Learning about a holiday that isn’t commonly celebrated can be hard. Especially with Lunar New Year, there are so many different traditions varied based on culture which make the holiday overwhelming, but learning from fellow Liberty students’ experiences can make it easier.
While the widely celebrated Western New Year falls on January 1st, the date for Lunar New Year changes every year, but it is generally celebrated sometime in January or February because it follows the moon cycle that determines how the months line up. Every new moon marks the beginning of a new month. To those who celebrate, this holiday means luck and prosperity.
Many Asian students at Liberty, specifically those who are Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese, celebrate Lunar New Year.
“Whether they’re Chinese, Vietnamese, or another Asian ethnicity, they all celebrate the Lunar New Year differently.” senior Kalliyana Tran said.
No matter which way students celebrate Lunar New year, it always includes the Zodiac animals. There are twelve Zodiac animals, with each year representing an assigned animal. This year, it is the Year of the Dragon. People who are born in the Year of the Dragon are believed to be charismatic, smart, confident, and naturally gifted. A common superstition is if it’s the year of one’s zodiac, that year is going to be full of bad luck, but there are various ways to help prevent that.
Preparing for the Lunar New Year often starts a week prior. Preparation includes getting haircuts, cleaning the house, and setting up red lanterns, which are some ways to help get rid of bad luck built up over the past year and promote good luck for the new year.
“Every year we decorate the house to prepare for our family gathering,” senior Isaac Tran said.
On the day of the holiday, there are also some traditions and superstitions you follow. To help promote luck many wear a traditional outfit, or red and gold, which is viewed as auspicious. Along with that, people are not supposed to shower the day of as that is viewed as washing away good luck. People often visit temples in order to pray for good luck for themselves and their family.
“I enjoy eating the candy that the monks at temples give out to celebrate,” sophomore Aiden Teng said.
Finally, at the end of the day, people eat specific dishes from their culture that symbolize good luck.
“For dessert, we have tang yuan. It has a symbolic meaning for the new year,” sophomore Cara Hu said.
Tang yuan, the Mandarin pronunciation, or tong yoon, the Cantonese pronunciation, is a traditional Chinese dessert consisting of sweet rice balls in ginger syrup. The rice balls can be accompanied with a variety of fillings such as red bean paste, black sesame paste, or peanut butter. The name tang yuan has a symbolic meaning because of its close pronunciation with the Chinese word tuen yuern (Cantonese) and tang yuan (Mandarin). While tang yuan is spelt the same as the dessert, it has a different intonation making it become “togetherness” in Chinese.
Red envelopes play a big role in the Lunar New Year. It is given to wish someone else good luck. Typically the red envelope is given from elders to children. This is seen as exchanging health and longevity.
