GONG xi fa cai!
It is almost Chinese New Year and we are welcoming the year of the fire horse.
But before diving into the festivities and stuffing our faces with pancit and tikoy, let us first understand what we will be celebrating.
The Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated on the second new moon after the winter solstice. It is also known as the Spring Festival, where the traditions during the celebrations aim to bring luck and prosperity to the new year.
Speaking of traditions, the main practices done during the celebration of Chinese New Year are wearing red and lighting firecrackers. These both originated from the legend of Nian. Stories say that every Lunar New Year, Nian, the monster with sharp teeth and horns, would leave its underwater nest and attack a nearby village.
Despite its ferociousness, Nian was said to be afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and the color red. According to the legend, a man used these to scare the monster away. And since then, it has become a tradition.
Following what the man from the legend did, people now hang red banners with auspicious words and phrases on their doors to both ward of Nian and welcome good fortune.
Ever been told not to sweep the house on New Year’s? Well, in Chinese tradition, it extends even up to the fifth day of the new year because it is said that it will sweep away the good luck the new year has brought.
At the same time, the house must be cleaned before the new year as this is believed to be a way to remove the bad luck that has accumulated in the past year.
Meanwhile, many believe that it is also bad luck to cut or even just wash your hair on the first day of the new year. The explanation for this is that the Chinese character for the word “hair” is also the first character in the word “prosper.” Cutting or washing the hair then is like removing the fortune away.
When planning the menu for the Chinese New Year celebrations, make sure that you include dumplings. Besides it being a delicious Chinese cuisine, dumpling’s Chinese word is “jiao zi,” which is similar to the ancient Chinese phrase for “new replacing the old.”
Dumplings also have a shape that looks like the gold used in ancient times as money. Having dumplings then is like having a pile of gold, attracting wealth in the new year.
Year of the fire horse
Every Lunar New Year corresponds to each of the 12 Chinese zodiacs in the following order: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. It is accompanied by an element: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
If you were born in 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, and 2014, you belong to the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac. And only those born in 1966 share this year’s fire element.
Those born in the Year of the Horse were said to be lively, energetic, courageous, and enthusiastic. On the flip side, they are not known to be good at hiding their emotions.
They also have a keen eye and strong logic.