Don't forget to invite the ancestors
By Xu Wenwen |
February 1, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
With only one day to the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Hangzhou people are bustling to ring out the old year and ring in the new.
They are loading up on food - abundance and surplus are essential - and planning to serve big meals as well as enjoy them in a series of essential visits to relatives for the first three days of the Lunar New Year.
The entire festival period is 15 days long, culminating in the Lantern Festival on the night of the 15th, first night of year with a full moon. This year's Spring Festival starts on Thursday.
A number of customs are followed, from serving a meal for ancestors, to burning incense and praying on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
29th day of the last lunar month
The most important day is tomorrow, the end of a lunar year. But today, xiao nian ye, is also a big day and not only for ordinary people, but also their ancestors.
While people stock up on food for themselves, on the second to last day befor the Lunar New Year, people prepare one hearty meal, either lunch or dinner, for their forefathers. The event is called "Inviting the Ancestors."
It may seem unusual to cook for the dearly departed, but just as people offer sacrifices to gods, they also must prepare food and keep it on the table for a while. The idea is that the souls of the ancestors will enjoy the food and there will be a spiritual family reunion between the living and the departed.
There are rules for the ancestors' meal.
First, there should be an odd number of meat dishes and the same number of vegetable dishes. Usually even numbers, especially in couples, are auspicious in China but since the meal is for the dead, the rules are reversed.
Second, a place must be set at the table. There must be a chair, tablewear, bowls, chopsticks and cups filled with alcohol.
Once everything is ready, the family will light some candles to summon forebearers. Before the candles burn down, they burn paper money (zhiqian) in a basin as an offering to the dead, so the ancestors have money to spend in the new year.
When all the money is burned, the living family can sit down to dinner.
Lunar New Year's Eve
An old Hangzhou saying goes, "Food for the 30th, clothes for the 1st," meaning that the Lunar New Year's Eve is to be celebrated with a feast, nian ye fan.
In the old days of scarcity, the basic four required dishes were chicken, duck, fish and pork for nian ye fan. But today these foods are easy to come by so fancier dishes, such as seafood, are required. Fish is a must for all Chinese families, however, because the word for fish, yu, is pronounced like the word for surplus. At least one fish dish must be served, and that special fish must not be eaten up; it must be left over, or surplus, so there will be plenty and a surplus of fish, food and money in the next year. In a sense, it is last year's leftover fish. The saying "nian nian you yu" literally means every year has surpluses.
In the same way, some cooked rice must be left in the rice cooker, to symbolize rice (food) left over from the previous year, and rice for the coming year.
The first day of the Lunar New Year
Despite the old Hangzhou saying, "clothes for the 1st day," few Hangzhou people put on new clothes only for the first day of the year, since shopping is so common today.
But the tradition of shao tou xiang, or burning the first incense stick at Lingyin Temple persisits.
Shao xiang, or burning incense, is the most common way to worship spirits and gods. People light incense, kneel, kowtow and pray silently.
Shao tou xiang refers to the first stick of incense burned, especially on the Lunar New Year, as many people think shao tou xiang has the greatest merit and brings the most good fortune, so they try to burn the first incense of the year in a temple.
Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple has been a major destiantion since ancient times because it is one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China.
Pilgrims start arriving before midnight on the Lunar New Year's Eve so they can burn the first incense stick of the New Year before dawn.
2nd to 7th days of Spring Festival
Visiting is an important part of Chinese Lunar New Year, so people then drop in on relatives and friends (as well as receive them). Giving gifts and gift money in red envelopes (hongbao) to children is essential.
The visiting period used to be the first three days of the year, since people used to work on the fourth day, but now since the national holiday is extended, the visiting can be extended and the burden of eating huge meals can be spread out.
15th day of the first lunar month
The 15th day is the first night with a full moon, and Spring Festival does not end until the moon becomes round. This is the Lantern Festival, which falls on February 17 this year.
During the day, Chinese people are supposed to eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls with sweet stuffing), symbolizes the wish for sweet family reunion. People go outdoors carrying paper lanterns, admiring displays of lanterns and taking part in games to answer riddles pasted on strips of paper on big lanters.
The Lantern Festival is spectacular in Hangzhou. Not only does the full moon hang in the sky, but also the West Lake and Grand Canal are decorated with lanterns and lights reflecting on the water in the moonlight.
