For Americans, the new year begins the first of January, celebrated by the drop of a ball in Times Square when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. For the Chinese, the new year starts today.
The New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is an important celebration in Chinese culture. It is the longest holiday of the year, starting today, the beginning of the solar-lunar calendar, and not ending until Feb. 19. Sweeping and cleaning is prohibited the first day in order to keep good fortune and stores are closed for at least the first five days or the entirety of the celebrations.
The Spring Festival is also important to the University of Wyoming’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA). The association will host a gala accompanied by singing and Chinese instruments at 4 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Arts and Sciences Auditorium in celebration of the New Year, followed by a dinner in the Union Ballroom at 6 p.m.
The celebrations mark the start of the Year of the Pig, the symbol of wealth and the 12th zodiac animal. The Chinese zodiac, a 2,000-year-old system that represents the years with animals and their assigned attributes, is an integral part of Chinese culture.
According to myth and ChineseNewYear.net, the zodiac animals were ordered on the calendar based on the time they arrived to the Jade Emperor’s party. The Pig was last to the party because he overslept (in one version) or because a wolf destroyed his house and he had to rebuild it, a story similar to the English children’s story “The Three Little Pigs.”
Each animal is associated with an element from the ancient Chinese calendar system hài. The pig is associated with the Earthly Branch. Previous years have been Fire (2007), Wood (1995), Water (1983) and Metal (1971), according to ChineseNewYear.net.
In China, the New Year’s celebration starts off with firecrackers along with greetings between neighbors. It is a time to look up to the stars and predict the fortunes for the year. The next 14 days of festivities are assigned to specific events, including Day of the Rat, Break Five, Day of the Human, Stone Festival and Lantern Festival.
The Lantern Festival happens the last day of the Spring Festival, Feb, 19. A common game while preparing the lanterns, which according to superstition bring luck to adding new children to the family when lit, is to write riddles onto the lanterns. People may also gaze through the lanterns to look at the full moon to celebrate the last day.
If students have the Pig as their zodiac sign, their lucky colors are yellow, gray and brown, and their unlucky colors are blue and green. Lucky numbers are 2, 5 and 8, while unlucky numbers are 1, 7 and 9.
For more information on the Chinese New Year CSSA’s gala and dinner, students can contact Zhe Chen at zchen6@uwyo.edu.
