This is Beijing-Beijing English blog

Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the Lantern Festival,or Yuanxiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour. We call these balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan. Obviously, they get the name from the festival itself. It is said that the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth centuty, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods.

The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuansiao are either sweet or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts（胡桃）, sesame, osmanthus flowers（桂花）, rose petals, sweetened tangerine peel, bean paste, or jujube paste（枣泥）. A single ingredient or any combination can be used as the filling . The salty variety is filled with minced meat, vegetables or a mixture.

The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and southern China. The usual method followed in southern provinces is to shape the dough of rice flour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling, then close the hole and smooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your hands. In North China, sweet or nonmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The fillings are pressed into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the flour sticks to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and rolled a second time in the rice flour. And so it goes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size.

The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains. This tradition encourages both old and new stores to promote their Yuanxiao products. They all try their best to improve the taste and quality of the dumplings to attract more customers.

The 15th day of the 1st lunar month is the Chinese Lantern Festival because the first lunar month is called yuan-month and in the ancient times people called night Xiao. The 15th day is the first night to see a full moon. So the day is also called Yuan Xiao Festival in China.

According to the Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) and get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere.

History

Until the Sui Dynasty in the sixth century, Emperor Yangdi invited envoys from other countries to China to see the colorful lighted lanterns and enjoy the gala（节日的，庆祝的）performances.

By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty in the seventh century, the lantern displays would last three days. The emperor also lifted the curfew（宵禁令）, allowing the people to enjoy the festive lanterns day and night. It is not difficult to find Chinese poems which describe this happy scene.

In the Song Dynasty, the festival was celebrated for five days and the activities began to spread to many of the big cities in China. Colorful glass and even jade were used to make lanterns, with figures from folk tales painted on the lanterns.

However, the largest Lantern Festival celebration took place in the early part of the 15th century. The festivities continued for ten days. Emperor Chengzu had the downtown area set aside as a center for displaying the lanterns. Even today, there is a place in Beijing called Dengshikou. In Chinese, Deng means lantern and Shi is market. The area became a market where lanterns were sold during the day. In the evening, the local people would go there to see the beautiful lighted lanterns on display.

Today, the displaying of lanterns is still a big event on the 15th day of the first lunar month throughout China. People enjoy the brightly lit night. Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, for example, holds a lantern fair each year in the Cultural Park. During the Lantern Festival, the park is literally an ocean of lanterns! Many new designs attract countless visitors. The most eye-catching lantern is the Dragon Pole. This is a lantern in the shape of a golden dragon, spiraling up a 27-meter -high pole, spewing fireworks from its mouth. It is quite an impressive sight!

                                                                                                           Origin

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival. But one thing for sure is that it had something to do with religious worship.

One legend tells us that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that the God of Heaven controlled the destiny of the human world. He had sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence（瘟疫）upon human beings. Beginning with Qinshihuang, the first emperor to unite the country, all subsequent emperors ordered splendid ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty directed special attention to this event. In 104 BC, he proclaimed it one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would last throughout the night.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism. Tianguan is the Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. It is said that Tianguan likes all types of entertainment. So followers prepare various kinds of activities during which they pray for good fortune.

The third story about the origin of the festival is like this. Buddhism first entered China during the reign of Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. That was in the first century. However, it did not exert any great influence among the Chinese people. one day, Emperor Mingdi had a dream about a gold man in his palace. At the very moment when he was about to ask the mysterious figure who he was, the gold man suddenly rose to the sky and disappeared in the west. The next day, Emperor Mingdi sent a scholar to India on a pilgrimage（朝圣）to locate Buddhist scriptures. After journeying thousands of miles, the scholar finally returned with the scriptures. Emperor Mingdi ordered that a temple be built to house a statue of Buddha and serve as a repository for the scriptures. Followers believe that the power of Buddha can dispel darkness. So Emperor Mingdi ordered his subjects to display lighted lanterns during what was to become the Lantern Festival.

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Wednesday marks “Lichun”, which literally means “Spring Begins”. People across the country are performing traditional rituals to celebrate the beginning of warm spring days.

Lichun is a day when Chinese people traditionally hold a ceremony called “Whip the Spring”, which promotes farming and production.

In the traditional ritual “Whip the Clay Ox”, a senior person in the village symbolically whips a clay ox three times to announce the start of farming for the year and make a wish for a big harvest.

Zhao Shu, researcher Beijing Research Inst. of Culture & History, said, “The rituals of Whipping the Spring Ox have another significance meaning to whip away the coldness and to brace the warm spring. Another ritual is Paying the Spring Call. People visit their friends and colleagues as work begins in the spring. A third ritual is Biting the Spring. People usually eat spring pancakes and spring rolls.”

Snacks that Chinese people enjoy in Lichun include vegetables such as Chinese radishes, ginger and bean sprouts.

