Chinese New Year
This past week, I celebrated Chinese New Year with my host family. On Wednesday (New Year’s Eve) we packed and headed to Meinong, a town about thirty minutes outside of Kaohsiung and the location of my host father’s dad’s house. I’ve always liked going to Meinong. It’s much more quiet than Kaohsiung, and I’ve really come to appreciate the small farming town in the Taiwanese countryside.
___Preparation___
Prior to our departure, we went to a market here in Kaohsiung earlier in the week to stock up on snacks to eat during our stay in Meinong. My host family told me that Chinese New Year would involve a lot of eating, a lot of watching TV, and a lot of lounging around, so we needed to buy snacks.
I had been to the market on a previous NSLI-Y trip around Kaohsiung, and it was virtually empty. This time, however, the market was as stuffed as a sausage with people seeking out New Year’s treats.
The first thing that came to mind was 人山人海, people mountain people sea, a common saying in Taiwan. In other words, there were people on people on people. I thought the Taipei MRT was crowded, but this street easily tops the list on most people I’ve ever seen crammed into a single location. It was insane.
Going to the market really did get me excited for Chinese New Year, though. Prior to going, I hadn’t really grasped how significant and spectacular the holiday woudl be. Seeing the quantity of people hurriedly stocking up on goods for the coming holiday helped me truly get in the mood. It reminded me a bit like the rush right before Christmas in America—overly crowded Wal-Mart, extra traffic on the road, mothers frantically buying wrapping paper at the Dollar Store, etc.
The market was loud and lively. Vendors were yelling in rapid Taiwanese, waving at passersby to come to their store. Most of the food was pretty much free to sample at your own will (think samples at Costco). One vendor yelling away in Mandarin started going on about how food was like clothing — you can’t buy it if you haven’t tried it yet. He kept trying to entice people to try the food he was selling. It was a wild and exciting place.
After forcing our way through the entire market, we burst onto the comparatively empty city street. There, I saw a shop selling 春聯 (Spring Couplets), that I’ve seen framing doors all around Taiwan. During Chinese New Year, people paste the spring couplets on their door frame to bring in good luck and prosperity for the coming year. They have auspicious phrases written on them, and I think the spring couplets are quite beautiful. I’ve been meaning to purchase a set to bring home because I want to buy souvenirs with significance rather than a lot fo knick knacks I’m likely to just throw away. At the store, I bought a set for 300NT (10USD), and I’m beyond excited about the purchase.
One of my host mother’s coworkers also gave her a smaller one with a character that I’ve been seeing everywhere, and I’ve been unable to find it’s definition anywhere. I asked my host mom about the character, and she explained it’s actually composed of four characters which together make up the phrase 招財進寶, which is about bringing in wealth and success.
This character is one of the countless examples of why I get so much joy from studying Chinese. I’ve always liked plays on words in English, and while this isn’t exactly the same, it still possesses the same qualities that make me love English so much. I think it’s absolutely brilliant to combine multiple characters into a single character, especially with such a wonderful meaning. Truly amazing.
___除夕(New Year’s Eve)___
Chinese New Year is not in line with the standard calendar used in the Western world because it follows the lunar calendar (農曆) instead of our calendar. Taiwanese people often consult the lunar calendar when deciding when deciding when to marry, when to pray, and when to move houses, so it still plays an important part in Taiwanese culture. Chinese New Year is an incredibly important holiday and unlike the Western New Year, it is followed by multiple days of celebration and family gatherings.
On New Year’s Eve, we arrived in Meinong in time for a nice lunch at a local restaurant. Then, my host mom took me to watch a family praying in the town. This time every year, the family members all gather and pray to their ancestors and the gods.
In Taiwanese culture, food is commonly used as an offering when praying. Businesses frequently have tables set up with incense sticks and food prepared to offer the gods. I love walking past the local McDonald’s and seeing Big Mac’s and cups of Cokes set up as offerings (see picture on left). It’s a really fascinating example of Western and Eastern culture mixing. Scenes like the one on the left are common outside of almost every business in Taiwan.
At this family’s gathering, everyone had prepared chicken, pork, and fish. My host mom told me how these are standard for praying. Without a doubt, people will bring these things and probably a bottle of rice wine as well. Fruit is fairly common as well. For people who don’t eat meat, there are also candies and cookies for sale in the shape of chicken, pork, and fish that one can offer when praying.
Below is a picture I took at the market mentioned above. These are cookies baked into the shape of chicken, fish, and pork, for those who don’t eat meat.
The location for the family gathering was at a very traditional home in Meinong. It is essentially the family homestead, and it has many generations all living in a the same complex. These are very common in more rural parts of Taiwan, but I have yet to see one in Kaohsiung. They may be there, but I think they are far less common.
When the entire family was gathered, people passed around incense sticks until everyone was in possession of one and they began praying. A man at the front of the crowd began talking, and everyone clasped their incense sticks in their hands, turned around, and bowed over and over again.
The smell of incense was strong in the air, as was the smoke. I’ve smelled the incense various times when wandering through temples, but I’ve never smelled it that strong. It filled the air, casting a haze over the otherwise clear day.
After the collective prayer was finished, the family members lit the barrels near the street on fire and began setting off firecrackers. The barrels were filled with yet another item common to praying in Taiwan: ghost money. They money is yellow, and it is burnt to give the ancestors money in the afterlife. Temples are equipped with a location to burn the ghost money, and it is incremental to prayer here. When the whole barrell was on fire, you could feel the heat radiating off as you passed by.
