Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox
Gongxi facai - Wishing you prosperity
Of all the Chinese festivals celebrated throughout the year, the Lunar New Year is the most important and spectacular. In ancient China, the New Year was a time when the emperor was honored by his subjects , and his position as the ruler of the universe was reconfirmed. Today the New Year heralds the coming of spring and the reunion of the family. And at no other time is there more cause for celebration.
This year, 2021, we welcome the Year of the Ox.
If you are an ox, you…
Are loyal, patient, and dependable.
Are most compatible with a snake, rooster, or a rat.
Could become a brilliant surgeon, general, or hairdresser.
Weeks before, Chinese cooks get together to make dumplings filled with ground pork, Napa cabbage, and garlic chives, or various vegetarian filling, since cooking on New Year’s day is forbidden. On New Year’s eve, the whole family gathers for a huge banquet. In addition to pan-seared, steamed or boiled dumplings, they may also feast on fried spring rolls, which resemble gold ingots, steamed clams which represent receptivity to good fortune and tangerines, oranges, and kumquats for good luck. Yu, the Chinese word for fish, sounds like the Chinese word meaning “surplus,” so in many parts of China, a whole fish is served to symbolize bounty.
Sleep is discouraged on New Year’s Eve, as the entire family stays up to welcome the New Year. (Many believe that the longer children stay up, the longer their parents will live.) At dawn the front door is opened and the master of the house says a blessing of prosperity for the coming year.
On New Year’s Day gaiety reigns as everyone goes to owatch the Dragon Parade. The dragon is the most important and powerful animal of the Chinese zodiac, and once a year it appears, to bring good fortune to everyone.