It is also an occasion to reflect on the changing of seasons and it marks the beginning of some farming activities.

Mei Fangquan, chairman of China Agricultural Modernization Assn., said, “Spring is a key time in the year. It’s related to future development. The crops begin to sprout in spring and farmers should get busy preparing for weeding.”

Farmers around the country have already started their work. The spring is bringing them hope and they all aim for the planting to go well in preparation for the big harvests.

You read it right, I mean Happy “Niu” Year, not “New” Year.

About 12 hours later, the Chinese Lunar New Year is coming. The year of Ox is coming to us.

Ox is written in Chinese characters as ?, or Niu. Since the pronunciation of Niu is exactly New, and there is a trend to use Niu and New interchangeably among my friends.

So, Happy Niu Year and Happy New Year to all my readers, my friends and family!

For more information about the Chinese Zodiac, check here.

My Wishes

This blog is trying to be a bridge between the western world, and the eastern world, the two distinctly different worlds, and I am trying so hard to help people outside China to understand what is happening here, and what is in people’s mind. I hope the greeting brings the happiness and hope of the Chinese New Year to people who do not celebrate this holiday.

From today, the whole China is in a 7 day holiday – the longest holiday in China (of cause accompanied by the largest human migration in the world every year for returning to hometown). I hope my friends who are in holiday enjoy their holiday and relax, and prepare for the new year, and for my friends who don’t know the Chinese New Year to also celebrate one more holiday – that is the meaning of holiday: to have people collectively celebrate for the past accomplishment and looking forward to the better future.

I’d like the take the chance for my loyal readers who have been with me for many years (some for as long as 7 years). There are not too many 7 years in life, and daily accompany is a huge accomplishment. I would love to thank everyone who have commented on my blog. You made the blog much more meaningful than just my post, and contributed the majority of the content on this blog. Your continuous feedback, compliment, supplementary, and even challenge helped me so much to understand this world better. It is much more than what I have expected when I started this daily blog 7 years go.

Last, but not least, I would love to say thank you to my close friends and family who we live in the same physical daily world (v.s. the online world). I may devote more time online than offline sometimes these years, and spent the time I may have otherwise spent on coffee or tea time with others. Thanks especially for Yifan and Wendy’s support. They have a much less devoted father or husband than others. Thanks.

Wish everyone has a great year of Ox.

Posted by Jian Shuo Wang at January 25, 2009 12:23 PM
Copyright: You are free to redistribute this work, as long as you keep this disclaimer and this link: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20090125_happy_niu_year.htm

The Spring Festival is the most important and the biggest traditional festival in China. Maybe you have already heard of many interesting customs about the Spring Festival, but did you know the local customs can be rather different in different areas of China. Even if some of these customs are the same, the legends are not.

For example, eating dumplings on Spring Festival Eve is the tradition in northern China, while in southern China, people eat glutinous rice cakes and spring rolls, or dumplings with egg wrappers instead of the traditional dumpling skin.

There are many reasons why people in northern China eat dumplings on Spring Festival Eve. One reason is that the shape of the dumplings resembles the ancient Chinese gold ingots used as money–Yuanbao, so dumplings symbolize wealth.

Therefore, it is said that eating dumplings on Spring Festival Eve will bring you good luck. Some families hide a coin in one of the dumplings, and the person who find or bite it will be the luckiest one in the New Year.

The other reason why people in northern China eat dumplings is according to its Chinese pronunciation “jiǎozi”. In China’s traditional timing system, after midnight, the first hour is called “zǐshí”, and this hour marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year. The pronunciation of “jiǎozi”(dumpling) is similar to “jiāo zǐ” (meaning auspicious). In general, dumplings should be made before mid-night on Spring Festival Eve, which is when the whole family get together to enjoy the hot dumplings. What a delightful picture!

Pragmatic and down-to-earth, Ox people are motivated to work hard and have no respect for lazy or careless people. Although they can be easily trusted and find it easy to put trust in others, they are not dependent on friends and family and would rather find an answer or a solution themselves than to ask these people for help or guidance. However, others can, without a doubt rely on Oxen, who are always honest and meticulous about their responsibilities. While they do not feel the need for many distant or acquaintance-oriented friendships, they value the strong bonds they share with their partners and families, and make close friends that last a lifetime.

 Though they are quite open-minded, once Ox people have made a decision about something, they rarely change it. This is a defining characteristic that can be seen as obstinacy, but it is actually the way an Ox learns to be strong, brave and straightforward. It is the way the Ox learned to take on tasks and responsibilities and how he learns to be reliable for others. Oxen are more comfortable with the well-known as opposed to the unfamiliar. Yet, beneath their unpretentious, tranquil exterior lies a heart of gold and a motivation to prosper.

