Never lonely at the Lunar New Year International students reveal their celebrations of the ancient Asian & global festival phenom

Never lonely at the Lunar New Year International students reveal their celebrations of the ancient Asian & global festival phenom

Chinese New Year’s Day is called Guo Nian, which can mean celebrate a new year or overcome Nian. The character of Nian could mean a year or the monster Nian. Lucy (Jin Xuan Lu) and Theresa (Yue Ying Tao) are Grade 12 students from YGQ International School attending Brooks Secondary School’s international student program. Both students are from Beijing, China, and they will talk about the Chinese New Year. Lucy will talk about the Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival in China and Theresa will talk about the monster Nian (also known as Year).

NOT HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: SD47 international students Jin Xuan Lu and Yue Ying Tao are both far from their families in Beijing for this year’s Lunar New Year – the ultimate multigenerational celebration. What do they miss most?

Spring Festival BY JIN XUAN LU

“My family and I usually go to shopping malls to buy New Year’s items like Spring Festival couplets, red envelopes, and New Year’s gifts. We also buy the word “Fu” (meaning a blessing or happiness) and paste it on the door. On New Year’s Eve, I will go with my family to visit our relatives with New Year’s products. The elders will give us red envelopes and we will have a very rich New Year’s dinner with fish and meat. We will also make dumplings together and wrap coins in one of the dumplings. Whoever eats them will be lucky.”

There are many historical records and folklore about the origin of dumplings. Jiaoer, the original name of dumpling, was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, the medical saint of China. It is said that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of medicine, was once the chief of Changsha, and then he had to return home.

He returned just in time for the winter solstice and saw that the people in Nanyang were starving and cold, and their ears were frostbitten. At that time, typhoid was prevalent and many people died. After summarizing the clinical practice of the Han Dynasty for more than 300 years, Zhang Zhongjing built a local medical shed and set up a large pot to boil filled with mutton, peppers and herbs to dispel cold and heat. He wrapped the dough in the shape of an ear. After cooking, he presented the soup and food to the poor. From the winter solstice to New Year’s Eve, the common people have resisted typhoid fever and cured frozen ears. Since then, people in the countryside and later generations have imitated the production, called “Jiaoer” or “Jiaozi.” They also call them “flat food” or “hot dumplings” in some places.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, I begin to decorate with my family. We paste New Year pictures, Spring Festival Couplets and the word “Fu” to the door. We prepare red envelopes, and wait for relatives to pay a New Year’s visit.

Spring Festival Couplets are a common and important custom in rural areas of China and in cities when celebrating Chinese New Year. With black or golden characters written on red paper, Spring Festival Couplets are composed of a pair of poetry lines vertically pasted on both sides of the front door and a four-character horizontal scroll affixed above the door frame. When people post couplets they are showing their excitement in the festival and sharing their hope for a better life.

The Monster Nian BY YUE YING TAO

Legend has it that in ancient China, there was a monster with a long head and sharp horns called Nian (which means Year). Every New Year’s eve, Year, climbed ashore to eat the people and animals. Every New Year’s eve, the villagers fled to the mountains to escape the harm of Year.

One New Year’s eve, the people of the village were fleeing to the mountains, when an old man from outside the village appeared. He was a beggar in rags and on crutches, he had a white beard, silver hair and piercing bright eyes.

The villagers packed up their stuff and quickly fled. They were so scared that no one paid attention to the old beggar. An old woman who lived at the end of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to run up the mountain to avoid Year, but he did not.

The old woman left and joined the rest of the villagers in the mountain.

In the middle of the night, Year, the monster, broke into the village. It found that the village was different from before: the home at the end of the village had red paper on the door and candles burning inside.

Year let out a crazy shout and pounced towards the house. It was nearly at the door, when there was a loud explosion. The monster had never heard such a sound before –he shivered and dared not move forward. Then the door opened, and Year saw a someone in a red coat in the yard and heard an elderly laugh. He was so scared that he ran away and never came back.

The next day the villagers all returned to their village. They were very surprised that it was safe. Then the old woman remembered the strange old man and told the villagers about him. They all ran to the woman’s house, only to see red paper on the door, a pile of unburned bamboo in the yard still making “bang bang” explosion noises. Inside the house were a few red wax candles still lit.

They happy villagers celebrated and soon everyone in the village knew how to drive away the monster “Year.”

Former Camber College student Kim Kyungjun (John Kim) has been in Powell River for over a year, but will leave to spend the Lunar New Year with his family in Vietnam before he moves again.

Insider tips on the Korean New Year

BY KIM KYUNGJUN

Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in Korea. Young people go visit old peoples’ houses and greet to them. Old people give words of blessing to young people.

It’s similar to Christmas in Canada. At Lunar New Year, we usually get together with relatives at the grandparents house on Father’s side or the oldest son’s house. We make food for the altar.

And at Lunar New Year in the morning we do altar; after that we have special food.

Children get money from the elders. But usually parents take the money away from children and they say, “When you become an adult we will give you this.”

Young adults don’t like this holiday, because old people usually ask them personal stuff like about studying, getting into university, getting a job and getting married.

Nowadays many people don’t celebrate New Year and go to travel abroad with family. This year my family will visit Vietnam.