2008 Year of the Rat
Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, legend has its story of how the Jade Emperor had invited the animals and the first 12 to arrive are Rat, followed by Ox. Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig being the last animal. All the animals were named after the 12 year circle that governs Chinese life thereafter.
Chinese Calendar
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600 BC when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. Like the Western calendar, the Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. This year it falls on 7th February and ends on 21st February. It is a complete cycle that takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each. This year Chinese New Year falls on 7th February, 2008.
The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from the earth. Only twelve animals came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying "This is the animal that hides in your heart."
The sequence of the animal are as follows :-
Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972
1984 1996 2008
Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973
1985 1997 2009
Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974
1986 1998 2010
Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975
1987 1999 2011
Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976
1988 2000 2012
Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977
1989 2001 2013
Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978
1990 2002 2014
Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979
1991 2003 2015
Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980
1992 2004 2016
Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981
1993 2005 2017
Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982
1994 2006 2018
Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983
1995 2007 2019
Year 2008 is the year of the Rat known by its former name of WuZhi. Considering rats are small but cunning, this year as we expected will foresee an challenging and eventful year according to some fengshui experts.
Attributes and Characteristics born under the Year of Rats
Whether you want to believe it or not, this research was done based on the characteristics of people born under the zodiac sign of rat. Some can be true and quite close to one’s observation.
Rats are masters of mind games, cunning, dangerous, calculative and downright cruel. They are quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them. They are quite obsessed with detail, intolerant, strict, demanding order , obedience and perfection.
Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and want their own agenda.
A Rat’s natural charm can easily win a friend and usually they are highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and often have only a handful of selective close friends whom they trust.
Rats born during the day are most likely to have a rich and easy life. Those born during the night may have to struggle through hard work. Generally, people born in these years are usually cheerful and kind.
The recent movie of Ratatouille is about a rat named "Remy" who dreams of becoming a great French chef. The character of a rat shows characteristics of determination and strong will power of not giving up regardless of what happened. The setting of the story creates strong attributes of the will power of not giving up in things the rat wanted to do. “To be a Chef.” And he did it.
The Background of Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year has a great history which involves the 12 animals according to the Chinese calendar. It usually starts with the new moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon over a period of 15 days. The last day which is the 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival which is celebrated at night with a lantern display.
Preparations
In the olden days , a month before the date of the Chinese New Year, people started to get ready buying food to stock up, decoration materials, food and clothing. Most of the household members were busy cleaning their houses from top to bottom, sweeping away any traces of bad luck and giving the house a new coat of paint. Decorations of paper cutting and couplets in Chinese characters with themes of happiness, wealth and longevity were seen all over the place.
Chinese New Year Eve
Markets are packed with people doing the last minute shopping. By noon most of the shops will be closed to get ready for the big feast on New Year ‘s eve. In the olden days, all the families came together to prepare and cook together. It is the most exciting part of the event that traditions and rituals are carefully observed in everything from food to clothing.
Traditional Food and the Big Feast
Dinner is usually a feast of seafood, dumplings that signify different good wishes, chicken, duck and pork. Delicacies included are prawns that signifies liveliness and happiness, dried oysters that signifies goodness and raw fish salad or yu sheng to bring good luck and prosperity.
Some of the traditional food have some meanings like the following :
Consuming Lotus seeds means having many male offspring
Ginkgo nuts represents silver ingots
Black moss seaweed is a homonym for exceeding in wealth
Dried bean curd means fulfillment of wealth and happiness
Bamboo shoots indicates everything will be well
For the ancestors’ worshippers, traditional food prepared was offered to the dead. The presences of the ancestors were acknowledged on New Year’s Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate as one great community. The communal feast was called, "stove" or "weilu" which symbolizes family unity and paying respect to the past and present generations.
The family feast on New Year eve is compulsory for all to come back to eat at the round table with their children, grandchildren and great-grand children.
After dinner, the family would sit up to play cards, board games or catching up with updates of their own siblings affairs.
The highlight of course is the giving out of "Hong Bao" (money in the red packet). Elders give to their grandchildren and children give to their parents.
Firing crackers is expected at midnight with the belief that they will chase off evil spirits, and to let the old year out and let the New Year to come in.
Visiting parents and grandparents is compulsory on the first day of the Chinese New Year; the first to arrive brings joy to the elderly.
New Year Set Activities Set Precedent
It is a belief that all debts should be cleared off, otherwise bad luck will fall on any business involved. Everyone should refrain from using foul language and death is a taboo. Those with a death in the family are discouraged from visiting each other. Sweeping is not allowed on the first day of the Chinese New Year as it is believed that their luck will be swept out from the house.
Everyone is expected to wear bright colors especially red. Red oranges are still expected to be brought along when visiting elderly people. Oranges are symbols of abundant happiness.
Lion and dragon dances and fire crackers add to the highlight of the festival with the belief that the noise will chase away all evil spirits.
The changes in the 20th Century
With the trend of today’s society, Chinese New Year to most Chinese families is a get away to relax with available holiday packages. Some will hold open house for business clients and friends with catered food. Cooking is no longer a hassle. It is just another holiday for children who look forward to receiving the "Hong Bao" and days off for business men to relax at home.
With so many available catering services, most families have catered food at home and some families have their gathering outside their home at a restaurant. I experienced a Chinese New Year gathering in Kuching where families booked tables with eight courses of food inclusive of drinks, costing about RM 500 per table. They have entertainment to make the event livelier. It makes it easier for everyone to dress up , enjoy the meal and refrain from the hassle of cooking and cleaning up. This has become the trend for most working families. It is quite practical, although it is not home cooked but the spirit of a family reunion has become its main objective.
Visiting is still closely practiced as this is the only time to catch up with relatives and friends once a year.
Open house is still very popular and halal food is served because of the Muslim community.
Conclusion
Although there are changes in the style of celebrating Chinese New Year, the importance of keeping the Chinese culture of having a Family Feast on the eve of Chinese New Year and the last day of Chinese New Year are still closely observed.
In the tourism industry, Chinese New Year is marked as one of the events for visiting tourists to experience the festival season of celebrating Chinese New Year.
Red Chinese decorations and oranges are popularly displayed in every one’s homes during Chinese New Year.
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