By Beds SU
Friday, 20 January 2023
From all of us at Beds SU, we wish you, students and staff alike, a Good New Year and may you receive lots of luck.
Background
Lunar New Year is the first day of the year in the lunisolar calendar and is a very important holiday in cultures stemming from Asian countries like China, Korea and Vietnam. Lunar New Year traditions are mainly taken from Chinese New Year and most celebrants will be looking forward to the Year of the Rabbit. However, New Year celebrations are slightly different in some areas and in places such as Vietnam, this year will be the Year of the Cat (because there is no Rabbit in their list of the 12 zodiac animals).
The calendar combines two categories: 12 earthly branches that correspond to an animal and 10 heavenly stems that are associated with one of the five elements. Fire, water, wood, metal and earth. These are then further connected with either Yin or Yang, the feminine and masculine energy force. The main animal zodiac runs in a 12-year cycle but the full year name takes 60 years to complete. So as this year is commonly known as the ‘Year of the Rabbit’ it is also known as the ‘Year of the ‘Yin Water Rabbit’.
The Year of the Rabbit
2023 is the year of the Rabbit, the first since 2011. Each of the 12 animals have their own characteristics; the rabbit is said to have qualities such as vigilance, quick-mindedness and a witty attitude to name a few. Those born in the coming year, and every other past rabbit year, are said to showcase some of the zodiac animal’s characteristics.
The Year of the Cat
2023 is the year of the Cat in some places, particularly Vietnam. The reason for the different animal is not known with certainty but it has been said that the original change was because both the words for rabbit and cat in Vietnamese are similar sounding, so the story went with one over the other. The zodiac sign however is no different to that of the traditional and largely followed Chinese one making them interchangeable.
Ways to celebrate the New Year
The festival is a very important holiday in Asia and the festivities, traditionally, reflected it taking place over a span of 15 days. In the diaspora however celebrations have been cut short with some only even having a sit down reunion meal to mark the occasion.
Some traditions and celebrations include:
Gathering with family and friends for a reunion meal as is done in other festivals such as Diwali, Christmas and Passover.
Decorations – Families decorate windows with red paper cuttings and dress doors with couplets stating the wishes that have been made for the new year.
Dragon dance parade – A big tradition and very popular during the New Year parades, they’re believed to be a way to scare away evil spirits and bring about good luck. It is also considered very lucky to be touched by a dragon during the dragon dance
Cooking traditional dishes – as with most festivities’, food plays a key role in these celebrations with dishes including dumplings, fish, towers of pastries and rice cake soup. Try making your own dishes using recipes provided by the BBC.
Further reading
If you are interested, you can find more information on the history of the Lunar New Year and how they differ across the regions on the History.com website.
Events
There are a variety of events taking place over the weekend to celebrate the New Year. Traditional lion parades, food stalls and dance shows are just some of the highlights you can enjoy near your campus. In many cases these will be the first major events since coming back from the pandemic so do be sure to search ‘Lunar New Year Festivals near me’ and you will see what you can enjoy in: