Happy Chinese New Year!

7 February 2008 (4706)

CHINATOWN -- Or as I like to say, “Kung Hall Sun Hei.”

            Today is the start of the Chinese New Year, i.e., the Spring Festival.

            The Chinese New Year is celebrated at the second new moon after the winter solstice and falls between January 21 and February 19 on the Gregorian-based international calendar.

            The year 2008 on the Chinese calendar is Lunar Year 4075-4076, “The Year of the Rat.”

            In China and in many parts of East Asia, the New Year’s celebration begins on the eve of the first day of the month, the darkest day, and culminates on the fifteenth day when the moon is brightest with the lantern festival, featuring the dragon dance.

            Here in the United States, Chinese New Year celebrations originated with the 1849 California Gold Rush when many Chinese came to labor in the gold mines and on the railroad.  Many of these Chinese immigrants arrived without their families and joined  neighborhood associations which continue to honor Chinese-Americans with New Year’s celebrations.   

“You Dirty Rat”
            The Lunar New Year dates from 2600 BC when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac.  This luni-solar calendar is divided into 12 29- to 30-day months.

            Legend has it that Lord Buddha called all animals to come to him before he departed this world.  But only 12 animals showed up.  As a token of his appreciation, Buddha named a year after each of the animals in the order of their arrival.  For that reason the rat, which arrived unfashionably early, represents the first month of the Chinese calendar.  The rat is succeeded in order by the cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat/sheep, monkey, chicken and dog.  

            A complete Chinese calendar cycle takes 60 years and consists of five cycles of twelve years each.  The 12-year animal zodiac cycle is combined with a 10-year cycle of heavenly stems associated with the five elements of Chinese astrology: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
These five elements are connected to the five colors white, black, green, red and brown.  This is not merely the “Year of the Rat,” but more precisely, the “Year of the Brown Earth Rat.”

            These repetitive 12-year cycles combined with the five elements and colors comprise what is formally known as the “stem-branch.”  This is the stem-branch year “Wu Zhi.”  And if you can understand any of this, you’re not as WOOZY as I am.

You Are What You Eat
            Chinese myth maintains that people born in each animal’s year exhibit many of that animal’s personality traits.  Birth in the year of the earth rat is said to be very auspicious and “rats” are said to be intelligent, passionate, hard working and charismatic, natural-born leaders.

            Highly ambitious people born in the year of the rat value family and close friends and are excellent lifelong partners and providers.  Their charm and cleverness can lead to manipulation in personal and professional relationships and render them flirtatious conquerors.

            Notable people born in the year of the rat include Mozart, Shakespeare, Prince Charles, Sasha Cohen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson and Eminem.

            Rats are said to be excellent matches for dragons, monkeys and oxen.  They do not get on very well with roosters, rabbits and horses.  I happen to be born in the “Year of the Rooster,” which may explain why I am often referred to derisively as the slang term for rooster or male bird.

“Reunited and it Feel So Good.”
            The Chinese New Year is a time for reunion with family and friends throughout the 15-day period, but particularly on New Year’s Eve.  The reunions include elaborate feasts featuring foods that symbolize the New Year’s fresh start.  In fact, Chinese New Year’s Eve literally translates to “change.”

            These New Year’s Eve reunion dinners are most often held at the home of the family’s most senior member.  The dinners usually include fish and steamed dumplings which symbolize “surpluses” and “wealth,” respectively.

            Other foods associated with New Year’s Eve include spring rolls, uncut noodles representing long life, sticky cake, shrimp with cashew nuts, prawns for liveliness and pleasure, dried oysters, raw fish salad, steamed whole bass with black bean sauce, angel-hair seaweed, oranges for good luck, and homemade fortune cookies.

Better Red Than Dead
            The 15-day Chinese New Year or Spring Festival begins with offerings to the “Kitchen God,” a Heaven-sent deity that takes charge of each family’s affairs and makes a report on the family’s progress during the past year.  The Kitchen God is often “bribed” with cake to encourage a favorable report or is plied with honey to ensure that his mouth cannot open to deliver an unfavorable report.

            Red is the signature color of the Chinese New Year because it is believed to scare away evil spirits and misfortune.  Red is often accompanied by gold on decorations and posters to portend prosperity and happiness.

            Married couples and elders traditionally give “lucky” money in red packets or envelopes to children and young relatives in lieu of presents.  Some Chinese will go so far as to give their homes, doors or window panes a fresh coat of red paint at this time.

            Before the New Year commences, the Chinese thoroughly clean their houses to begin the year with a fresh, clean slate.  By removing all dust and dirt, they are symbolically removing all vestiges of the past year.  Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day of the year so that good luck cannot be inadvertently swept away.

