Happy Lunar New Year & Welcome Year of the Ox
Happy Lunar New Year! May the Year of the Ox bring many good blessings and prosperity to you and your family.
Growing up in a Chinese household, my siblings and I always looked forward to Lunar New Year. The celebrations starts in late January or in the month of February. In some ways, it is like having a second “festive season” after the Christmas holidays. That means more eating, more festive cheers, and more gifts!
To welcome the new year, we would observe some annual rituals. This includes meticulously cleaning the house to “sweep” away any bad luck. Along the same lines, we wear new clothes in any colour except black and white. These colours are associated with mourning. Lunar New Year is a joyful time so we wear red to symbolise prosperity. And, there are also superstitious rituals like not washing your hair on the first day of Lunar New Year. Or avoiding pointy objects such as knives and scissors as much as possible.
Festivities kick off on Lunar New Year’s Eve with a special prayer and offering to our ancestors at a local temple. This is then followed by a big family meal. A traditional meal usually consists of eight dishes as the number ‘8’ is associated with “fortune.” These dishes include whole fish for “prosperity”; noodles for “longevity”; Chinese dumplings for “wealth”; glutinous rice cakes for “higher success” and sweet rice balls for “togetherness.”
Welcoming the Year of the Ox
This year on 12th February 2021 marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox. Celebrations are observed for 15 days where kids receive lucky red envelope filled with money for a healthy and prosperous year ahead. And we would reply “Gong Hay Fat Choi” (translation: wishing you great happiness and prosperity). As a kid, getting these lucky red envelopes was a lot of fun! The atmosphere is jovial as friends and family come together to exchange new years’ greetings.
So what does the Year of the Ox mean? According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, there are 12 zodiac animals. In order, they are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
This year, 2021 welcomes the Year of the Ox (other Ox years: 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, and 2009). Individuals born in the Year of the Ox have traits of strength, reliability, hardworking, conscientious, and fair.
To welcome the Year of the Ox, we celebrated with a Peking-inspired roast duck and homemade Chinese dumplings. I say “Peking-inspired” because I didn’t have the time or equipment to air-dry the duck so the skin becomes parchment paper-like hence. The ingredients for the dumplings were simple, but making the little odd-shaped nuggets took some practice. I guess I’ll have to try making these dumplings again on the 26th February, which marks the end of Lunar New Year, otherwise known as Lantern Festival.