They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people

According to Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2009 is a Year of the Ox which lasts from January 26, 2009 to February 14, 2010. The Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) does not begin on 1st of January, but on a date that corresponds with the second New Moon after the winter equinox, so it varies from year to year.

 The years progress in cycles of 12 and each year is represented by an animal. The Year of the Ox is the second one in the 12-year cycle. The cycle of 12 repeats five times to form a large cycle of 60 years, and in each of the 12-year cycles, the animals are ascribed an element (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water) with Yin or Yang characteristics, which determines their characters. The 60 years’ circle is also called the Stem-Branch system. This New Year is the year of Ji Chou and 2009 is the 10th year in the current 60-year cycle.

 Chinese calendar

 The Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries, which predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) we use at the present day which goes back only some 425 years. The calendar measures time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in months, years, and centuries, entirely based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the sun, moon, and stars.

 Years of the Ox

 February 19, 1901 – February 7, 1902: Metal Ox
February 6, 1913 – January 25, 1914: Water Ox
January 25, 1925 – February 12, 1926: Wood Ox
February 11, 1937 – January 30, 1938: Fire Ox
January 29, 1949 – February 16, 1950: Earth Ox
February 15, 1961 – February 4, 1962: Metal Ox
February 3, 1973 – January 22, 1974: Water Ox
February 20, 1985 – February 8, 1986: Wood Ox
February 7, 1997 – January 28, 1998: Fire Ox
January 26, 2009 – February 14, 2010: Earth Ox
2021 – 2022: Metal Ox
2033 – 2034: Water Ox

Spring Festival

 The oldest and most important festival in China is the Chinese New Year, which marks the first day of the lunar calendar and usually falls somewhere between late January and early February of the Gregorian calendar.

 Like all Chinese traditional festivals, the date of the New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar, which is divided into 12 months, each with about 29.5 days. One year has 24 solar terms in accordance with the changes of nature, stipulating the proper time for planting and harvesting. The first day of the first solar term is the Beginning of Spring, which cannot always fall on the first day of the year as in the Western Gregorian Calendar.

 Besides celebrating the earth coming back to life and the start of plowing and sowing, this traditional festival is also a festival of reunions. No matter how far people are from their homes they will try their best to come back home for the reunion dinner.

 Although the climax of the Spring Festival usually lasts three to five days, including New Year’s Eve, the New Year season extends from the Laba Festival (mid-12th month) of the previous year to the Lantern Festival (middle of the first month of the lunar new year). The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year season and life becomes routine again.

The Laba Festival is celebrated on the eighth day of the last lunar month (accurately January 17 of the Gregorian calendar 2005), referring to the traditional start of preparation for the Spring Festival. It is also a Buddhist festival on which date Sakyamuni, the first Buddha and founder of the religion, was believed to have attained enlightenment and became Buddha.

“La” in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and “ba” means eight. Legends about the origin of this festivity abound. One holds that over 3,000 years ago sacrificial rites called la were held in the twelfth lunar month when people offered up their preys to the gods of heaven and earth. Since the festival was held on the eighth day of the month, people later appended the number eight (ba in Chinese), giving us the current laba.

The most important activity on this day is eating Laba porridge. The story goes back to about 900 years ago. According to legend, when Sakyamuni was on his quest for understanding and enlightenment, he grew exhausted and hungry, and passed into unconsciousness near a river in India. A shepherdess found him there and gave him her lunch — porridge made of beans and rice. Sakyamuni was thus able to continue his journey and finally realized full enlightenment on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month.

Since then on this day sutras were chanted in the temples and rice porridge with beans, nuts and dried fruit was prepared for the Buddha. The tradition of eating Laba porridge, though based on religion, became a popular winter dish with the passing of time.

Laba porridge contains glutinous rice, red beans, millet, Chinese sorghum, peas, dried lotus seeds, red beans and other ingredients, such as dried dates, chestnut meat, walnut meat, almonds, peanuts, etc. Eight main ingredients are cooked with sugar to make the porridge tasty. Laba porridge is also called babao (Eight Treasures) porridge for its high nutritional value.

The porridge is not only beneficial to health but is a rite of blessing that signals the prolusion of the Spring Festival.

Have you heared about Beijing’s “Lao Zi Hao”? The basic meaning for “Lao Zi Hao”is the old brand name. So it must have long history and also good brand reputation till now, then it can be called “Lao Zi Hao”.

There are lot of kinds of “Lao Zi Hao” in Beijing.

文化瑰宝，数载传承。北京老字号“老”在历史悠久，长者数百年，短者大多也创立于明、清两代和新中国建国前。主要集中于工商业、手工业、饮食业、民间艺术及文化艺术级域，包括饭庄、商店、食品店、文物珠宝店、书店、影剧院、药店、制造厂等。这些老字号具有独特的传统文化特色，远近闻名、经久不衰，其字号本身就是宝贵的无形资产。