            Chinese people may purchase new clothes and shoes and even get a haircut to symbolize a fresh start.  They also attempt to pay off any debts.  Because since ancient times, many Chinese believe that a debt unpaid by the New Year will bring shame and misfortune to the debtor and his family.

            This penchant for red, as in fire, led ancient Chinese to scare away evil spirits with the crackling fire of lighted bamboo stalks.  Today this custom is manifested in elaborate and thunderous fireworks that are also said to suppress bad memories of the previous year and usher in a happy new year.

            These traditions contribute to the Chinese New Year also being known as “Yuan Tan” which means “let bygones be bygones.”

The 15-Day Spring Festival
            After the New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, the first day of the 15-day Spring Festival is dedicated to welcoming the Gods of the heavens and the earth.  Some families will usher in the Lunar New Year with a spirited performance by a lion dance troupe.  Many Chinese abstain from eating meat on this day to ensure long and happy lives.

            On day two, married Chinese daughters visit their birth parents and people pray to their ancestors and all Gods.  They are particularly kind to dogs on this day because it is believed to be the birthday of all dogs.

            The third and fourth days are often considered inappropriate days to visit friends and relatives because it is said to lead to arguments caused by spending too much time together on the first two days of the New Year and/or eating too much fried food.  How you American say, “Familiarity breed contempt?”  Ironically, these days are for the
son-in-laws to pay “respect” to their parents-in-law, which could really lead to fireworks.  Some Chinese eliminate household visits with friends and relatives on these days and visit graves out of respect for the deceased.

            Day five of the New Year is the celebration of  Po Wu signifying the birth of the God of Wealth.  Visits with family and friends on this day are said to bring both parties bad luck.

            Days six through ten include extensive family visits.  Many Chinese visit temples during this time to pray for good fortune and health.

            Day seven, in particular, is known as renri, the birthday of the common man when everyone grows one year older.  Uncut noodles are eaten for longevity along with raw fish for success.  Farmers display their produce at open markets on this day.  Many Chinese Buddhists abstainfrom meat on this day also.

            The eighth day and ninth days of the New Year are devoted to more family reunion dinners and prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven.

            More sumptuous reunion dinners are enjoyed on days 10 through 12.  But on the 13th day, many Chinese limit themselves to rice congee and mustard greens to cleanse their system.

The Lantern Festival
            Day 14 is dedicated to preparations for the Lantern Festival to be held the following night.

            On this, the 15th and final night of the Spring Festival, sweet-tasting rice balls stewed in soup are consumed and candles are lighted outside to escort wayward spirits home. 

            Chinese families celebrate by walking together through the streets carrying lighted lanterns under a full moon to ward off evil spirits.  The highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance, featuring a silk, paper and bamboo dragon that may stretch up to 100 yards long.

“Kung Hei Fat Choy”
            Please join me in wishing all of our Chinese friends health, prosperity and happiness in celebration of the Chinese New Year.  “Kung hei fat choy!”

Chinese New Year’s Resolutions
            In honor of the occasion, I would like to offer my personal Chinese New Year’s Resolutions—one for each day of the 15-day Spring Festival celebration—during this, the “Year of the Rat.”

Number 01: Stop eating rat.
Number 02: Play more checkers.
Number 03: Reaffirm my commitment to Taiwan.
Number 04: Figure out why the duck is “Peking,” but the city is “Beijing.”
Number 05: Learn to say “no starch” in Mandarin.
Number 06: Collectivize all farms.
Number 07: Get that ping-pong game back up to snuff.
Number 08: Become Emperor just so I can hang out with no clothes on.
Number 09: Distribute one billion condoms.
Number 10: Celebrate “Ride a Rickshaw to Work Day.”
Number 11: Find out why there are no “Great Ceilings” or “Great Floors.”
Number 12: Learn to say “happy ending” in Cantonese.
Number 13: Give Nike® workers a raise to 7 cents an hour.
Number 14: Visit Chinatown and bark back at the beef kung pao.
Number 15: Start a fire in Shanghai to see what a real “Chinese fire drill” is like.

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Gino Giovannetti is a member of “The Jonathon Brandmeier Show” on “The Loop,” WLUP Radio 97.9-FM Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism in Madison and also attended the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism at Indiana University in Bloomington. The views and opinions of Gino do NOT represent those of WLUP Radio, Emmis Communications, Inc., or anyone with a brain the size of a walnut.

©2007 All Rights Reserved.

Gino@WLUP.com