New Year
January 1st is the New Year, the very first and the most important festival of the year. It marks the beginning of the year, the beginning of spring, and the beginning of our ages. In China, everyone was one year old at birth, and everyone adds one year to their age on New Year's Day.
The preparation began many weeks beforehand. It was a radical housecleaning week. Every household was busy cleaning the whole house, including furniture and walls and doors, then shopping and decorating. The decoration of the front door was particularly colorful. At each door, we pasted the portraits of a good ghost, on red paper. The purpose was to guard the house against evil spirit or devil. Along each side of the door, on the outside wall, we pasted a parallel poem, also on red paper. The purpose was to welcome the New Year and to bless the house. Example:
It means, "The firecracker blasts the old things away. The peach symbol welcomes everything anew. Deep Spring shining on the blue ocean is like a dragon flying and swimming. The blooming flowers, the full blossom in my royal yard are like those beautiful birds' feather."
We used to ask a fourth granduncle to write those parallel poems for us. As soon as my brother and I were old enough, at 4th or 5th grade, we wrote them ourselves. It required good calligraphy. At the front entrance, we hung a kerosene lantern, same size, same shape and same color (red, of course) on every house. Imagine in those days, we had no electricity and fuel was in short supply and costly in the country. Once the sun set, there would be total darkness without the moon, except a flicker of kerosene or oil lamp here and there. Now during the New Year holiday, every single house showed off a kerosene lantern. The whole village was lit up and brightened. When we looked out at neighboring villages, we saw rows and rows of flickering lanterns, groups and clusters of bright lights. It gave a wonderful feeling, an unexplained innermost relief and happiness, an abundance of hope and brightness.
The celebration began at home, then in the village square, the district square (marketplace) and everywhere. Schools and shops were closed. Family members were all home. People who were away from home would travel hours and days to come home. It was a home gathering day. Mother cooked good food and plenty of food. Everyone wore good clothes or new clothes, especially children, especially red clothes. Foods were offered to our ancestors first, then we sat down at a big table and enjoyed it, like a banquet. Adults gave children gifts, a penny or so in a red envelope. There were firecrackers, candies, cookies, and toys. It was a happy day. Everyone says good words, happy words and congratulating words, to each other. Everyone was kind and generous to beggars and the poor.
In the village square or market place, we had dragon dancing. The dragon dance team wqs usually hired from neighboring villages. The team was organized by 2 to 3 dozen men and boys, well trained and all drilled in kung fu and many acrobatic acts. The dragon head was a huge hollow head-mask, fashioned half-dragon and half-lion. Its body and tail was made from a long beautiful cloth, decorated with colorful scales or feather-like embroideries. Two men played the dragon, one played the head part and one underneath the body and tail. They danced following the rhythm of a big drum and big gong. It was like a stage show. The crowd formed a big circle around the stage. In the front row sat the kids. The next rows of people sat on benches, or stood on foot, or stood on the benches.
The show had three parts. The first part was the dancing itself. They swung around and pushed around until the circle reached the right size. Sometimes a patriotic side show was added. The dragon played a sleeping lion, symbolizing China. (Napoleon said about China, "Let that lion sleep"). Then an actor came out and sang some patriotic songs or recited some patriotic verses. Examples:
"Wake up, you sleeping lion. It is about time. Let all of us wake up and be united. Unity is strength. We shall overcome."And so on.
The second part of the show was an acrobatic show of athletic skill. They had solo of kung fu, karate, tai chi, sword, dagger, stick, fork, etc. They had duet of fist fight, stick fight, sword fight, rumbling-tumbling, etc. I particularly like those little kids, about my age. I envy them. I always wished to learn kung fu. This part was most inspirational and educational.
The third part was the payment to the dragon team. By tradition and pre-agreement, we didn't hand them the money. Instead, we placed the money in an envelope (red, of course), and hung it way up on top of a flag pole, or from the balcony of a second or third floor, together with a bundle of lettuce, and a 10-foot long bundle of firecrackers. Then, if the team wanted to get paid, they had to climb up there and get it. So the team did. It was another show of athletic skill. They placed their strongest men at the bottom of the flag pole. Next pile stood on their shoulders, then a third pile stood on the second pile's shoulders, and so on. The dragon then danced its way up and up to the very top. Up there, it showed off a few more circus tricks, then grabbed the lettuce, "chewed it up to pieces", and splashed the pieces down onto the audience. The audience laughed. It then finally grabbed the envelope. Audience responded with thunderous applause. After the dragon came down, that long bundle of firecracker was ignited, and the audience dispersed amid the happy sounds of firecrackers, drums and gongs.
The climax and finale of the New Year celebration was on the evening of the 15th, a full moon night. Fireworks and "rockets" were fired at the village square, by everyone, grownups, kids, all ages. All size and fashion of fireworks were played, big ones, little ones, single explosive, double explosive, straight-up ones, mushroom ones, etc. It was quite a show. It was free for all. Anyone could fire a rocket toward the moon-shine sky. After all, the Chinese invented the rockets. It was beautiful, spectacular and exciting. I remember watching those flowery explosions way up in the sky, one after another, here and there, from our own village, and from neighboring villages.
The celebration lasted from a few days to a whole month. During this period, everyone is supposed to say good words to each other, such as "Hung hei faat choy" (wish you prosperity). Lettuce is called "sang choy." "Sang" means growth, life. "Choy" means prosperity. That was why lettuce was used as bait in the dragon dance. Since gambling was the main entertainment in the country, one was supposed to avoid those words sounding like "to lose." Rather, one should say words sounding like "to win." For example, the noon "book" was pronounced the same as the verb "to lose." So, you should say, "Hand me that WIN"; don't say "Hand me that LOSE."
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