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CHINESEAyu, Aini, Asyirah, Bahirah

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HISTORYchinese

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P EOPL E IN THE CULTUREIdentity

Today there are 56 distinct ethnic grouin China. In terms of numbers, howeve the pre-eminent ethnic group is the HanChinese. Throughout history, manygroups have been assimilated intoneighboring ethnicities or disappearedwithout a trace. At the same time, manwithin the Han identity have maintaine

distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term ZhonghuaMinzu has been used to describe thenotion of Chinese nationalism ingeneral. Much of the traditional culturaidentity within the community has to dwith distinguishing the family name.

Han Chinese

Zhonghua Minzu

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LUNAR CA

L

ENDARCHINESE

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LUNAR NEW YEARCHINES

E

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ORIGIN

The origin of theLunar New YearFestival can be tracedback thousands of years, involving a series of colorfulegends and traditions. One of the most famous legenis Nian, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast that thancients believed would devour people on New YearEve. To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are paston doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nian is said to fear thecolor red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early thenext morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fillair at successfully keeping Nian away for another yea the most popular greeting heard is "gong xi fa cai", o"congratulations.´

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To ensure good luck in the coming year, the Taiwanese alwgive every dish a special name. This dish is called the " FiveBlessings for the New Year" and represents longevity, weapeace, wisdom, and righteousness. (P hoto by Su-ching Chang)Even thoughLunar New Year celebrations generally last foronly several days, starting on New Year's Eve, the festival

is actually about three weeks long. It begins on the twentyfourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day, it is believewhen various gods ascend to heaven to pay their respects areport on household affairs to the Jade Emperor, the supremTaoist deity. According to tradition, households busily hon these gods by burning ritualistic paper money to provide f their traveling expenses. Another ritual is to smear malt suon the lips of the Kitchen God, one of the traveling deitiesensure that he either submits a favorable report to the JadeEmperor or keeps silent.

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CHINESENEWYEAR- SP RINGFESTIVAL

Chinese New Year (Chinese:, , Chnjíe; ,, Nónglì X nnián; or , , Guònián), also

known as theLunar New Year or the SpringFestival is themost important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It

consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New YearDay, celebrated on thefirst day of the first month of theChinese calendar, i.e. the day of the second new moon after the day on which the winter solstice occurs, unless there intercalary eleventh or twelfth month in the lead-up to theNew Year³in such a case, the New Year falls on the day o the third new moon after the solstice. (The next time thisoccurs is in 2033.) The Chinese New Year period ends w theLanternFestival, the fifteenth day of the month.

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10 Daysbefore the New Year Day - Sweeping of theGroundsThe New Year's Eve - ReunionDinnerFirstDay of the New YearSecondDay of the New YearSeventhDay of the New Year15thDay of the New Year -LanternFestival

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TRADIT IONAL FOODCHINESE

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FOODFOOD

Jai is the famous traditionalChinese dish. It mainlycomprises of roots of

vegetables. Whole fish iseaten and the chicken isserved with head, tail andfeet.

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The nian gao is a sweet steamedsticky rice pudding. The zongzi is sticky rice wrapped in reedleaves. The man tou issteamead wheat bread servedwith meat dumplings.Jiaozi isalso a famous Chinese traditional food . It can beserved by steaming or frying them.

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The Chinese fried meat balls are prepared

by mincing the meat and mixing it withvariety of spices. Soya sauce, ginger andwine are its main ingredients. Thispreparation is eaten together by thefamily members to show love and carefor the family members. The fish balls arealso prepared in the same way by usingfish instead of meat.

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T HECHINESE MAKE IT SURE THAT ALL THE TRADITIONAL DISHES ARE MADE ANDEATEN TOGETHER WITH THEF AMILY MEMBERS.

