It is the time of the year to receive "hongbao"--red packets with crisp new dollar notes in them!-- and eat to our hearts' content! Well,at least this is how I view Chinese New Year hehe...The adults will view it as a time to spend though, since lots of gifts and "hongbao" have to be prepared.
"Chun Jie", literally meaning the Spring Festival, is the most important one in the Chinese calendar, as it symbolises the beginning of a fresh new year, heralding fresh hopes for happiness and prosperity among mankind. This time of the year is extremely important for reaffirming family and kinship ties. For many, especially the not-so-close relatives, they meet just once a year during this time. Family reunion dinners, visits to one another's house and exchange of gifts are activities which serve to remind the Chinese of the central position the family occupies in society. This festival is celebrated with great fanfare in all parts of the world that have large congregations of the Chinese community. Traditionally, we celebrate the Chun Jie over 15 days, from the 1st to the 15th of the Lunar First Month. Each of the 15 days is a day for each animal (I think) and the most important after the first 2 days is the 7th day: "Ren Ri", the day of man.
On this day,it is customary to eat the dish called, "Qi Cai Yu Sheng". This dish is very colourful and its main ingredients include carrots, white and green radishes, many assorted pickled vegetables (pomelo or lime leaves are most important as they add fragrance) and gingers, fruit(pomelo) and and spices like cinnamon and pepper etc to spice up the dish. The most important ingredient is the raw fish, thus the name "Yu Sheng" (Qi Cai means 7-coloured, or rainbow-coloured). Traditionally we use Sword Fish since it is the most delicious and delicate fish which complements the whole dish; however, nowadays, many high-class restaurants substitute Salmon instead. To top it off, a dressing made of sour plums paste,oil and lime juice is poured on top. For the finishing touch, we add in finely chopped peanuts,sesame and crackers! This is when the fun starts. The whole family will gather around this huge dish and "armed" with chopsticks, everyone will eagerly await everyone to be ready to toss the salad dish. This is called "lao yu sheng" and hopefully everyone will "lao qi" meaning to be successful in careers and do well in business. As you can see by now, Chinese loves to give names to things so that they rhyme or pun with auspicious words or sayings.Even food is given "auspicious" names to add to the atmosphere.
In fact, this dish is available from New Year's Eve's reunion dinner till the 15th day of the first month, not just eaten on the 7th day. My family definitely has it on the first day of the first month.
Eating this dish is but just one of many more interesting and meaningful activities we do during this period of time. In fact, lots of preparation have to be made way before the climax of this period,the first day of the year. One can feel the excitement like 15 days before the eve, as people start to go stock up on the new year goodies, known as "ban nian huo". Everywhere you go, you see people carrying bags of shopping (mostly food stuffs). People buy things as though they are free! I love to do this shopping with mum, as she goes from neighbourhood stores and markets to Chinatown to buy special dried goods like mushrooms and other delicacies like dried seafood etc. from the numerous medicinal halls there. These made appropriate gifts for relatives and friends alike (for the older generation that is hehe...)
It is almost a ritual to go to the wet markets which open almost 24 hours a day for 2-3 days before New Year's Eve. Special flowers like "yin liu", "yin chun hua", "diao zhong" etc are on sale. It is not new year until you go to a night market to buy all these flowers. The usually mundane markets are transformed into brightly-lit flowers' paradise at night. It is also a frantic time to stock up your fridge since the markets will be closed from noon on New Year's Eve (open briefly on the 2nd day maybe) till maybe the 6th day! For the past few years, the Chinese New Year is followed by the Muslim Hari Raya, so even the Malays are on holidays.The supermarkets are literally cleared out by the Eve, since EVERYONE has to stock up, not just the Chinese and Malays hehe...that's why you cannot blame us for being "kiasu" (afraid to lose out).
FuDao--Luck/Fortune Arrives
Other activities before Chinese New Year include spring cleaning. We have a saying, "Discard the old, welcome the new." Cobwebs and dust are regarded as bad, so we have to clean up the house for a brand new start for the new year. Then the house is brightly decorated with the new year flowers, couplets "Chun Lian" with nice sayings to bring luck. These are all usually in bring colours, especially red and gold, for they symbolise luck and wealth respectively.Some words like "fu"(luck) and "chun"(spring) are hung upside down, since upside-down is a pun for "arrives".
This colour symbolism extends to how we choose our new year clothes. We have to get a set of new clothes to welcome the new year too, and black and white are taboo colours, since they are associated with death. Rebellious cousins who wear these 2 colours will be "blamed" for anything bad that happens that year! *LOL* Joking, but really, the older generation will raise an eyebrow with disapproval.
However, as more of the elders are no longer
here, this "rule" is pretty much relaxed. Last year I even wore a navy-blue
"Qipao" (cheongsam,the traditional Chinese women's dress)! Everyone was
admiring it so much they didn't bother with the colour!Hehe... I know many
will say this obssession with colours is pure superstition, yet this
is so entrenched in our culture, why not respect it for the sake of our elders, if for nothing else? I'm pretty traditional so I do not mind observing such customs, since they make me feel a sense of belonging, a comfort of knowing that my ancestors had done this before, and hopefully
my children and the generations to come will observe these customs,
keeping our culture and heritage alive!
