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.