings symbolize an exchange of the old and new—sending away the old year and welcoming a new year. Fish is also traditionally eaten, as the word for “fish” in Chinese (魚) has the same pronunciation as the word for “surplus” (餘). People eat this in hope of having a surplus of food and money for the upcoming year. Half of the fish is eaten for dinner, and the rest on the next day, to cement this idea of a surplus. The head and tail should also be saved until the beginning of the year, to wish for the year to start and end with surpluses. Other popular foods include the tangyuan (湯圓)—a type of dumpling made from glutinous rice flour and shaped into a ball to represent reunion and communion, and chicken—to honor one’s ancestors and to hope for wealth and “flying higher.” These foods, though different, all play a crucial role in Chinese New Year, symbolizing positive things to come, as well as keeping a growing tradition.
Popular celebrations during Chinese New Year also include the Lion Dance and the Dragon Dance. For the Lion Dance, two performers go inside the lion costume, and dance as the lion’s front and back legs respectively. This dance is believed to ward off evil spirits and bring fortune. The Dragon Dance is done by people manning the poles attached with the dragon while moving it in a flowing motion. Like the Lion Dance, the Dragon Dance is performed to scare away evil spirits and represents wisdom, power, and wealth.
Here is a dragon dance, and here is a lion dance, both performed in Hong Kong in 2019.
Chinese New Year is a season filled with culture and customs. As such, it is important to uphold these special traditions and pass on these cultural celebrations to future generations. By participating in this celebration, we are preserving a bit of this timeless Chinese tradition. Even Instagram is celebrating this remarkable time with their “YearOfTheOx” shared story and stickers! Even though this is a unique and special holiday, be sure to stay safe and don’t go to crowded areas. That said, it should still be a time enjoyed with your friends and family! Have fun and stay safe!
Below are some New Year greetings from some popular figures!
Happy Chinese New Year!! 🙂
