2005 may be freshly bloomed, but the year is nearly at an end on
the Chinese lunar calendar. Soon families across the Pacific will
begin gathering to usher in the year of the rooster, and
Chinese-Americans in Morgan Hill are bringing a taste of the East
to their friends and neighbors.
2005 may be freshly bloomed, but the year is nearly at an end on the Chinese lunar calendar. Soon families across the Pacific will begin gathering to usher in the year of the rooster, and Chinese-Americans in Morgan Hill are bringing a taste of the East to their friends and neighbors.
Chinese New Year’s begins on Feb. 9 and ends on Feb. 26.
On Feb. 19, the group Asians for a Better Community will host a New Year’s dinner at the Morgan Hill Community Center featuring Chinese Opera, martial arts exhibitions and the well-known dancing lions seen in many parades for the holiday throughout the world.
In the United States, the holiday is best known for these colorful dancing characters as well as firecrackers and the gift-giving tradition of red envelopes containing money.
“In China it’s a time for family get-togethers and a time to celebrate togetherness,” said Teresa Chan, vice president of the ABC and a Morgan Hill homemaker. “Sometimes the family members are not exactly close by, so Chinese New Year is the time when everyone comes back and we have good food together.”
After the filling meal, which consists of 12 dishes symbolizing positive attributes like longevity, good fortune, good luck and prosperity, families stage their own programs in the home.
They sing songs, play instruments and perform for parents and grandparents, receiving the red envelopes in exchange.
But once families reach America, traditions frequently begin to lose ground, receding with each successive generation.
To keep traditions alive for new members of the extended group, the ABC set up a Chinese school for local children and adults last year, teaching language and preserving ethnic identity.
The adult classes also help spouses to communicate, since a growing number of male Chinese immigrants are choosing to return home in order to find their brides, said Susan Fan, treasurer of the ABC and a realtor in Morgan Hill.
“I think we’re trying to establish that connection so that it doesn’t get lost,” said Rosemary Kamei, president of the ABC and a second-generation American. Growing up in a multi-racial household she did lose many family traditions to the desire for conformity. “Many things, if you don’t practice, you lose. One of the reasons that we established the Chinese school was so that language and culture could be continuous.”
Twenty of the school’s children will sing for attendees at the New Years dinner, which drew 200 people in 2004 and is expected to meet the same number again this year.
“Last time we had a performance with dancing and a harp,” said Fan, “but this year we’re having something different. Since it’s the year of the rooster, we’ll be having a chicken dish, and we’re also going to give out red envelopes. Ours won’t have real coins, though. They’re chocolate.”
In future years, Fan said the group hopes to incorporate flower arrangement, calligraphy and the popular game of mah jong into the celebration.
The Chinese New Year is celebrated in accordance with the Chinese lunar calendar, which also divides personality characteristics by the year of birth.
2005 is the year of the rooster, characterized by hard-working, decisive personalities who are unafraid to speak their minds, an attribute often mistaken for boastfulness. Yoko Ono, Rod Stewart, Mia Farrow and Eric Clapton are a few famous roosters.
Chinese New Year History
The first Chinese celebrations of the New Year were noted as early as 2000 BC and were closely tied to the legend of the Nian, a beast that was said to arise and eat people on New Year’s, according to an article from China Online available at www.About.com.
Legend tells that an old man learned how to conquer the Nian, repelling it with loud noises. The tradition is still celebrated today, as thousands of firecrackers are set off during the 15-day New Year’s celebrations.
“Today it represents something to scare the bad and the past away,” said Teresa Chan, vice president of the Morgan Hill-based group Asians for a Better Community. “We also beat drums when I was little, and that’s also to do with making noise and scaring away bad things. The new year is about happiness.”
