New Years may have happened already, but Chinese New Years is today (January 31st), and I’d like to reveal the little traditions that make this “new year” so fun.
First is the Chinese zodiac, and much like the western zodiac, it consists of 12 “signs.” But instead of signs like Libra, Capricorn, Leo, etc., we use animals. In order, the animals are: Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Your Chinese zodiac is determined by the year you were born. Most astrology websites can help you find your Chinese zodiac, if you’re curious.
But Chinese New Years is so much more than just our zodiac – there are little traditions that I learned growing up in a predominantly Buddhist-Taoist family (I say Taoist because Buddhism has many branches of religion). Below are a couple of my favourite traditions, beginning with the lucky red envelopes, known in Vietnamese as lì xì (shown on the right).
These small red envelopes usually contain money, and are often given out on Chinese New Years. Amongst family, children often receive these from their parents, uncles and aunts. The money, however, never has the digit 4 in it, as the digit 4 also resembles the word “death” in Chinese, and is therefore, bad luck. As an unemployed (and therefore broke) teenager, you can see why this is my favourite tradition.
The next little tradition I love are the Chinese fortune sticks. They probably have a proper title, but I always knew them as fortune sticks. These are flat sticks that are usually red on one side, with a number on the other. There’s somewhere around 100 sticks, all put inside a tall bamboo cup. After you pay reverence to the deities at the temple, you would kneel and form a question. After you have your question, you shake the cup in a slightly downward motion until one stick falls out. If more than one falls out, you have to do it again. Afterwards, you go to a numbered letterbox and find the corresponding number on the stick. There are hundreds of fortunes per stick, and no two fortunes are the same. You put the stick back into the bamboo cup, and take your slip of paper with the fortune on it to an interpreter. This interpreter will do what their job title describes, and interpret what may happen in the coming year. Interpreters also occasionally offer different services as well, such as face or palm reading (I’ve always wanted to try both).
I’m a sucker for astrology, so fortune sticks and face reading just draw me in. But traditions aside, Chinese New Years is a time of both receiving and giving luck and good omens.
I wish I could tell you more about Chinese New Years (including bribing a kitchen God – that’s a long story in and of itself), but for now, I wish you good health and happiness, and a happy Chinese New Years!
