The Chinese New Year is incoming. It'll be the D-day tomorrow, and I do believe many people have started in the festivities of the new year. No doubt the people who are Chinese, and those whose ancestors came all the way from China, are preparing for this biggest of holidays of China, and I believe it will be proper to share several things about this new year I've just learned from Chinese class at school.
But first, let me just put it out that indeed, I am an Indonesian who has Chinese blood. However, I must learn the language and traditions, due to the New Order regime of Soeharto, who made us hide away.
The most striking things during Chinese new year are of course the big red decorations, the big dragon dance parades, and surely the big fat red packets filled with money (红包, hóng bāo). Also, the less grand traditions must include Chinese cuisine.
The night before the New Year, which is this night, we will always have a big, big feast, where family and friends gather together: the new year's eve dinner (年夜饭 nián yè fàn). This feast would never be complete with some of the traditional dishes and snacks. But, what's the story behind them? Why must people eat fish, new year cakes, dumplings, and much more during the new year?
It all comes down to language.
Chinese has much, much different symbols for each word, and many words are written differently but read the same way. Yes, the language has four tones (or five, counting neutral tone), but even then, there are countless words with the exact same syllable with the exact same tone. No wonder people--myself, included--become confused. These words are homophones, which are pronounced the same. We find them in English all the time: I and eye, there and their, pi and pie.
First, we have to eat fish during the new year. However, we must not finish the fish during that night; we must save it for tomorrow. It turns out, the Chinese word for fish (鱼, yú) and surplus (余, yú) is pronounced exactly the same. Thus, by saving our fish for the day after, the old men say that this will bring fortune, surpluses year after year. This goes along with the proverb, 年年有余, nián nián yǒu yú.
Next up, new year cakes, or here we call them kue keranjang. Truthfully, never been too keen on eating one of those of its strange color, but supposedly it tastes sweet, and kids usually like them. And kids should like them, as it'll make them taller. See: the term for new year cakes in Mandarin (年糕, nián gāo) sounds the same with the word for tall (高, gāo). For older people who cannot grow taller, at least it'll make their fortune 'step up' (步步高升, bù bù gāo shēng).
Another important dish to eat are dumplings (水饺, shuǐ jiǎo). Well, this one is only sometimes found in my new year's eve dinners, though a mainstay in other countries. This one's sound does not really match any proverbs, thankfully enough. However, their traditional shapes look like old Chinese money. So, by eating them, you'll be blessed with good fortune.
Those three are just about all foods and snacks described in detail in my Mandarin classes. However, here we almost always have to eat mandarin oranges and sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds, or kuaci as we call them (瓜子, guāzǐ), as life-giving pieces of a plant is promised to give us plenty of descendants (多子多孙, duō zi duō sūn). The oranges (桔子, júzi), which look rich and juicy, is the only peculiar one with seemingly little connection to its proverb, promises to bless us with good fortune (大吉大利, dà jí dà lì).
There we go, the most-eaten dishes of the Chinese New Year. Each has its own meanings, dating back to ancient China, brought around the world with the spread of this rich, ancient culture. Surely, there are still many, many dishes and even decorations of the New Year, each with proverbs to go with them, but that won't fit in one or two articles, and besides, I haven't learned that much Mandarin. So, prepare these treats for this night, to bring yourself fortune!
I'll be back to weathering my cold, then. Seriously, why must a flu strike right before Chinese New Year?
Next up, new year cakes, or here we call them kue keranjang. Truthfully, never been too keen on eating one of those of its strange color, but supposedly it tastes sweet, and kids usually like them. And kids should like them, as it'll make them taller. See: the term for new year cakes in Mandarin (年糕, nián gāo) sounds the same with the word for tall (高, gāo). For older people who cannot grow taller, at least it'll make their fortune 'step up' (步步高升, bù bù gāo shēng).
Another important dish to eat are dumplings (水饺, shuǐ jiǎo). Well, this one is only sometimes found in my new year's eve dinners, though a mainstay in other countries. This one's sound does not really match any proverbs, thankfully enough. However, their traditional shapes look like old Chinese money. So, by eating them, you'll be blessed with good fortune.
Those three are just about all foods and snacks described in detail in my Mandarin classes. However, here we almost always have to eat mandarin oranges and sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds, or kuaci as we call them (瓜子, guāzǐ), as life-giving pieces of a plant is promised to give us plenty of descendants (多子多孙, duō zi duō sūn). The oranges (桔子, júzi), which look rich and juicy, is the only peculiar one with seemingly little connection to its proverb, promises to bless us with good fortune (大吉大利, dà jí dà lì).
There we go, the most-eaten dishes of the Chinese New Year. Each has its own meanings, dating back to ancient China, brought around the world with the spread of this rich, ancient culture. Surely, there are still many, many dishes and even decorations of the New Year, each with proverbs to go with them, but that won't fit in one or two articles, and besides, I haven't learned that much Mandarin. So, prepare these treats for this night, to bring yourself fortune!
I'll be back to weathering my cold, then. Seriously, why must a flu strike right before Chinese New Year?
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