By Shenzhan Liao 申展
A screen shot of New York Today on New York Times, Feb. 16, 2018
On Feb. 16, 2018, over 1.4 million public school students in New York City were happy to have a day off to observe the Lunar New Year. It’s the 3rd year since the City officially made it a public holiday in 2016.
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, Feb. 16 is the first day of the Year of the Dog, the 11th among the 12 zodiac animals (a complete list in order is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig). The lunar calendar was around since the 14th Century B.C. according to oracle bones (甲骨文，jiǎ gǔ wén), China's oldest written records. Some even argue it started with China’s legendary Yellow Emperor (黄帝, huáng dì) from 2637 B.C. It was only until 1912, the western Gregorian calendar was officially adopted by the Republic of China. While today in China, the western calendar effectively regulates Chinese daily life and work, traditional holidays and festivals are still following the lunar calendar, or 阴历（yīn lì），literally translated as “yin calendar”.
There are many stories about how the 12 zodiac animals are chosen (there is a delightful and very educational unit on TED-Ed, including a video, a fun quiz, and resources for digging deeper). Every Chinese knows his or her zodiac sign. For any baby born on Feb. 16 and after in 2018, or anyone born in 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, and 2006, he or she is a dog or the 属相（shǔ xiàng，zodiac sign) is Dog. Chinese would simply say “他（她） 属狗” （tā shǔ gǒu，his/her zodiac sign is the dog.)
In New York, more than one parade will be (or have been) marching down in Chinatown, Manhattan; Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn on various days. The Chinese government sent fireworks over the Hudson River on Feb. 14, which many New Yorkers probably thought it was for a VERY fancy Valentine’s Day this year. The Westminster dog show on Feb. 12 and 13 was another coincidence. The parades and fireworks were not for the beautiful dogs competing at the 142nd annual dog show. Sorry.
In terms of language, 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái or “kung Hei Fat Choi”, its Cantonese pronunciation, roughly translated as “wish you make a fortune”), probably is best known to New Yorkers. The Analects (论语，lún yǔ ), a Chinese classics compiling sayings of Confucius ( 479 - 551 B.C.), writes, “恭，近于礼；喜，犹福也。” (gōng, jìn yú lǐ; xǐ, yóu fú yě), explaining 恭 is similar to “respect”; 喜 equals “blessing”. Thus 恭喜 together literally means “ a blessing with respect”. However, 恭喜发财 as a Lunar New Year greeting didn’t gain popularity until early 20th century after Westerners started interacting with the Cantonese a lot. In addition, Chinatowns all over the U.S. were first built by Chinese immigrants mostly from Canton, which could probably explain if there is only one Chinese Lunar New Year greeting known to Americans, it’s likely “kung hei fat choi”. That said, it’s probably time to expand the vocabulary. Here are two I like:
吉祥如意（jí xiáng rú yì): In The I Ching ( 易经，yì jīng, or Book of Changes), a Chinese classical from around 10 Century B.C., 吉 indicates an auspicious and positive sign when performing divination. 祥 carries a similar meaning as 吉. 如意 literally means “as you wish”. The expression basically can be translated as “Have an auspicious year as you wish.”
恭贺新禧 （gōng hè xīn xǐ): 恭贺 means “to congratulate respectfully”；新 means “new”；禧 means “auspiciousness and happiness”。The expression essentially means “Wish you a happy and auspicious new year.” (You can never get too much auspiciousness and happiness for the new year, right?)
Lastly, there is a fun expression just for the Year of the Dog, 狗年旺旺（gǒu nián wàng wàng). 汪 (Wàng), the word describing a dog’s bark (equivalent to “woof”), sounds the same as the word for thriving (旺) in Chinese. So by saying 狗 (dog) 年 (year) 旺旺, you are wishing people a year of prosperity (or so reported by the New York Times on Feb. 16, quoting me.)
In New York, the Chinese New Year Day certainly is the most recognized. In fact, for many Chinese, the celebration starts the night before, on the New Year’s Eve, or 除夕 (chú xī). Separately, 除 means “time passed”, 夕 means “the time of dusk”. In the Book of Songs (诗经，shī jīng）from 11 - 6 Century B.C. (yet another very ancient literature), a poetic expression says the following:
“今我不乐，岁月其除” (jīn wǒ bù lè, suì yuè qí chú)
Translation: Right now if I don’t get to enjoy (time), months and years are passed.
For Chinese, 除夕, the Lunar New Year Eve, or the end of the year, could be indeed a melancholy moment to contemplate the insignificance of individual life compared to the forever changing and passing time. It perhaps explains in part till today why spending time with families with lots of food, overly joyful activities, and giving youngsters red envelopes are needed to counter such helpless feeling. Since ancient time, Chinese poets wrote about the Lunar New Year. And not surprisingly, many are quite depressing, especially if the poet was away from home at the time of writing. One poem I like is by 王湾 (wáng wān, 693-751) , a poet who is only remembered perhaps by his poem below on the Lunar New Year:
Title: 次北固山下 (cì běi gù shān xià)
客路青山外, (kè lù qīng shān wài)
行舟绿水前. (xíng zhōu lǜ shuǐ qián)
潮平两岸阔, (cháo píng liǎng àn kuò)
风正一帆悬. (fēng zhèng yī fān xuán)
海日生残夜, (hǎi rì shēng cán yè)
江春入旧年. (jiāng chūn rù jiù nián)
乡书何处达, (xiāng shū hé chù dá)
归雁洛阳边. (guī yàn luò yáng biān)
Translation:
Title: Stopping By Mount Beigu
As a guest I pass by the lush mountain,
Riding a boat in the green water.
Tides full, the river banks are wide,
Wind straight, the sail hangs upright.
Born out of the lingering night, the sun rises above the ocean;
Into the passing year, the river carries the spring.
In what place would my letter to home arrive?
Luo Yang, where the wild geese return to.
We know that Wang Wan is from Luo Yang (or as referred in his poem, but it can be a metaphor), an ancient city in Northern China, where mountains would be barren in winter. Away from home when the new year’s first sunshine breaks the lingering darkness, Wang Wan in this poem doesn’t appear to be over-consumed by a sense of loneliness or sadness. Instead, picturing himself surrounded by the vast river with full yet calm waves, the rising sun, the mountain still thriving, his poem perfectly captures the uplifting spirit of the connection between the individual human and the greatness of the nature. 海日生残夜, 江春入旧年. (hǎi rì shēng cán yè, jiāng chūn rù jiù nián), is one of the most celebrated lines describing the beginning of the new year for hundreds of years after Wang Wan.
To me personally, 2018 is the 15th year I am away from home and families during the Lunar New Year. If I am a poet, imagine how productive I could have been. As my years in New York City passing by, I felt the calling from home, especially around this time, despite the fact that I was considered to be VERY Americanized by my families (for one thing, I drink the iced water in winter!) Indeed, facing the endless change, collectivity does provide a certain level of comfort, as well as the festival parades, delicious dumplings, red envelopes bringing fortune, literally. Oddly or not, I found my best moment in the morning of Feb. 18, when the sun was shining again after a whole night snowing, I was home alone with a cup of tea, my furry companion 小米 (xiǎo mǐ，Little Rice), and working on this very article.
P.S. The cat is not one of the 12 zodiac animals in Chinese lunar calendar but is celebrated in Vietnam. The next one is coming in 2023!
Xiao Mi in the Year of the Dog
by Shenzhan Liao, 2018
Feb. 18, 2018
Astoria, New York
Related stories:
Studio Mandarin on SupChina: Lantern Festival & the Year of the Dog
