Chinese New Year is recognized by a number of names. It is
called Lunar New Year, Spring Festival and Gua Nian in Chinese. Chinese New
Year is one of the longest celebrations as it is carried out for 15 days. It
begins with the first new moon of the Lunar New Year and ends on the full moon
day.
Celebrations are marked with parades, dinners, reunions,
exchange gifts, food festivals, lion dances, dragons and more. People follow
year-old traditions during the two-week celebrations and hold reunion dinners.
Cleaning and decorating the houses are major rituals of the Chinese New Year
celebration. All these are done before New Year's Eve day.
A big part of any holiday tradition is, of course, food and
drink. When I think of parties, celebrations, reunions and other events tied to
specific holidays, I can't help but also think of the foods on the table and
the drinks overflowing in our glasses as they said "cheers,"
"santé," "l'chaim," "prost," and the like. That
certainly holds true for New Year celebrations - on any calendar. And, at the
end of this month, families and friends will come together again to ring in the
Chinese New Year - and say "gan bei" and "yam sing."
The foods enjoyed during New Year are similar to those
consumed during the rest of the year, but with a special emphasis on bringing
luck in the coming year. Potstickers and dumplings, for instance, are eaten
across China
every day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But New Year potstickers are
special, shaped to resemble gold and silver ingots to bring wealth in the year
ahead. Peanuts are said to bring long life, so during New Year celebrations
some cooks will add peanuts to potsticker filling. And the shape of spring
rolls already resembles gold bars, so more of these are eaten during New Year
than any other time.
Rhonda Parkinson, list down some of the foods that has
symbolic meaning they prepares during Chinese New Year.
Symbolic Chinese Foods
What are the symbolic meanings of a certain foods? It is
based on the appearances or how it looks on occasion.
Just like for example, serving noodles will stand for a long
life; an old superstition says that it's bad luck to cut them. Serving a whole
chicken through the Chinese New Year season symbolizes family togetherness.
Both clams and Spring Rolls symbolize wealth; clams because of their
resemblance to bouillon, and Spring Rolls because their shape is similar to
gold bars.
On the other hand, a food may have special significance
during Chinese New Year because of the way the Chinese word for it sounds. For
example, the Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like rising fortune, so it is
very common to serve a lettuce wrap filled with other lucky food. Tangerines
and oranges are passed out freely during Chinese New Year as the words for
tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively. And let's not
forget pomelos. This large ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as
the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word for "to have."
Fish also play a large role in festive celebrations. The
word for fish, "Yu," sounds like the words both for wish and
abundance. As a result, on New Year's Eve it is customary to serve a fish at
the end of the evening meal, symbolizing a wish for abundance in the coming
year. For added symbolism, the fish is served whole, with head and tail
attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year.
And what about the sweet, steamed cakes that are so popular
during the Chinese New Year season? Cakes such as Sticky Rice Cake have
symbolic significance on many levels. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich, sweet
life, while the layers symbolize rising abundance for the coming year. Finally,
the round shape signifies family reunion.
So if you missed the fireworks and celebrations on New
Year's Eve, don't worry - you'll have another chance to celebrate. Chinese New
Year falls on January 31 in 2014. It is the Year of the Horse.
