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The ‘Chinese New Year’ or ‘Spring Festival’ is drawing near. This year it is celebrated on February 10, the day that we welcome officially the year of the ‘black snake'. One with the Chinese community, let us prepare room and welcome luck. Together, let us greet one another: Kung Hei Fat Choi!
The Myth
There are numerous versions of how the Chinese New Year celebration started. But no matter how the story is constructed, its core is the same:
An old Chinese folklore speaks of Nian, a man-eating predatory beast, with a long head and sharp horn. Legend has it that Nian is capable of swallowing a dozen people and destroying properties and livestock. It only awakens every New Year’s Eve and stays under the sea for the rest of the year.
In order to prevent further havoc and destruction, the residents decided to place food in front of their doors outside the house. Nian will feast on this food instead and spare the residents. This had been going on for few years, until the residents discovered that Nian fears lights, the color red, and loud sounds. Some said the residents realized this after a child wearing a red dress scared Nian away while others claimed that an old man believed to be sent from heavens helped the residents.
Perhaps nobody can attest what really took place, but it is a good thing that Nian is no longer around to haunt us.
The Preparation
In modern times, people no longer prepare food outside their houses. Instead, they completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their home, clothes, and all their utensils. This practice is done to get rid of all the negative energies the previous year has expelled.
They also fill their meticulously- cleaned houses with decorations that bring air of rejoicing, festivity and good luck. The decorations might include: couplets hung on doors, pictures of fortune gods, lanterns and illustrations of fish among others. In the Philippines, the most common decoration during this time of the year might be posters of Chinese calligraphy bearing auspicious meaning or personal wishes.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQPOQk7wPZA/UNwbhIMgT0I/AAAAAAAABxI/XCosjSP-8bs*******year+of+the+snake-resized-600.jpg[/img]
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Practices
The celebration of Chinese New Year revolves around keeping off malevolent spirits and welcoming prosperity. The highlight of this celebration include (in its strictest sense, the Chinese New Year, being the longest festivity in the Lunar Calendar, is composed of a series of activities and is not focused on the New Year’s eve or New year’s day only) giving of the red envelope, exchanging of gifts, fireworks, and the dragon and lion dance, to name a few.
Red Envelope. Fondly called as ‘Ang Pao’, the red envelope is not only about giving of new and ironed bank notes; the red envelope itself brings good luck as it fends off evil spirits. The giving of 'ang pao' also entails wishing a prosperous year ahead --or any wish, in that matter-- to the recipient as the favor is returned to the giver.
Exchanging of Gifts. Other than the ‘Ang Pao’, little gifts (usually food or sweets) are also exchanged among friends or relatives. Often, friends or relatives bring gifts like fruits, cakes, biscuits, or some other small gifts when visiting.
Fireworks. Having deeply influenced by Chinese culture, the use of fireworks to scare away evil spirit is not uncommon. The belief rooted on an old man’s account that it will scare off Nian, the large monster who brings devastation to the city.
Dragon and Lion Dance. Aside from fireworks, the face of the dragon or lion dancing in a very aggressive manner is also believed to ward off malevolent spirits. Both in bright colors, one might easily be confused which is which.
The most apparent difference between the dragon and the lion dance might be the number of people in it. The lion is controlled by two people, giving the lion 4 legs. One of them moves the head while the other holds the tail. Also, it has wiggling ears and blinking eyes.
The dragon dance, on the other hand, is maneuvered by more dancers as the dragon’s body is longer than that of the lion. It is guided by a man holding a dragon ball.
Nián Gāo or Chinese New Year's cake
Colloquially referred to as ‘tikoy’, nian gao is commonly served during Chinese New Year. Eating nian gao is considered good luck because it sounds like ‘higher year (nian means 'sticky' that sounds like 'year' in Chinese and gao means ‘cake’ which sounds like ‘high’ in Chinese). In addition, it is believed that Zaowang, the kitchen god, is set to report to the Supreme Being during this time. In order to prevent him from talking negative things about the household, families give him the sticky tikoy.
Within Cebu City, it is very apparent that the Chinese New Year is very near-- with the proclamation of January 23 as a national holiday by our President. Plus, you can see lots of red and chinese characters abound. Malls, restaurants and hotels offer Chinese buffets, promos and parties to signify oneness in this grand celebration.
Greetings
The greeting Kung Hei Fat Choy translates to “Congratulations and wishing you prosperity!” The first part of the greeting was coined when the people lived through the devastation of Nian and residents congratulate each other. This soon changed to surviving the cold winter before spring and evolved further to surviving the past year in general. The second part, obviously, is a wish for a better year ahead.
However, the famous greeting is not spared of issues. Kung Hei Fat Choi doesn’t appear to be politically correct, after all. A Chinese- Filipino pointed out the difference. “Kung Hei Fat Choi” is a Cantonese translation of congratulations and be prosperous. However, as most Filipino Chinese uses hokkien, the right greeting (in hokkien) should be "Kiong Hee Huat Tsai".
Personally, I don’t think the language difference is too much to be overlooked. While it is better to tell the correct translation, a good intention supersedes an honest mistake. Still, I encourage correcting the wrong information.
To my iSTORYAn family who speaks hokkien, Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!
To everyone else, Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Renato F. Sandal Jr.
iSTORYAn Contributor
iSTORYA.NET
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