Culture Celebration

Chinese Lunar New Year (春节)

Celebration at Bryant University

"Pretty girls" by the visiting Chinese high school art troupe

When: Saturday, February 7, 2009 From 10:30 am through 3:00 pm

Where: Bryant University Multipurpose Activities Center (MAC) 1150 Douglas Pike Smithfield, RI 02917

What: Performances by the Art Troupe of the Highs School affiliated with the Renmin University of China (中国人民大学附中艺术团) and local community groups PRIZE, FOOD, AND MORE!

Admission is free and open to the general public. There is a $7 fee for lunch.

 
Tradition

The Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese at home and abroad. Generally falls in January or February based on the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year of 2009 is on January 26th.

The Chinese New Year traditions have been around for thousands of years, including the legend of Nian. It is believed that Nian, literally meaning “year” in Chinese, is a ferocious beast eating people on New Year’s Eve.  It is said that Nian dislike the color red, loud noises, and fire. Thus, on New Year’s Eve, people will put red paper couplets on their doors, set off fireworks and light torches to scare away Nian. The next day, people celebrate and rejoice that they kept Nian away for another year.

In present day China, most of these traditions still remain. Leading up to the New Year, people will clean their entire house, hoping to sweep out the ill-fortune and to start the New Year on a clean slate. On New Year’s Eve, families get together to celebrate the holiday with delicious dinner.  Parents give their children red envelopes filled with money, usually in even numbers because odd numbers are considered unlucky.  The rest of the night is filled with family games, watching the New Year’s celebrations on television and setting off firecrackers. Many Chinese people will stay up all night to embrace the arrival of the new year while eating the hand-made jiaozi, which are dumplings boiled in water.

The celebration of Chinese New Year will last till the 15^th day of the January on Lunar calendar, known as the Festival of Lanterns. It is the first night to see a full moon at the very beginning of a new year. There are thousands of colorful lanterns hung out to highlight this event. People will eat Yuan Xiao, a traditional round-shape food made of sticky rice and seasmine pastry stuffy.

The Chinese have twelve zodiac animals. Starting with rat, they are ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig, which all rotate through a twelve year cycle. These zodiacs are supposed to represent the personality and characteristics of a person born in that year. 2009 is the year of Ox. It is said that people born in the year of the Ox are hardworking, strong, steadfast, and goal-oriented, while also being stubborn and introverted.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Tradition

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon Festival, is one of the two most important traditional holidays for the Chinese. The festival falls on the 15^th day of the eighth month on the lunar Calendar, usually sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October on the Western Calendar.

In China the full moon symbolizes reunion so the day is also known as a festival of reunion. All family members try to return home on this special day. Those who cannot go home watch the full moon and feel deep longing for their loved ones faraway. The day is also considered a harvest holiday, like Thanksgiving here in the U.S., since fruit, vegetables, and grain are harvested by this time.

Worshipping the moon can be traced back 2000 years to the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasty and celebrations have evolved throughout China's history. During the Southern Song Dynasty, people sent round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts. The Mid-Autumn Festival that is currently celebrated gained popularity during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Celebration at Bryant University

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration features a Pipa performance (a Chinese traditional string instrument) by Yang Wei, a celebrated Chinese musician, and a Chinese folk dance by Dongni Wan, a Bryant student from China, followed by a reception.

Mr. Yang Wei, the renowned Chinese Pipa Player

Yang Wei has toured with the acclaimed Silk Road Project, performing alongside world famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma since 2000. Yang Wei began his musical education in China at the early age of 6 and focused on the pipa at 13, achieving domestic and international acclaim on the instrument. Yang Wei has toured from coast to coast in the United States, performing at the Ravinia International Music Festival, the Kimmel Center, Lincoln Center, and the Chicago Symphony Center. He has also served as artist-in-residence at Chicago's Art Institute.