Lunar New Year is a vibrant and culturally significant holiday celebrated by an estimated two billion people in East and Southeast Asian communities around the world. This year it takes place on January 29, with celebrations lasting for several days.
Darwin Han-Lin Tsen
Darwin Han-Lin Tsen is an assistant teaching professor of Chinese at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences. His fields of study include modern and contemporary Chinese and Japanese literature and culture, critical theory and literary theory, film, Asian and Eastern European postsocialism, as well as Asian American literature.
Darwin answers five questions below. He is available for interview and his answers below can be quoted directly.
Q: Can you explain what encompasses Lunar New Year and what makes it so important?
A: Lunar New Year – or more accurately, the lunisolar new year – celebrates the coming of the first new moon according to a lunar calendar. This is the most important time of gathering and celebration for Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Tibetan communities in their countries of origin and all around the world. Not to mention, a time to feast!
Q: What is the significance of the Chinese zodiac sign? What should be known about the year of the snake?
A: The Chinese zodiacs developed in parallel to the Babylonian zodiacs, basing itself on the “twelve earthly branches”, with each branch corresponding to the astrological signs one can observe within a month. Those signs were then given a unity in the form of twelve animals. The snake signifies wisdom, elegance, and spirituality; translated into modern terms, it indicates intelligence and strategic prowess. And so hopefully in the year of the snake, humanity will find the smarts to solve our common problems.
Q: What are some of the lesser-known celebrations or traditions associated with this event?
A: There are probably countless lesser-known celebrations, since so many people in so many different regions celebrate Lunar New Year! I can only speak to some traditions of Taiwan, where I’m from. In Taipei, apparently, at the end-of-year company dinner before the New Year, if a whole boiled or roasted chicken’s head is staring at you, it means that you might lose your job soon. In Tainan, to the south of Taiwan, there’s this wild event called the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival, where folks celebrate the night before Lantern Festival (the 15th of the Lunar Calendar’s first month) by setting off massive amounts of fireworks. It’s kind of like a mosh pit. (https://www.twtainan.net/yanshuifireworks/en)
Q: For the first time, New York state schools will close for Lunar New Year on Jan. 29. What are your thoughts around the broader observation of the holiday?
A: That’s very cool, and a “better late than ever” sign of recognition for the Asian American community of New York. Traditionally, Lunar New Years gives 3-7 days off, but hopefully our kids will be able to get some rest and recharge.
Q: For those less familiar with the holiday, what is the one takeaway you’d want them to know about Lunar New Year?
A: I hope everyone knows that it’s a holiday about peace, love, and finding time for oneself and the community. And to not hold back on the eating!
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Daryl Lovell
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