Happy New Year, Pigs!

From the Horse’s mouth: Do's and Taboos for the Year of the Pig


I’ve noticed that I’ve had many hits from China and I thought it was only polite to wish them all a Happy New Year! (If you are from China, you are invited to comment! Xie Xie)


Recently, I hosted a young Chinese woman who had just completed her Master’s degree and started a job at a very famous non-profit. She stayed with me until her husband completed his PhD and could join her. She ended up renting a one-bedroom apartment in my building, but her husband eventually took a job in Hong Kong and she will be leaving soon to join him. I shall miss her.


It was one of the happiest times as she was a very charming, congenial, and an upbeat roommate. Her command of English was astounding! We spent a lot of time watching Asian movies (I didn’t know Netflix had so many!) and cooking. While I was brought up with Cantonese food in authentic Chinese restaurants, I had never had homemade Chinese food. Of course, I have since come to appreciate food from all their provinces. She taught me how to make dumplings and I taught her how to make lasagna!


Growing up in Queens, New York, Chinese New Year was a time for us to go to an authentic dim sum restaurant in Chinatown and then watch a long, covered, human ‘conga-line’ with a large dragonhead held up front, parading through the narrow streets. One learned to be careful where one stepped since firecrackers were everywhere!

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Nowadays, New York City's Queens residents needn't leave their borough to enjoy the festivities, they simply take the number 7 train to the last stop at Main Street in Flushing! (It's the one after Shea Stadium and the National Tennis Center.) Flushing is a veritable mecca of Asian immigration. In fact, since the 1980's, the Chinese account for 15% of the immigrants in Queens. Queens is a culturally rich and ethnically diverse place which is fast becoming one of the centers of immigration in the world. Flushing had been a predominently Jewish area (think Fran Drescher in, The Nanny) and so it is not surprising that one can find Chinese and Korean kosher restaurants in the area and surrounding neighborhoods. Rego Park and parts of Forest Hills (where I was brought up) were developed on land that was once owned by Chinese farmers who raised the produce for their outdoors markets downtown Manhattan's Chinatown.

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Courtesy of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, here are some Do's and Taboo's concerning Chinese New Year:

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Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

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The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

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New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

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The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

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The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.

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Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out. *

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All debts had to paid by this time. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others.

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Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word "four" (Ssu), which sounds like the word for death, are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are totally taboo. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning.

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If you cry on New Year's day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even though they are mischievous.

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On New Year's Day, we are not suppose to wash our hair because it would mean we would have washed away good luck for the New Year.

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Red clothing is preferred during this festive occasion. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future.

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It is believed that appearance and attitude during New Year's sets the tone for the rest of the year. Children and unmarried friends, as well as close relatives are given lai see, little red envelopes with crisp one dollar bills inserted, for good fortune.

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For those most superstitious, before leaving the house to call on others, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to leave the home and the direction which is most auspicious to head out.

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The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-colored birds or swallows.

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It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room.

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Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune.

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While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.

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It's time to go to your nearest chinese restaurant or district hand join in the celebration!
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The Tour Marm

(Year of the Horse)

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THE YEAR OF THE PIG:

Contrary to its rather negative reputation in the West, the Pig of Chinese Astrology may be the most generous and honorable Sign of the Zodiac. Pigs are nice to a fault and possess impeccable manners and taste. They have so much of the perfectionist in them that others may be inclined to perceive them as snobs, but this is a misconception. Pigs are simply possessed of a truly luxurious nature, one that delights in finery and riches (in surroundings, food, lovemaking and otherwise). This Sign believes in the best qualities of mankind and certainly doesn't consider itself to be superior. Pigs also care a great deal about friends and family and work hard to keep everyone in their life happy. Helping others is a true pleasure for the Pig, who feels best when everyone else is smiling.
A Pig with no one around to appreciate its giving nature is a sad sight. Pigs are so magnanimous they can appear almost saintly; this can lead some less-than-well-intentioned souls to stomp all over this Sign, and the bad news is, the Pig will take the blows! Pigs make great companions in part because of their refusal to see the more negative or base qualities in a partner, but that rose-colored view can lead to this Sign's allowing itself to be taken advantage of. Contrary to their seemingly benign dispositions, however, Pigs can be quite venomous in response to being crossed by a lover, friend or business partner.
Pigs are highly intelligent creatures, forever studying, playing and probing in their quest for greater knowledge. They can be misinterpreted as being lazy, however, due to their love of reveling in the good stuff; this Sign could happily spend hours on end making love, napping, taking a long bubble bath or dallying over an incredible spread of rich foods. Pigs tend to make wonderful life partners due to their hearts of gold and their love of family. Even so, Pigs can be rather exclusive, choosing to spend time with those who will appreciate them most and ignore the rest of the populace. Pigs would do well to realize that there's more to life than being needed. When they open up their world to a diverse group of people, they will truly bloom.
The most compatible match for a Pig is the Rabbit or the Sheep.