Happy new year out with the pigs and in with the rats

Happy new year to the Irish Chinese and Chinese living in Ireland.
Irish Chinese Céilí

Irish Community Video

The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. Like the Western calendar, The Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore, because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. This year it falls on February 12th. A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each.
Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had a strong influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873. In Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and other countries with significant Chinese populations, Chinese New Year is also celebrated, largely by overseas Chinese, but it is not part of the traditional culture of these countries.

Message from President McAleese
On the occasion of its official launch, it gives me great pleasure to send my warmestPresident McAleese greetings to the organisers and participants in the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival.
With the onset of the Chinese Lunar New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the Chinese community in Ireland a prosperous New Year, and to thank them for their contribution to making twenty-first century Ireland the stimulating, cosmopolitan society that its has become.
I congratulate all who are involved in the organisation of this year’s New Year festival, and wish all participants a most enjoyable and stimulating celebration.
Irish Community Images

MARY McALEESE - PRESIDENT

The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart."

Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996
Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997
Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998
Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999
Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000
Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001
Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002
Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003
Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004
Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005
Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006
Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007
Irish Community Images

Dublin Chinese New Year Festival Association (DCNYFA) Opening Welcome
New Year Festival
Irish Community Images

The DCNYFA are pleased to present the Chinese New Year Festival 2008. We are delighted to welcome you to this exciting and dynamic programme of events for Dublin city. It inaugurates the 4706th year of the Chinese calendar, and marks the start of a fresh twelve year cycle commencing with the Rat.
The Chinese Community has a long tradition in Ireland and especially in Dublin, starting back in the 1950’s when many will remember the first Chinese Restaurants such as the ‘Universal’, ‘Luna’ and ‘Sunflower’. From those small beginnings, a wide and diverse Chinese Community has grown with residents settled here from all parts of China. We are proud to bring you this colourful festival that includes many cultural features and community activities for Dublin City. We hope that this is the first in what will be a sustainable and vibrant annual festival in the years to come. Watch out for the year of the Ox 2009. Two of our key stars in this year’s festival are the gorgeous Chinese Red Panda living on our own doorstep in Dublin Zoo, and the acclaimed and award winning film “Still Life” at the IFI.
The year 2008 will be a remarkable year for the Chinese. The 8/8/2008 sees the opening of the 29th Olympiad: the Olympic Games in Beijing. We are sure this will be a fantastic few weeks of sport and we wish all our athletes and our team the very best. We hope to see some teeth biting gold for us in August.
2008 is also the European Year of Inter-cultural dialogue. We believe that this diverse festival will reach out to all communities and allow them to share their own cultural experiences with those of the Chinese, thereby encouraging and fostering a solid foundation for integration.
Irish Community Images

Chinese New Year events Ireland
Celebrating the Year of the Rat
Events are planned over a ten-day period throughout Dublin to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which is on 7 February.
Click here for the Festival's official website
1 February
Opening ceremony of Chinese New Year celebration
Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar
Follow Dublin Zoo's Asian Trail
Dublin Zoo, Phoenix Park
(Until 9 February)
2 February
Chinese Arts and Crafts
Hugh Lane Gallery
12-1pm, 1.30-2.30pm and 3-4pm
Let's Walk and Talk - Discover Dublin 2,000 Years of History
Tourist Office, Suffolk Street
2pm
3 February
Chinese Arts and Crafts
Hugh Lane Gallery
12-1pm, 1.30-2.30pm and 3-4pm
International Table Tennis Tournament
Sports Recreation Centre, Irish Wheelchair Association, Blackheath Drive, Clontarf
9-5pm
5 February
Launch of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Pack
UCD Sports Centre
Belfield
6 February
Dragon Boat Racing
River Liffey
Dublin
7 February
Love is Forever
Button Factory (Temple Bar Music Centre)
Temple Bar
Dublin
8pm
9 February
Smithfield Chinese Carnival
Smithfield Square
12pm-7pm
(continues until the 11 February)
Talks on animals from Asia
Dublin Zoo Learning and Discovery Centre
Phoenix Park
10am-5pm
10 February
International Badminton Tournament
Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club
Mount Pleasant Square
Ranelagh
2pm-6pm
11 February
Chinese Festival Closing Ceremony
Smithfield Chinese Carnival
Smithfield Square
6pm
Week-Long Events (1 February - 10 February)
Writers Centre, Parnell Square
Hosting several activities
Call 01 872 1302
Dublin City Libraries
21 of the libraries will host Chinese-themed workshops
Check your local library for events
BrokenTalkers Tour
Walking tours will take place everyday
Call the Project Arts Centre Box Office 01 881 9613

Information on the Chinese New Year
History
It is unclear when the beginning of the year was celebrated before the Qin Dynasty. Traditionally, the year was said to have begun with month 1 during the Xia Dynasty, month 12 during the Shang Dynasty, and month 11 during the Zhou Dynasty. However, records show that the Zhou Dynasty began its year with month 1. Intercalary months, used to keep the lunar calendar synchronized with the sun, were added after month 12 during both the Shang Dynasty (according to surviving oracle bones) and the Zhou Dynasty (according to Sima Qian). The first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang changed the beginning of the year to month 10 in 221 BC, also changing the location of the intercalary month to after month 9. Whether the New Year was celebrated at the beginning of month 10, of month 1, or both is unknown. In 104 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established month 1 as the beginning of the year, where it remains. This year the Chinese New Year will be on Thursday, February 7, 2008.