A variety of cakes are also made on specialoccasions. The Nian gao is a delicious cakemade of rice flour. It is similar to pudding.The fa gao cake is made from wheat flour.This cake is a symbol of prosperity. Springrolls are eaten different variety of sauce.They are also known as egg rolls. The fillingcomes in a variety. The Alabone meat isvery tasty .It is also a part of the traditionalChinese food .P omelo salads are madeduring festivals. Imperial Chicken, General

Tso's Chicken, Hunan Beef are examplesof traditional Chinese dishes.

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TRADIT IONAL

CL

OTHESCHINESE

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CHEONGSAMCHINESE

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HAN CHINESE CLOTHINGCHINESE

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ZHONGHUA MINZUCHINESE

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TRADISIONAL

DANCECHINESE

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DragondanceFairies in themoon palaceThe silk fan danceFeatherFan DanceSword danceRibbondance

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10 D10 D AYS AYS BEFOREBEFORE THETHENNEWEWYYEAREARDD AY AY--SSWEEP INGWEEP ING OFOF THETHEGGROUNDSROUNDS

P reparations for the Chinese New Year in old China startedwell in advance of the New Year's Day. The 20th of theTwelfth Moon was set aside for the annual housecleaning,or the "sweeping of the grounds". Every corner of the housemust be swept and cleaned in preparation for the new year.SpringCouplets, written in black ink on large vertical scrollsof red paper, were put on the walls or on the sides of thegate-ways. These couplets, short poems written in ClassicalChinese, were expressions of good wishes for the family in the coming year. In addition, symbolic flowers and fruitswere used to decorate the house, and colorful new yearpictures (NIAN HUA) were placed on the walls (for moredescriptions of the symbolism of the flowers and fruits.

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New YearP aintings - During the SpringFestival (Chinese NewYear), it is traditional to decorate the homes with new yearpaintings. The most popular paintings are Door Gods pasted on the front doors to keep ghosts and monsters away.Spring Couplets - Spring couplets are traditionally written withblack ink on red paper. They are hung in storefronts in the monbefore the New Year·s Day, and often stay up for two months.They express best wishes and fortune for the coming year. Thea great variety in the writing of these poetic couplets to fit thesituation. A store would generally use couplets hat makereferences to their line of trade. Couplets that say "Happy NewYear" and " Continuing Advancement in Education" are apprpfor aschool.

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The New Year's Eve - ReunionDinner A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where membersof the family, near and far, get together for celebration. TheNew Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionallyincludes chicken.Fish is included, but not eaten upcompletely (and the remaining stored overnight), as theChinese phrase "nian nian you yu", or "every year there isfish/leftover", is a homophone for phrases which couldmean "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year",since "yu" is also the pronunciation for "profit".The New Year's Eve celebration was traditionally highlightedwith a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven andEarth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

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FirstDay of the New YearNew Year's day is also celebrated within the family. Usually fmembers gather on the morning of New Year's Day. It is at thigathering that red packets are given to unmarried members offamily. The age of the recipient is not material to receiving thpackets. Married couples usually give out two red packets on first new year after being married. This is because the wife prone and the husband presents one. In subsequent years they mgive one as a couple.

Red packets traditionally consisted of amounts which wereconsidered multiples. Amounts like $2 (two piece of $1), or $20were acceptable. Similarly "multiples" such as $1.10 and $2.20 werealso acceptable. However, this is not strictly adhered to. The gwas originally a token amount but these days it is not uncomm to receive large sums in affluent families. In some families thi

tradition has evolved into the practice to substituting money-linstruments (stocks, bonds, unit trust) in place of large sums ocash.Red packets are also given to unmarried visitors but the sums often smaller than the packets given to family members or clofriends.

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SecondDay of the New YearThe second day of the new year is usually for visiting the family of the wife if a couple is married. A large

feast is also typically held on the second day of the newyear.

