Chinese New Year offers spirit of renewal of life

Chinese New Year offers spirit of renewal of life

By Myra Sidharta.

JAKARTA (JP): Chinese New Year is a festival celebrated to
herald the arrival of the spring. Weeks before, the Chinese have
prepared themselves for this very important event.

Debts are settled and houses are cleaned, otherwise Guan Gong,
the kitchen god who goes to heaven every year, will report to the
Lord of heaven that the housewife is sloppy and the man is not
reliable in his business. Sweet delicacies for offerings are
placed on the family altar in order to influence his report,
which must be sweet and favorable to the family.

The food and decorations prepared are all full of
symbolic meanings. Decorations have to be predominantly red and
gold. These colors are the colors of joy, happiness and
prosperity. Additional colors are allowed, but no black or white,
for these are the colors of mourning. Most decorations make a
soft tingling sound, which adds to some sweet music in the air.
But according to the superstitions, the sound chases the evil
spirits away. Of course, as far as sound is concerned, nothing
beats the sound of firecrackers and these should not be missing
during this festival.

Favorite gifts are the pussy willows and mandarin oranges. The
first one symbolizes endurance and strength, because the hardy
plant with the slender but sturdy branches can survive the
winter. The second symbolizes auspiciousness and sweet things in
life. Children usually receive a hong bao, money in a red
packet, which has the connotation of good luck and prosperity.
They are usually considered rewards for showing filial piety.

On New Year's day, the family gathers at the family home and
pays respects to its ancestors by burning joss sticks at the
family altar. In China, people usually wish each other well with
the coming of the spring. In Hong Kong, where accumulating wealth
is very important, they wish each other prosperity and more
wealth.

Food may vary according to the wishes of the family, but
serving fish is a must, because the sound of the word "fish" is
similar to the sound of the word "abundance" in Chinese. Noodles
are also served because it symbolizes longevity.

Celebrations continue even after the three holidays, when
nobody is allowed to work, not even to sweep the floor.
Highlight is the 15th day, the evening of the first full moon.
Early in the morning, people go to the temple to take the God
out, to whom the temple is devoted, for a ride in a sedan chair.
They tour the whole neighborhood, and the members of the
community take turns carrying the sedan chair. Some people may
slip into a trance, which is a good omen, for they are doing
penitence for their sins. In the evening, the young people go out
to celebrate. They are allowed to tease each other, and nobody is
allowed to get angry.

Unmarried girls bring mandarin oranges and throw them secretly
at the boys they like.

Indonesia

If you want to find out how the Chinese New Year is celebrated
in Indonesia, you should know first that the Chinese community is
not homogeneous. Some are more traditional, others more
Indonesianized or Westernized. The traditionalists celebrate the
Chinese New Year in style, the others vary from celebrating a
little to not at all.

First of all, the traditions have been somewhat modified
because we do not have four seasons here and do not have some of
the fruits or plants required for a good New Year celebration. We
use the bunga sedap malam, a strong scented flower on long stalks
to replace the pussy willow. Kueh lapis or layer cake, consisting
of many, many layers which take almost a whole day to bake are
served.

Many people have converted to other religions, and thus find
it difficult to pray for the kitchen god. This tradition is
thus abolished in most households, although they still observe
the serving of sweet delicacies. Visiting the older members of
the family and giving money in red pockets is still a tradition
and the children like it very much. Sharing a meal together is
also still a tradition, either in a restaurant or at home.

Sonya, a friend, does it to honor her mother. Her mother
looks forward to her visit. She has made the preparations for a
lunch and cakes for the guests, so she expects the children to
come home.

Sonya brings her fruits and flowers, and together they
celebrate this happy occasion. She does not think to continue
this tradition. But when we visited Chinatown recently, she
became excited to see the decorations for sale there and although
she didn't know the meaning of the symbols, she bought a few to
"get into the mood of the New Year".

For another friend, Ong, Lunar New year brings back pleasant
and unpleasant memories of old days. But what is most important
to him is the good food that people serve. He goes to those who
have the best food. He also visits others to pay his respect by
bringing presents and fruits. He sees this festival as a time to
renew old ties and an opportunity to meet them again. He does the
same thing to his Moslem friends on Idul Fitri and to his
Christian friends on Christmas or New Year's day.

A group of young people had something else in mind. "We are
going to celebrate Chinese New Year at my friend's place," said
Lisa. "We are going to wear Chinese dresses, or a kebaya with
lace like the Indonesian Chinese women used to wear. And the food
we are serving will be the traditional food. We will be going to
Glodok (Chinatown) to buy the ingredients and the decorations and
we will also have some fireworks."

Asked why she did that, she answered: "We have celebrated
Oktoberfest, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in traditional
style. This tradition could only add to our interest in Chinese
culture. After all, we are taking part in globalization and for
us, this also means interest in and respect for cultures other
than ours. It is the spirit of renewal of life that makes this
event particularly interesting."

"And what about the throwing of mandarin oranges? Will that
be on the program too?"

"That should add to the fun of the evening. We will certainly
have some of the oranges in the house for those who want to throw
them at their Prince Charming."

Judging from Lisa's plan, we might expect that Chinese New
Year will still be celebrated for many years to come, not only by
the traditionalists, but also by young people who know nothing
about the tradition.