Mythology
According to legend, in ancient China, the Nián (年) was a man-eating beast from the mountains (in other versions from under the sea), which came out every 12 months somewhere close to winter to prey on humans. The people later believed that the Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the colour red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the colour red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián (simplified Chinese: 过年; traditional Chinese: 過年), which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passover of the Nian.

Festivities
The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known as "new-year visits" (Chinese: 拜年; pinyin: bàinián). New clothings are usually worn to signify a new year. The colour red is liberally used in all decorations. Red packets are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. See Symbolism below for more explanation.
All these festivities may vary from region to region and from family to family.

Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying "Wash away the dirts on ninyibaat" (年廿八，洗邋遢), but the practice is not usually restricted on ninyibaat(年二八, the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-panes a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start (though, as described below, it may be considered bad luck among some.)

In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are also taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, and replaced with new decorations. A paper effigy of the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions, is also burned in order to report to the Jade Emperor of the family household's transgressions and good deeds.

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the dinner every family will have. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year's Eve dinner. In northern China, it is also customary to have dumplings for this dinner. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. After the dinner, some families go to local temples hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new lunar year.
Chinese New Year fireworks in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong
Chinese New Year fireworks in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

First day of the new year
The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before.

Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers.

While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards, which have resulted in increased number of fires around New Years and challenged municipal fire departments' work capacity. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain premises of the city. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience.

Second day of the new year
Incense is burned at the graves of ancestors as part of the offering and prayer ritual.
Incense is burned at the graves of ancestors as part of the offering and prayer ritual.

The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Traditionally, daughters who have been married may not have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently. On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

Business people of the Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer to start their business on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year.The prayer is done to pray that they'll be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business for the year.

Third and fourth days of the new year

The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends due to the following schools of thought. People may subscribe to one or both thoughts.

1) It is known as "chì kǒu" (赤口), meaning that it is easy to get into arguments. It is suggested that the cause could be the fried food and visiting during the first two days of the New Year celebration.[citation needed]

2) Families who had an immediate kin deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead. Some people conclude it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all.

Fifth day of the new year

In northern China, people eat Jiǎozi (simplified Chinese: 饺子; traditional Chinese: 餃子) (dumplings) on the morning of Po Wu (破五). This is also the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on this day, accompanied by firecrackers.

Seventh day of the new year

The seventh day, traditionally known as renri 人日, the common man's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older.

It is the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten. This is a custom primarily among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore. People get together to toss the colourful salad and make wishes for continued wealth and prosperity.

For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat.
Chinese New Year's celebrations, on the eighth day, in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.
Chinese New Year's celebrations, on the eighth day, in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Ninth day of the new year

The ninth day of the New Year is a day for Chinese to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven (天公) in the Taoist Pantheon. The ninth day is traditionally the birthday of the Jade Emperor.

This day is especially important to Hokkiens and Teochews (Min Nan speakers). Come midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Offerings will include sugarcane as it was the sugarcane that had protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago. Tea is served as a customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person.

Fifteenth day of the new year

The fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as Yuánxiāo jié (元宵节), otherwise known as Chap Goh Mei in Fujian dialect. Rice dumplingsTangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns.

This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.

Reunion dinner
A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far away, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish. In some areas, fish (simplified Chinese: 鱼; traditional Chinese: 魚; pinyin: yú) is included, but not eaten completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" (traditional Chinese: 年年有餘; simplified Chinese: 年年有余; pinyin: nián nián yǒu yú) sounds the same as "may there be fish every year."

In mainland China, many families will banter whilst watching the CCTV New Year's Gala in the hours before midnight.

Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. These packets often contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness, and good fortune. Several of the Chinese food names are homophones for words that also mean good things.

Superstitions during the New Year period
The following is a list of beliefs that vary according to dialect groups / individuals.

Good luck

* Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.
* Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.
* Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.
* It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, as explained below, cleaning the house after New Year's Day is frowned upon)
* Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Asians will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
* Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.
* The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.

Bad luck

* Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The word "shoes" is a homophone for the word for "rough" in Cantonese, or "evil" in Mandarin.
* Buying a pair of pants is considered bad luck. The word "pants"(kù) is a homophone for the word for "bitter"(kŭ) in Cantonese. (Although some perceive it to be positive, as the word 'pants'(fu) in Cantonese is also a homophone for the word for "wealth".)
* Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
* Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
* Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious as well.
* Buying books is bad luck because the word for "book" is a homonym to the word "lose".
* Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional funeral colour.

Register

The Irish Community have posted
7 REPLIES TO THIS TOPIC
for logged in members to view.

Irish Forums Message Discussion :: Happy new year out with the pigs and in with the rats

Happy new year out with the pigs and in with the rats

Irish Community Video