They are loading up on food - abundance and surplus are essential - and planning to serve big meals as well as enjoy them in a series of essential visits to relatives for the first three days of the Lunar New Year.
The entire festival period is 15 days long, culminating in the Lantern Festival on the night of the 15th, first night of year with a full moon. This year's Spring Festival starts on Thursday.
A number of customs are followed, from serving a meal for ancestors, to burning incense and praying on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
29th day of the last lunar month
The most important day is tomorrow, the end of a lunar year. But today, xiao nian ye, is also a big day and not only for ordinary people, but also their ancestors.
While people stock up on food for themselves, on the second to last day befor the Lunar New Year, people prepare one hearty meal, either lunch or dinner, for their forefathers. The event is called "Inviting the Ancestors."
It may seem unusual to cook for the dearly departed, but just as people offer sacrifices to gods, they also must prepare food and keep it on the table for a while. The idea is that the souls of the ancestors will enjoy the food and there will be a spiritual family reunion between the living and the departed.
There are rules for the ancestors' meal.
First, there should be an odd number of meat dishes and the same number of vegetable dishes. Usually even numbers, especially in couples, are auspicious in China but since the meal is for the dead, the rules are reversed.
Second, a place must be set at the table. There must be a chair, tablewear, bowls, chopsticks and cups filled with alcohol.
Once everything is ready, the family will light some candles to summon forebearers. Before the candles burn down, they burn paper money (zhiqian) in a basin as an offering to the dead, so the ancestors have money to spend in the new year.
When all the money is burned, the living family can sit down to dinner.
Lunar New Year's Eve
An old Hangzhou saying goes, "Food for the 30th, clothes for the 1st," meaning that the Lunar New Year's Eve is to be celebrated with a feast, nian ye fan.
In the old days of scarcity, the basic four required dishes were chicken, duck, fish and pork for nian ye fan. But today these foods are easy to come by so fancier dishes, such as seafood, are required. Fish is a must for all Chinese families, however, because the word for fish, yu, is pronounced like the word for surplus. At least one fish dish must be served, and that special fish must not be eaten up; it must be left over, or surplus, so there will be plenty and a surplus of fish, food and money in the next year. In a sense, it is last year's leftover fish. The saying "nian nian you yu" literally means every year has surpluses.
In the same way, some cooked rice must be left in the rice cooker, to symbolize rice (food) left over from the previous year, and rice for the coming year.
The first day of the Lunar New Year
Despite the old Hangzhou saying, "clothes for the 1st day," few Hangzhou people put on new clothes only for the first day of the year, since shopping is so common today.
But the tradition of shao tou xiang, or burning the first incense stick at Lingyin Temple persisits.
Shao xiang, or burning incense, is the most common way to worship spirits and gods. People light incense, kneel, kowtow and pray silently.
Shao tou xiang refers to the first stick of incense burned, especially on the Lunar New Year, as many people think shao tou xiang has the greatest merit and brings the most good fortune, so they try to burn the first incense of the year in a temple.
Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple has been a major destiantion since ancient times because it is one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhist temples in China.
Pilgrims start arriving before midnight on the Lunar New Year's Eve so they can burn the first incense stick of the New Year before dawn.
2nd to 7th days of Spring Festival
Visiting is an important part of Chinese Lunar New Year, so people then drop in on relatives and friends (as well as receive them). Giving gifts and gift money in red envelopes (hongbao) to children is essential.
The visiting period used to be the first three days of the year, since people used to work on the fourth day, but now since the national holiday is extended, the visiting can be extended and the burden of eating huge meals can be spread out.
15th day of the first lunar month
The 15th day is the first night with a full moon, and Spring Festival does not end until the moon becomes round. This is the Lantern Festival, which falls on February 17 this year.
During the day, Chinese people are supposed to eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls with sweet stuffing), symbolizes the wish for sweet family reunion. People go outdoors carrying paper lanterns, admiring displays of lanterns and taking part in games to answer riddles pasted on strips of paper on big lanters.
The Lantern Festival is spectacular in Hangzhou. Not only does the full moon hang in the sky, but also the West Lake and Grand Canal are decorated with lanterns and lights reflecting on the water in the moonlight.
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