On the Eve, we family gather together to have the reunion dinner, known as "tuan nian fan" or "tuan yuan fan". Traditionally, a place is laid out for any absent members who for some reasons cannot make it back home (example like those who work overseas,no other reasons aceptable if you are in the country!) It is a must to wait for everyone to be home so we can start dinner. This could either be in a restaurant or in my family's case, mum will personally cook great dishes *yummy* I'm really grateful to Ma and want to say how much I appreciate her hard work. She truly is the unsung heroine, toiling day and night to make great dishes for the whole family. Without her, how will I be so "bai bai pang pang" (fair and fat :Þ )? It really is very tough on her, since she has had to do marketing days before the Eve, and on that day, she has to pray to the gods and welcome the new year. Useless me do not know how to do this so I cannot really help out. Stupid sis criticised her for suggesting that we have reunion dinner 1 day before the Eve instead, since usually they are leftovers and the next day no one will be at home to finish up the food. It is a practical move and really makes things much easier for my aging mum...she was so hurt by my sister's criticism that she is "neglecting her duties to cook" :( I just wish to say to Ma, that I greatly appreciate what you've done for all of us, and what better time than now to say a big "Thank You!!!
After dinner, the whole family will relax and enjoy the many special programmes on TV. Many families also can go to Chinatown to soak up the festive air. TV stations will have live programmes showing many different places like Chinatown, the S'pore river (where there will be floating lights and display) etc. Activities and games will be held, inviting the audience to join in too. Life perfoamances by TV artistes will add life to these shows. The climax will be of course, the count-down. Usually the animal for the year will be the theme :) 1998 is the year of Tiger if you still do not know. Sometimes,astrologers will tell the people what is the best time to "receive the God of Fortune" and the direction from which he will come. My mum does not "receive" him every year. Usually on the stroke of midnight, we'll just offer joss sticks to the Goddess of Mercy and pray to the open sky for the "Tian Shen", the equivalent of Zeus I think.
It is customary for children to sleep as late as possible;this is called "shou shui". This is done to make sure our parents live long and healthy lives, a show of filial respect if you would prefer to see it this way. After midnight and the children have fallen asleep, the parents will sneak a "hongbao" under their pillow. This is a pun on "ya shui qian",as "shui" --sleep-- sounds the same as age,"sui". This mean the children are 1 year older! Nowadays, since I sleep even later than my parents, we are given the red packet. We have to recieve it with 2 hands and thank them respectfully.
The next morning, the 1st day of the New Year, the FIRST thing we do is to
go to our parents and wish them "Gong Hei Fatt Choi". I am a Canotnese so
we speak Cantonese! Hehe...this is the same as
"Gong Xi Fa Cai" in mandarin,
meaning "Congrats,wishing you wealth!" (Another proof of the Chinese obsession with money!hehe) For breakfast, there is usually no time for more than a few pieces of fried "nian gao", a sticky cake made of rice flour
and yellow cane sugar that is steamed. The name is again asupicious, since
"nian gao" sounds like "nian nian gao sheng", meaning rising every year.
Rise here is in the sense of improving and becoming better.
For my family,we'll go to my bachelor uncle's house for a gathering. That is where my whole maternal family goes to (my paternal family is in Malaysia, so we never went there during CNY; just a simple call to my grandparents in the morning to wish them happy new year would do. Now that both grandparents are dead, even this call is done away with.) Dressed in our pretty new clothes, we'll go to my uncle's house. The doors are kept opened whole day long,so people could come and go freely. Whoever enters will be greated with "Gong Hei Fatt Choi!!!" enthusiastically and the greetings will be returned. The rest of the time will be spent indulging ourselves with the new year goodies like BBQ pork, chocolates, sweets and the assorted new year cookies like pineapple tarts, love letters etc. This is making me drool heheh. Also,the "pineapple" in Hokkien,a Chinese dialect, is "ong lai" and sounds like "prosperity comes";thus it is another auspicious food.
Oops, greedy me,I forgot to tell you that immediately after greeting everyone, especially the elders (grandparents, aunties and uncles), we will be busy receiving "hong bao" hehe. The women from each family will then exchange gifts ( normally the usual goodies and tidbits) as well as a small "hongbao" to "bai nian". You can see how "harassed" the women look, cos it is so difficult to remember who has been given the red packets and who have not. With such a big family as mine (about 50 of them in all!),this is even more difficult! Hehe but honest me always never take more than 1 red packet from each auntie lah! *wink* This red packet is very important; we are not shy to ask from whoever has forgotten to give us, since it is not the money that matters, but the well-wishes and auspicious meaning of "lai si"--luck and all the good meanings in Cantonese. Thus a red packet is given at many other ocassions like weddings and birthdays, even as bon voyage since it'll bring good luck.
