No matter where you go in any corner of the world, Chinese people all over the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year just like the Malayalees celebrate Onam by eating leafy food and stew. Most countries have their own ‘Chinatown’. As such, a 72-year-old attacker in California opened fire on the Chinese while celebrating the New Year. 10 people were killed that day
Instead of December 31 disappearing from the calendar, the world enters a new year when a new calendar appears on January 1. However, the countryside in China is a little different. Lunar New Year is here. It is not like the Hijra calendar which calculates the months according to the new moon.
The Chinese Lunar New Year date changes from year to year. Accordingly, the New Year of 2023 was January 22. Only the dates change, the celebrations, traditions, customs and faith remain the same. According to the Chinese zodiac signs, each year is marked for each animal.
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit. Rabbit is a symbol of peace, patience and good luck. Therefore, people believe that a prosperous and peaceful life will be available throughout the year.
It also has a name called ‘Spring Festival’. This name came into existence in 1914. In 1912, when the Republic of China was formed, the authorities were forced to take into account the Georgian calendar, which begins the new year on January 1.
However, the government is not willing to let go of the traditional New Year celebrations. Hence, he gave his own celebrations a new name of ‘Spring Festival’.
China’s first Happy New Year following the Covid attack. In the past three years, it was as if the new year did not come, it was a closed life. A 15-day long holiday has begun in China, with all establishments in the country off.
The entire country was covered in red. Rabbit motifs are placed in parks, shopping malls and on facades of buildings. On the doors of houses and flats, the Chinese couplet ‘Fu’, meaning good luck, is written and pasted in red paper in large size.
Similarly, there are Chinese words meaning ‘good family’ and ‘good health’. Dragon dance and lion dance are performed in parks and in front of shops. These art forms are believed to bring good luck and ward off bad luck.
Many aspects of martial arts are included in these. The merriment of the dancers running up and down the long iron poles that have been impaled is a sight to behold. It will be accompanied by loud perumparakot and ilathalam.
At first glance, these two dance forms may seem similar to foreigners. In the lion dance, there is only one person at the head and one at the tail. Nothing is visible except the legs. Not so in Dragon Dance, there are at least nine people. Bruce Lee’s hometown of Foshan in South China is famous for these dance forms.
Most people wear red on New Year’s Day. The wrinkle-free currency notes are gifted to each other in cute red packets. No matter how large the amount, it should not be a number ending in four. Because ‘s’, the Mandarin word for four, bears a close resemblance in pronunciation to the word for death.
And there are rituals like don’t take a bath on that day and don’t beat yourself inside and out. At least some of the younger generation still follow all this. While southern Chinese believe that eating fish on New Year’s Eve will bring prosperity, northerners must eat ‘momos’-like dishes called ‘dumblings’, which are steamed meat or egg inside a circle of dough.
People are more excited than usual this time. They exchange greetings to each other, forgetting the miserable time spent in not being able to go to their own villages for more than three years and not seeing their nearest and dearest.
Looking forward to celebrating the New Year with his seven-year-old son, the friend says the last time he celebrated it was when he was four and has forgotten all regarding it. The friend’s only goal this time is to create beautiful memories for his son. All those who migrated to distant provinces for work will go back to their native places.
The world’s largest international tour takes place during these New Year holidays. These journeys are called ‘Chwonyun’. The ‘Spring Festival Gala’ will be on TV every year during the Lunar New Year. This four-hour long gala is also the longest-running TV show in the world.
Public parks do not require entrance fees on New Year’s Day. Vehicle entry is absolutely free at tollbooths with a charge of 100 and 200 yuan. Thus the Chinese find satisfaction in even the smallest considerations provided by the government.
No matter where you go in any corner of the world, Chinese people all over the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year just like the Malayalees celebrate Onam by eating leafy food and stew. Most countries have their own ‘Chinatown’. As such, a 72-year-old attacker in California opened fire on the Chinese while celebrating the New Year. 10 people were killed that day.
This time’s diary can be shortened by writing a Chinese folk tale that is heard continuously every New Year: Thousands of years ago, a creature called Nyan lived in China. Nyan, the sea creature, descends all over the country on New Year’s Eve.
The main goal is to scare the villagers. The frightened people used to go to the nearby hills in fear of Nyan. That’s how the village headman ordered to find a way to drive it by any means. A wise man can be found in any group.
He shared with the villagers that the loud noise and fire might scare Nyan. On that New Year’s eve, the entire village lit torches, burst firecrackers and waved Perumbara flags to face the terrorist.
The aim was not missed; The evil creature ran away. Another thing people noticed was that Nyan was very afraid of red color. ‘Nyan’ means year. Hearing this every year, one would just remember Mahabali and Vamana. Culture does not exist in this world unless it is rooted in legend.
