Chinese New Year in Taiwan

As an American I've known when it was Chinese New Year and I had a bit of knowledge about it but now I know much, much more. It is quite the holiday here and you can feel the energy and frenzy all around (much like Christmas in the states).

I've asked my students about this and this is what they shared with me. According to legends, Chinese New Year started when a village had a fight with a mythical creature called a "nien", which is the word for year. This is a huge beast that fed on animals but during a particularly difficult winter, it started feeding on humans.

In order to protect the village, they studied the nien and discovered that the creature had a great fear of three things: the color red, loud noises and fire. So, when winter returned, the villagers prepared themselves by hanging red wood slats on their doors, banged on loud instruments and set bonfires in front of their homes. When the beast entered the village, he was terrified and fled into the mountains never to be seen again. This is where there were different versions from students. Some say one lone woman stayed in the village to scare the beast but you get the picture. So now, these traditions still are followed. Red banners are hung outside doorways and there are firecrackers, drums, lanterns and fireworks to ward off the beast.

This new year will be the year of the sheep. The sheep (goat or ram - it's all the same word in Chinese), is one of the favorite animals because it is calm and gentle. 

The school, and Kaohsiung, is decorated for the beginning of the New Year which starts next Wednesday, February 18th.

There are two wishing boards hanging in the school entryway. It's traditional to write your wish for the year (sort of like a resolution) and you post it on the board. I had all of my advisory students write one to hang. I really like this tradition.

There are so many traditions that are part of the new year like visiting families, eating certain foods, fireworks etc. One of the traditions is that everyone (well, those who participate) clean out their homes so that they can remove the old and welcome in the new. You are supposed to get rid of things you don't need and basically do a cleansing. I like this too!

Another tradition is the red envelope.

These envelopes have money in them that can range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars (and even more). They are traditionally given to couples when they get married but they are also given to young children in the New Year (and let me tell you the kids are all aflutter over these). It's believed that the red envelope keeps evil from children and will lead them to healthy and long lives. Many locals give red envelopes to people who work for them (like housekeepers, etc.) and there is an etiquette to how much money you give. For one thing, you never use the number "4" because the Chinese word for 4 sounds a lot like the word for death. The number "8", on the other hand, is very lucky so that's the way to go.

I am so looking forward to celebrating this special holiday in the days to come. It doesn't just last one day, it goes on for a few days so I'll be going to the lantern festival, seeing fireworks, having dinner with Taiwanese friends and going up to Taipei. I'll make sure to post plenty of pictures. Wish you were all here to share this with me.