TCCL Celebrates: Chinese New Year

Do you know much about the Chinese New Year? If your answer is “not really” or “I’d like to know more,” then you’re in luck! We have many free, virtual resources available to help you learn or teach others about the annual holiday, celebrated this year on Feb. 12. Read on to learn more!

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What is the Chinese New Year, and how does it differ from the New Year we celebrate on Dec. 31? Below are some excerpts from the “China” chapter of Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays (Vol. 4.), available digitally in our Gale Virtual Reference Library.

The Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is the oldest, longest, most festive, and most important holiday of the year for the Chinese and for many other Asians. It has traditionally been a fifteen-day festival signaling the end of winter and the coming of spring. It is a time to make a fresh start in living, reunite with family, and pay respects to ancestors. It is also a time to seek the blessings of the gods for the new year while driving out evil spirits and bad luck that might be lingering from the old.

The Lunar New Year is a movable holiday marking the first day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar. It begins at sunset on the day of the second new moon following the winter solstice, between late January and the end of February. It ends with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the same month.

There are many aspects of this holiday explored during the 15-day celebration period. Each category below is taken from the "Chine" chapter in Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays (Vol. 4.). Additional, relevant library resources are included in the categories.

FOLKLORE, LEGENDS, STORIES

On New Year's Eve, families gather to tell Chinese folktales about happiness, prosperity, and good fortune. Such tales help families create an atmosphere that will attract good luck in the New Year. They also enjoy retelling legends that are centuries old.

Check out these ebooks for kids about Chinese folktales in our catalog:

    

Another great resource for exploring Chinese folktales is our World Folklore & Folklife database. This excerpt goes into more details about the Chinese calendar as well as how and why folktales are a New Year tradition:

Curiosity about the origin of the Chinese New Year has given rise to many beautiful folktales trying to explain how the tradition began. One tale goes that long, long ago, there lived in the deep sea a monster called nian. Larger than an elephant, it had two long horns and many sharp teeth. At sunset at the beginning of each year, nian would resurface from the depths of the sea and go on shore to prey on people and their beasts of burden. Each year people would flee their villages before the monster's arrival and take refuge in the surrounding mountains.

Read the full story here. 

LUCK AND LANGUAGE (below excerpts are from the "China" chapter in Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays (Vol. 4.))

In the Chinese language, many words have the same pronunciation but different meanings. These "homonyms," along with words that rhyme, create the symbolism of the Chinese New Year celebration. Certain characters, foods, flowers, and colors are said to bring good luck because they sound like or rhyme with other words or phrases meaning good fortune, prosperity, wealth, good health, or happiness.

For example, people eat fish on New Year's Eve, because the word for "fish" is yu, which is pronounced the same as the word for "abundace." Oranges are also considered very lucky as New Year decorations and gifts, because the word for "orange"—gam—is pronounced the same as the word for "gold."

Did you know you can learn Mandarin or Cantonese for FREE through Mango Languages? There is even a specialized Mandarin course in Zodiac signs which focuses on conversation goals like asking when someone was born, talking about Chinese Zodiac signs and more. Learn more about Mango Languages and its Chinese dialect options here.

GIFTS AND ACTIVITIES

Both segments below are from the “China” chapter of Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays (Vol. 4.), available digitally in our Gale Virtual Reference Library:

Greeting cards: New Year greeting cards feature pictures of good luck symbols like dragons, deer, bats, pomegranates, and peaches. Banners hung on front doors sometimes show "the Three Stars," three smiling old men named Fu (Happiness), Lu (Success), and Shou (Long Life). Home altars displaying the family ancestry scrolls are decorated with oranges for wealth, tangerines for good fortune, and apples for peace.

Good luck gifts: The Lunar New Year is a time for giving gifts, especially money. Children receive red packets with characters meaning "good luck" printed on them. The red packets contain money, always in an even number, because odd numbers are considered unlucky. Children thank those who give them packets, but it is bad manners to open an envelope in front of the giver.

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FOOD AND RECIPES

No holiday celebration is complete without food. We’ve rounded up some New Year’s foods that are common in countries that celebrate a Lunar New Year. Each of the recipes described below is freely available in our AtoZ World Food database. Log in with your last name and TCCL card to find info about and recipes for these foods.

China

Almond cookies originated in southern China and became signature treats that are given to family and friends at Chinese New Year. Made with lard (after all, the Chinese national meat is pork), these cookies are crisp and light. Believed to have numerous health benefits, almonds were historically enjoyed in teas and clear aspics such as the classic dessert, almond float. 

Bok jai go, red bean cakes, are a classic Chinese treat that is often made during Chinese New Year. The steamed cakes are not overly sweet, and the red adzuki beans themselves provide some of the dessert’s sweet flavor. The name of the treat means “cakes in small bowls,” as bok jai go are traditionally made in small, individual portions. Red bean cakes are not usually found on restaurant menus, but they are commonly made at home.

Lo bak go is a Chinese New Year’s dish that symbolizes good fortune for the year ahead. A unique combination of grated turnip, rice flour, and Chinese bacon, lo bak go is steamed into a moist pudding and is garnished with toasted sesame oil and scallions. Oyster and sweet chili sauces are commonly used for dipping, but any sauce is a good accompaniment. 

On Chinese New Year’s Day, many Chinese families honor the Buddhist tradition of purifying body and palate with vegetables in harmony with nature’s bounty. Meat and seafood are not served on the first day of the New Year, a peaceful symbolic offering that seeks to avoid the shedding of blood while welcoming a prosperous year filled with joyful, natural abundance. Some recipes for lo hon jai include exotic ingredients such as dried lily flowers, lotus seeds and roots, and gingko nuts.

North Korea

Tteokguk: This mild, filling soup consists of a broth (guk) with thinly-sliced rice cakes (tteok), almost like rice pasta. While it can be eaten year-round, tteokguk is traditionally eaten on for Korean New Year because it is believed to bring the diner good luck in the coming year. Tteokguk is typically garnished with cooked eggs, marinated meat, and gim, an edible seaweed common in Korean cuisine.

Vietnam

Dưa món (pickled radish and carrot) is an important appetizer for Tết (Vietnamese New Year, which takes place Feb. 12), as it represents hope for an auspicious start to the year ahead. The striking orange and white colors of these root vegetables symbolize good fortune and abundance.