Happy Chinese New Year
By Greg Hallberg
Published February 14, 2010
Muslims travel to Mecca for their annual pilgrimage and Americans depart for holiday travels at Thanksgiving, in November each year. Those are the three biggest human movements of enormous throngs of citizens, but Chinese New Year is far and away the largest each and every year, during the late-January to mid-February Western calendar. Literally hundreds of millions of Chinese are on the move, to return to their hometowns and small rural villages, along with city-to-city transit, to be with family members that they perhaps have not seen since last year’s Spring Festival – another name for the New Year’s celebration, as well as what is commonly referred to as the Lunar New Year.
Although filled with fireworks and rejoicing in modern times, the origins of this holiday were born out of fear and myth. Legend spoke of a wild beast, the Nian (which is also the word for “year”) that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. He was finally driven into the woods and kept at bay by firecrackers, red lanterns, and red spring scrolls hung on windows and doors, as the color red was despised by the beast. To this day these traditions to ward off the Nian continue. As I often stroll the French hypermarket Carrefour for household staples or groceries, I can find an enormous section of the big-box store filled with everything red and CNY significant. The always present stocks of door knots to welcome family, the curious window stickers, lanterns, paper and cardboard wall hangings, figures of the year’s zodiac animal, and much more. Rather like a Christmas or Halloween display each year for the rest of us.
This year’s festivities begin on February 13th and run for fifteen days with the 14th being the first day of the Chinese New Year, this is the Year of the Tiger. During these celebrations people decorate the streets and houses with poems on red paper, wear red clothes and give children “lucky money” in little red envelopes as red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck – still the most revered color in Chinese culture. Migrant blue collar workers that have earned small fortunes (by rural standards) also come back home and give family members red envelopes full of cash, both as a vehicle of respect and to further support the extended family. In most companies, the boss will hand out a red envelope with a cash “bonus” for each of their employees, too.
The CNY calendar fluctuates slightly every year, commencing from roughly January 21st to a possible beginning date of February 19th. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits such as the Nian. Today, the fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom.
Speaking of the fireworks, and I can tell you from personal experience, that they are everywhere, usually commencing in the evenings during the holiday. On every street corner, commercial-sized detonations take off, and fly over your head as you walk down the streets. I watched one evening from the balcony of my Shanghai apartment, as they flew at eye level, on their way far up into the night time skies. U.S.-style safety restrictions are not to be found – and frankly speaking, it is quite safe and few street fires erupt. But the noise has to be similar in intensity and duration to the Allied Forces D-Day Invasion onto the beaches of Normandy, France during World War II. It is almost incomprehensible to us Westerners, the huge amount of pyrotechnics that go off, for several days in a row. In most cities, commerce shuts down, and the foreign expatriate population leaves for places such as Japan or perhaps non-Chinese foreign lands, for the duration of the festival. I prefer to stay put at home in Shanghai.
The Chinese calendar is based on the cycle of the moon, which determines that each month is approximately 29.5 days long, beginning with a new moon. The years progress in cycles of 12 and it is helpful to appreciate the subtleties of Chinese symbology since each year is represented by an animal and the characteristics of each animal and its way of life are used to identify different types of people and their personalities. Cultural differences are apt to get in the way if we attempt this identification ourselves; whereas Westerners would describe the Rat’s character, for example, as sly and crafty, the Chinese respect its quick and native cunning instead. Each animal is governed by an element which determines its intrinsic nature. The cycle of 12 is repeated 5 times to form a larger cycle of 60 years and in each of these cycles, the animals are ascribed an element with either a yin or yang characteristic, which further defines their characters. The traits used are based also on Chinese astrology: water, earth, wood, fire, and metal.
One of the 12 animals represents each lunar month, each with its own element governing its intrinsic nature. Over 60 years, the Five Elements mentioned above work in a cycle that in effect spins, so that each animal can become Water, Earth, Wood, Fire, or Metal, which determines its profile. In a full analysis by an experienced Feng Shui consultant, each of us will have a collection of eight elements that together make up not only our character, but also our destiny.