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SeventhDay of the New YearThe seventh day traditionally is known as the commonman's birthday, the day when everyone grows one yearolder. It is also the day when tossed fish salad, yusheng, ieaten.P eople get together to toss the colourful salad andmake wishes for continued wealth and prosperity. This isonly celebrated amongst the Chinese in Southeast Asia, sas Malaysia and Singapore.

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15thDay of the New Year -LanternFestivalThe New Year celebrations ended on the15th of theFirst Moon with theLanternFestival. On the evening

of that day, people carried lanterns into the streets to take part in a great parade. Young men wouldhighlight the parade with a dragon dance. The dragonwas made of bamboo, silk, and paper, and mightstretch for more than hundred feet in length. Thebobbing and weaving of the dragon was an impressivesight, and formed a fitting finish to the New Yearfestival.

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T HE P INGSI H EAVENLY L ANTERN F ESTIV AL IS

ONE OF T HE MOS T COLORFUL AC T IVI T IES

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H ANDS OF ZHEN Y EE , 20, WRITES

HER NAME AND PHONE NUMBER

BEFORE SHE THROWS THE

ORANGE INTO THE LAKE AND

HOPING FOR THE BOYS TO

COLLECT DURING C HAP G OH M EI

FESTIVAL AT THE P ERMAISURI

L AKE IN C HERAS , K UALA L UMPUR . I N H OKKIEN DIALECT ,C HAP G OH M EI SIMPLY MEANS

´THE 15 TH NIGHT OF C HINESE

N EW Y EAR µ. A SIDE FROM BEING

TAGGED AS THE LAST DAY , C HAPG OH M EI IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE

O RIENTAL V ALENTINE ·S D AY . A IZUDDIN S AAD /N EW S TRAITS

T IMES P RESS .

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CHINESEL ANGUAGE USAGE

The English loanword cheongsam comes from chèuhngsàam, the Cantonese pronunciation of the Shanghainess term z nze or zansae ( , 'long shirt/dress'),by which the original tight-fitting form was first known. TheShanghainese name was somewhat in contrast with usage inMandarin and other Chinese dialects, wherechángshn (theMandarin pronunciation of ) refers to an exclusively maledress (see changsan) and the female version is known as a qipao.In Hong Kong, where many Shanghai tailors fled to after theCommunist takeover of the Mainland, theword chèuhngsàam may refer to either male or female garments.The word keipo (qipao) is either a more formal term for thefemale chèuhngsàam, or is used for the two-piece cheongsamvariant that is popular in China. Traditionally, usagein Westerncountries mostly followed the original Shanghaineseusage and applies the Cantonese-language name cheongsam to agarment worn by women.

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DRAGON DANCE

Dragon dance (simplified chinese:; tradisionalChinese: ; pinyin: wló ng) is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinesecul ture.Like thel ion dance it is most often seen in festivecel ebrations. Many Chinese peopl e often use the term´Descendants of the Dragon" ( or

, ló ng de chuán rén) as a sign of ethnic identity, aspart of a trend started in the1970s, however the true

derivation is from ( ) i.e. the descendantsof Shennong, thel egendary first king of the Chinesepeopl e who taught them agricul ture,l aw and medicine, the foundations of civil ization.

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Dragonsare believed to bring good luck to people,which is reflected in their qualities that include greatpower, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness.The appearance of a dragon is both frightening andbold but it has a benevolent disposition, and soeventually became an emblem to represent imperialauthority.

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F AIRIESIN THE MOONP AL ACE

This is a classical Chinese dance dates back to theTang dynasty in the early eighth century. It has beenattributed to Emperor Tang-Ming-Hwon and hisconsort Yang-Gwei-Fei for their musical and dancing talent respectively.

The Chinese legend has it that Emporor Tang-Ming-Hwon, who reigned from713-755, once

dreamed that he was in the moon palace with manyfairies singing and dancing in multicolored cloud-likelong robes. The dance with the flowing silk ribbonsand accompanied by Chinese instruments- Erhu andP ipa is characterized by its refreshing and poetic mood.

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RIBBONDANCE