Top:Xin Bottom:Nian Left:Jin Right:Bu--Improve this new year!
The next important thing during CNY is the mandarin oranges,known as "gum" in Cantonese (I think you get the idea that Cantonese has the most to do with all these auspicious names), which puns with "gold". Gold means wealth which no one has too much of! :) Cartons are sold during the season and in S'pore, they are imported mainly from "Swatow" (San Tou in China) and Isreal if I am not wrong. They have the juiciest and best mandarin oranges. Actually the mandarin oranges are not always the pretty bright orange colour you see in pictures. More often than not, the tastiest ones are of an ugly orangey-green and really ugly rough skin hehe...These oranges are used to "bai nian" and for children to hold 1 in each hand, and offer both in a respectful manner to the elders,greeting them as usual. In return, the elders will give the red packet to the kids, and at the same time saying things like "Xue ye jin bu" (good results) or "Quai gao zhang da" (grow up faster). By the way you can "recycle" the oranges (gifts even) since it is no point having a mountain of oranges at the end of the day hehe...One more thing is, those who are married will have to start giving out hongbao;there is no limit as to who can receive them though, so married children are eligible to collect hongbao too *wink*
Well,as usual, there are some things that should not be done. For example,on the 1st day, the floor is not to be swept, as it will "sweep away the fortune" (I'm all for it since I need not do the sweeping then! *LOL* But then...think of how dirty it'll be the next day :( ) Also,it is a big taboo to break anything, as it'll is a bad omen or will bring bad luck. But this is silly and has happened many times to us. With so many people in the house it is not difficult to break thing carelessly like a glass or bowl, especially with so many hands trying to help with the cooking in the kitchen. What is to be done is simply utter a phrase, "luo di kai hua!" meaning "hit the floor and blossoms!" I know this sounds silly but it is a literal translation; imagine a glass droping onto the floor; it'll shatter so to give it a nice meaning to drive away the bad connotation, we call it "blossoming" hehe... It is also bad to quarrel or have any conflicts during the new year, since it is supposed to be a new and goodstart. All old grievances and debts should be forgotten. That is why you should repay all debts before the New Year.
Fish, Yu in Chinese, is punned;Yu also means abundance
Usually in the afternoon, the aunties and uncles will gather together for gambling hehe...sometimes the kids will have a table and game of their own! *LOL* However, the girls will be delegated the duty of preparing the ingredients for the "yu sheng". The carrots have to be shredded and leaves cut thread-fine. The worst job is to cut the red chili! Now you know why I know all the ingredients of the dish; that 's cos my mum is in charge of making this dish! With such a big family, it is terribly expensive to buy for everyone, and rather inconvenient to buy from restaurants too! That's how my mum decided to cut down cost and learnt to make it instead! The exotic ingredients, which I do not even know how to explain in English, can all be found in a quaint little shop in Chinatown. My aunt who works nearby usually buys them. My mum will have to buy the other ingredients and prepare the fish a day in advance.
Actually it is customary for the daughters to go visit her husband's family first, and so is the reunion dinner. Traditionally, it is normal to say that "married daughters are like water thrown out" since she now belongs to her husband's family rather than her own. Yet ironically, many families I have known, including mine, are just the opposite. We are all closer to our mother's family rather than the father's. As for my case, it could be that my dad's family is in Malaysia, thus the distance posed a problem. Yet I have a friend whose mother's family is from Malaysia, and they travel to M'sia for the CNY celebrations! Hehe so it is better to have daughters now, since you gain a son rather than lose a daughter right? Even my brother is much closer to his in-laws than to us nowadays *sigh*
The second day is usually less exciting.We individual families must have
a "kai nian fan",meaning a meal to "open the year".It is the first family
meal for the year, and it does not matter if it is lunch or dinner. That's why certain provision shops and stalls in the market are opened to sell a bit
of food for people to cook. According to custom,the second day is for the daughters to bring her family to visit her parents, since the in-laws have priority. For our case, all of us go to our maternal grandparents so the
2nd day can be a bit boring, unless you go to visit friends or they you.
During the rest of the 15 days, friends and other more distant relatives will make an effort to visit one another. For the kids, the more people we
see, the more hongbao! Hehe... In S'pore, we only have 2 days off;the 3rd day is by right quite important still, but 2 days-off is really more than
what other races in S'pore get for their New Year. Anyway,with the Muslim
Hari Raya coming immediately on our 3rd day we get 3 days off afterall. And this year, we get 5 days off in a row 'cos of the weekend! But those who work
5 1/2 days week will have to return on Sat to work. *Sigh* I dread all the
make up lectures and classes that will follow though.
One interesting custom is also for parents and bosses to give working children and the employees a red packet respectively;it is called "kai nian hong bao" to start the year off.
Well, this is so much for how my family celebrates Chinese New Year. I wish you non-Chinese could come S'pore and celebrate this very special festival with me;however do not worry, I'll eat more on your behalf then! *LOL* :Þ
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