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Stride into Year of Ox with hope for change

By Zhu Yuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-24 08:04

We're two days away from what we the Chinese call nian, Spring Festival.

People from various ethnicities in different parts of the country celebrate the festival in their own different ways. But the point of the celebrations is the same for everyone - change.

That's why people in many parts of the country traditionally believe they must stay up until midnight on the eve of the Lunar New Year and watch the very last minute of the passing year slip away from their grip.

As the bell tolls, marking the arrival of the New Year, what seem like a million firecrackers go off in succession.

Traditionally, this moment is called shousui, which means, to witness the moment one moves into an older age.

By saying, "You cannot step twice in the same river, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you," Greek philosopher Heraclitus pointed to the fact that everything is in a state of flux. Likewise, every Lunar New Year is different. And the traditions marking the occasion make a lot of sense just for the differences.

Traditionally, many would observe a ritual to pay tribute to their loved ones, who are no more. It's to tell their relatives in another world that they are still remembered, even though times have changed.

My father, when he was alive, would place photos of my grandparents on a table with some food and fruits kept beside them, and burn three incenses.

He would lead us to kowtow to these photos. My father told me that this was not superstition at all but a ritual to pay tribute to those who deserve to be remembered.

Now, my father's photo is among the ones we put on that table every Spring Festival eve.

The photos will be put away in the morning of the first day of the festival.

But I believe, my daughter's generation will quite probably stop observing this tradition. That will be just one of the changes the festival will bring along in the coming years.

One of the major changes that has already come along is that great food and new clothes are not as important as they used to be during the festival.

For quite a number of years, the two weeks during Spring Festival was a period of time for people to entertain themselves with the food they could not taste the rest of the year. It was also the time for them to dress up in brand new clothing they spent quite a percentage of their savings on.

Most people my age (in the 50s) remember as kids how eagerly we used to be looking forward to the Lunar New Year because of the great food and new clothes.

Another reason was that parents were not supposed to blame children for any mistakes they committed during those two weeks.

In my childhood, my parents and other adults in the family told me frequently that Spring Festival is a time for children.

I feel the same way now when I have to stand for hours in line to buy train tickets to go to my parents' home. My enthusiasm for the festive season has been reduced by a certain degree.

But no matter the hardships, families must reunite. No matter how far their homes, people will somehow manage to reach their families.

This is the time for an old couple to meet all their children and for brothers and sisters to meet each other.

Even many of those who have other options, like traveling to a scenic spot for their holidays, would choose to leave after the first day of the New Year.

Even though all modes of public transport, especially trains, are over crowded this time of the year, it has never dampened people's enthusiasm for traveling home.

The trips during this period are on a steady rise year after year.

It's one of the reasons that the Spring Festival evening party broadcast by China Central Television Station on the eve has become so popular, as families sit together and watch the show while eating the reunion dinner. And once they're tired of discussing their lives and work, they have the performances to criticize and discuss.

But this tradition of going home will soon change, too, as now, most people my age have just one child. The size of families is getting smaller. And so is the scale of family reunions.

Of course the tradition of fireworks remains, and will probably remain forever. If anything, it has only become better with each passing year. It's not just because people like listening to bombs going off, but because more powerful and far prettier and fancy firecrackers are now produced.

Sporadic bangs can already be heard once in a while, with only about 40 hours left to the moment people will be watching the hands of the clock tick away this year.

I wish everybody a blessed beginning in the Year of the Ox.

(China Daily 01/24/2009 page4)