Since living in China for almost a year the only major celebration that I had missed was the Spring Festival which is commonly known in the United States as the “Chinese New Year”. I had heard some details from Cory on the incredible size and scale of the celebration which seemed unimaginable at the time. Rest assured, I was preparing myself for a celebration on a massive scale which I felt would be a capstone experience here in China. I was going to find out that for all of my mental preparation I still would find myself in disbelief at the sheer awesomeness of it all.
The Spring Festival includes elements of ancient Chinese culture as do all important traditional celebrations in China. The Spring Festival has been celebrated in China for nearly four-thousand seven-hundred years making it one of the oldest annual traditions in the world today. The Spring Festival ushers in the New Year based off of the lunar or “moon” calendar. On the beginning of each new lunar year thousands of firecrackers are fired off to scare away a mythical creature called “Nian” (pinyin). This mythical creature is fabled to come at the beginning of the lunar year to each village and ravage the livestock, grains, and even take away small children. Chinese tradition holds that villagers must place out food in front of their homes in order to allow the “Nian” to gorge itself before it can take away anything of value to the family. The present day celebration maintains many of the traditional elements including family gatherings, gift-giving, fireworks, auspicious symbolism, large meals, and lots of drinking.
I was soon to find out the enormity of this holiday a few days in advance as anxious youngsters started firing off fireworks in advance of the first day of celebration. Cory and I were welcomed to share in the festivities by our supervisor at Southwest University, Mr. Tian. The twenty-third of January was the first official day of celebration which included two large family meals with the Tian family. Before the meal I watched as the family burned incense candles to auspiciously signal luck and fortune in the New Year. The first meal was held at the home of one of Mrs. Tian’s relatives which included a wonderful assortment of delicacies. Each traditional Chinese celebration includes a variety of foods meant to represent the bountifulness which will hopefully be present in the coming year. Some of the foods included steamed pork, tender beef slices, wild vegetables, etc. The meal also included pig’s feet and a couple of other dishes which Cory and I stayed away from. Overall the meal was delicious and a nice way to begin the holiday season.
That evening another important meal was held with the Tian family at the same home as was at lunch. The home looked extremely clean which apparently is an important part of the Spring Festival preparation. According to legend, it is extremely bad luck to not have your home tirelessly cleaned and food cocked before the festival begins. Dinner included a homemade hot pot feast which is always a favorite of the local people of Chongqing. Chongqing is known in China as being one of the five “furnaces” which symbolizes the incredible heat that is prevalent each summer. It also reflects the hot pot food which is steamed in spicy “la jao” seasoning which seems interesting to me since the weather is already incredibly “spicy” for most of the year. I am in the opinion that maybe serving food that was not spicy might be better to try and cool the body but what do I know? I guess in the end the hot pot food does make you sweat which is a natural way of cooling the body. While eating such a meal it is common even in winter to see a person wiping off sweat from their forehead. At these Spring Festival meals the main beverage is rice wine called “Bai jiu” (pinyin). This liquor is not known well in the United States but it can certainly match up to any counterpart in potency. In a strange reflection of Chinese culture it is seen as being almost impolite to not leave a meal a little drunk.
I find this aspect of their celebrating a bit of a dichotomy as much of Chinese culture is based off of saving-face at all costs. The dichotomy lies in the fact that it seems to me that the more inebriated a person gets the less their away of their surroundings and more likely to do something less endearing in nature. Chinese cultural mores reject personal individualism at a cost to group dynamics and constrain individuals to be mindful of maintaining peaceful relationships at all times. Therefore, it puzzles me as to why so many people have absolutely no problem getting drunk at family gatherings. A person who is drunk will always make mistakes and can unfortunately negatively impact their relationships in the process.
At most important meals in China there will be a couple people who drink so much that they do something embarrassing. Many Chinese people will tell you that this is not disrespectful though because it is a result of the liquor working within the person and not the true intentions of that individual. From a psychological standpoint it is easy for me to see why the people would want to have this way to release a little of their inner-self constraint in this sort of open setting. I believe that in this culture many Chinese restrain their inner feelings so much that they feel relieved that at least in a family setting this sort of behavior is permissible. The dinner table really expresses to me a different part of Chinese culture in itself truly making China a “table culture”. My supervisor described China as a table culture to me a long time ago and after being here for a year it seems something quit apropos.
I greatly enjoyed my experiences at both meals on the first day of Spring Festival. Each family member seemed in great spirits as did most of the people I passed by in town. I learned that an important part of the Spring Festival is forgiving people and previous trespasses from the previous year. Traditionally, the Spring Festival was a time to let go of old disputes and work on building sincere relationships in the coming year. As I am not Chinese I am unable to personally experience this aspect of the celebration; however, it looked as if people truly were at least attempting to put their best foot forward in the future.
Another important part of the Spring Festival is the giving of the presents, usually money, to the younger members of the family. These red envelopes or “Hongbao” (pinyin) represent the giving nature of the celebration which acts as a western Christmas and Birthday present. Interestingly, the person who is celebrating their own birthday hosts the party and pays for everything often spending exorbitantly to show off his/her prosperity. This usually occurs on the morning of the first official day of celebration when family members get together for the first time. I did not see this part of the celebration so I cannot comment further on it.
Throughout Rongchang traditional Chinese characters suggesting “longevity”, “wealth”, “fortune”, etc adorned the homes of residents and businesses alike. These characters accompanied red paper colored couplets which represent many positive things in Chinese culture such as, passion, fire, happiness, success, etc. The town was also canvassed with beautiful neon lights which glimmered in the night for all to appreciate.
One of the most incredible aspects of the entire Spring Festival for me was the amount of fireworks. I can really not attempt to tell you how this affected me as I have never been exposed to such a number of fireworks before. At first, it seemed very amusing to me and really exciting as people were not inhibited to fire off any firework no matter of size, scope, or potential damage to private property. Parents did not even attempt to hold back children from firing off fireworks literally at their own feet. Two kids through a little firework almost at my feet one night which caused me to jump back a bit in self defense. The police stood idle to all onlookers and did not even attempt to restrain individuals. Throughout the two weeks fireworks were fired off continuously as I could wake up at any time during the morning and hear some off in the distance. Luckily, my apartment was away from the center areas of the city so my sleep was not interrupted. In some areas of China fireworks are restricted and permitted only in center city areas for certain times during the Spring Festival; however, in the countryside the celebrating is not limited by local authorities in the slightest.
For the next several days Cory and I were continually invited to eat at each meal which included the best food possible as is tradition. Often, the meat that is served includes a high fat content which reflects the traditionally tasty cuts of meat that have been a part of the festival throughout time. The other major foods types are vegetables and rice which is a staple of all Asian meals. As for liquor, I prefer to refrain from drinking the stronger rice wine and stick to beer as it is costume to have to drink large quantities at meal time. When a person makes a toast directed at you it is custom to finish the entire glass in one big gulp. People are given smaller shot sized glasses to drink with; nonetheless, drinking at the dinner table takes away from the food in my opinion as it is very important to ritual each toast by standing to show respect.
Overall, I enjoyed the Spring Festival and will always cherish the great and lasting memories of my Chinese family and friends!
E.K.
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