I’m thoroughly enjoying being exposed to religious practices in Taiwan because before coming here, I had a fairly singular exposure to religious practices. While I was more than aware that religions other than Christianity were prevalent throughout the world, I had never put much thought or time into better understanding them. Religion in Taiwan stands in stark contrast to what I was exposed to before coming here, and it’s truly been eye opening to learn about it. It serves as one of the countless examples of new things I’m being introduced to living in Taiwan.
After the prayer event was over, we returned to my host dad’s father’s house and rested until dinner. After dinner, my host family gave my host brother and I 紅包 (red envelopes) a traditional practice of Chinese New Year. The envelopes are given from elders in the family to the younger generation and contain money. After receiving them, one waits until returning home or being alone to open them, because it is considered rude to open them in from of the elders.
There is also another story related to envelopes. They are almost always red, and after being received one can place them under their pillow when sleeping for protection. As the story goes, around the time of Chinese New Year, a monster comes around and tries to eat children. This monster is afraid of red, so placing the red envelope under the pillow prevents the monster from coming to eat you. It’s kind of like putting a tooth under your pillow for the tooth fairy except that the tooth fairy isn’t looking to eat you.
___初一 (New Year’s Day)___
New Year’s Day started off bright and early when I was jolted awake to what sounded like cannon fire below my bedroom window. Firecrackers are also an incremental aspect of celebrating Chinese New Year, and honestly they started to get old after a while. They started during the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, and they continued far into the second day of the New Year. Not only that, but they went off at all hours of the day. The ones in the distance sound like a downpour on a metal roof, while the ones set off right near you sound like hundreds of trucks backfiring at once.
Despite the unwanted wake-up call, I managed to doze off before my intended 7:00am wake up time. After officially waking up, I went with my host brother and host mom on a walk around a local lake. It was still early, so it wasn’t too hot. It was a pleasant start to the day.
We returned for lunch and a rest. After eating lunch, I decided to head out and explore more of Meinong. It’s such a pleasant and beautiful town, and every time I visit, I love to explore the countryside. Right now, Meinong’s main attraction is their flowers. The government pays the farmers to plant flowers on their land to attract tourists to the area.
The Chinese word for these flower fields is 花海 which literally translates to flower ocean. I think the Chinese word suits what they look like more than any English phrase I can come up with. I honestly can’t even put into words how breathtaking the fields of flowers are, so I’ll let the pictures I took do the describing for me.
When I was finished meandering throw the fields of flowers, I set off to find more interesting sites around Meinong. I ended up at a temple, and decided to check it out. Temples are one of my favorite things to wander through, so I try not to turn down the oppurtunity to visit one.
When I was finished at the temple, I decided to head towards one of Meinong’s many mountains. I ended up at a path that went up the mountain and decided to walk up it. About halfway up, I stumbled on another temple. The view Meinong from the mountain was breathaking. The fields of varying colors meshed together at the seams, creating a patchwork of the landscape.
There are some superstitions surrounding the New Year. Part of the New Year has to do with bringing in good luck and starting off on the right food. Some people believe that on the first day of the New Year, one should not clean or wash clothing because it washes out the newly gained good luck. Along a similar logic, some are of the belief that one should not take medicine on the first day of the New Year because if they start off the year craving medicine, they will want it for the rest of the year. From the impression I get, these superstitions are not commonly believed or practiced in the younger generation. Like in America, many traditions are starting become less practiced with the younger generation.
___初二 (The Second Day of the Chinese New Year)___
I woke up bright and early on Friday took explore Meinong one last time before heading back to Kaohsiung. The temperature was perfect as I set out to explore the fields. I went the opposite direction from the day before, so there weren’t any more flower oceans to see. However, I still managed to find some pretty neat scenery.
Before fully escaping the main part of the town, I stopped to take this picture. You’ll notice the homes on the opposite side of the riverbank have red paper stuck to the doors and windows. Those are like the spring couplets I mentioned above and have the word 福 written on them, if I’m not mistaken. 福 is another one of the characters that I’ve seen every single day leading up to the Chinese New Year and it means “good fortune/happiness” (Definition courtesy of Pleco. What would I do without Pleco?).
People post 福 on their homes hoping to bring in good luck and happiness for the coming New Year. Oftentimes, people place the character upside down to symbolize 福 arriving and coming into the house.
I traveled along a stream, stopping to take pictures when something interesting caught my eye. Meinong is very much an agriculture-based community, so the outskirts of the town contain lots of animals and lots of fields.
After a lunch in Meinong with much of my host father’s extended family, we headed back to Kaohsiung. As always, I really enjoyed the break from city life that going to Meinong affords. However, I was also glad to get back into the city again.
On the second day of Chinese New Year, it is tradition to return to the maternal grandparents house for food and family time. Similar to a pot luck, everyone on my host mother’s side of the family prepared separate dishes and brought them all to their mom’s home for dinner. It was a really pleasant night, and I’m so fortunate to be able to take part in all of the Chinese New Year festivities.
One of the strengths of the NSLI-Y program in Taiwan is that we live with host families for the duration of the program. Living with a host family has not only boosted my language confidence, but it has also been a great way to learn about the culture. I am a strong proponent of learning through experience rather than through sitting in a classroom, and my time thusfar in Taiwan has really cemented that idea. These past few days, I feel like I have gained a far deeper understanding of Taiwanese culture than I could ever get from reading a book or watching a documentary. I will forever be appreciative for this unique experience, and I am eager for the remainder of the year!
新年快樂！
Brendan Ryan
