Heath Commons was transformed on Thursday February 11 as Hopkins celebrated Chinese New Year, a few days earlier than the February 14th date for this year.
Mrs. Lin and her Chinese Language classes worked all week to organize the festivities, which included hand-made decorations all over Heath, homemade Chinese dumplings, and a visit from accomplished paper cutting artist Mr. Hou-Tien Cheng. Heath Commons was abuzz with students and faculty lining up for a custom paper cutting, rendered by Mr. Cheng within minutes.
See a gallery of photos from Chinese New Year here.
Hopkins to Celebrate Chinese New Year – Year of the Tiger!
information provided by Mrs. Lin
Chinese Paper Cutting Performance in Heath
Mr. Hou-Tien Cheng, a “rare performer, designer, illustrator and instructor in the ancient art of Chinese Paper Cutting,” will be in Heath to demonstrate from 11:30am to 1:30pm.
The following links give you more details on Mr. Cheng and his work:
http://www.celestialevents.net/Pages/houtien.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74-FNjM6B98
Chinese Lunch in Heath
The lunch will feature food symbolic of Chinese New Year, such as fish which symbolizes abundance and oranges and tangerines which symbolize wealth.
Wear Red
We encourage all students, faculty, and staff to wear RED, considered a lucky color in China, on Thursday in honor of this celebration.
Throughout Heath
Heath will be decorated with Chinese traditional decorations, such as the red dragon, Spring couplet, and wall hangings like the fu character, written by students of Chinese. The character “fu” is hung upside down because in Chinese “upside down blessing” sounds just like “the blessing has arrived.”
You will hear Chinese songs and music playing in the serving area.
Some Background
The Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year. The holiday begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice and ends 15 days later with the full moon. This year, the New Year begins on February 14. According to the Chinese calendar, 2010 is year 4707.
The Zodiac
The Chinese calendar features 12-year cycles. Each year in the cycle is associated with an animal. Tradition says our lives are influenced by the animal of the year we were born in. The 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac (in order) are:
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar
2010 year is the Year of the Tiger.
Traditional Activities
• Cleaning your house to prepare for the New Year. Cleaning on New Year's Day itself is bad luck because you might sweep all the good fortune out the door.
• Giving gifts and visiting with family and friends.
• Making and eating dumplings, particularly on the eve of the New Year. The crescent shape of the dumplings is similar to ancient money, and dumplings symbolize wealth and prosperity.
• Giving hong bao (red envelopes). These contain “lucky” money and are given to young people by the older generations.
• Wearing red, a lucky color, and decorating your house with red.
• Using the number 8, as in 8 different food dishes or $8 in a red envelope. This is because 8 is considered a lucky number associated with wealth.
• Setting off firecrackers. In ancient times this was done to scare away demons.
• Performing traditional dances in costume. Lion Dances ward off evil spirits, and Dragon Dances bring luck.
Traditional Decorations
• Chun lian (spring couplets) hung on either side of the front door.
• Lanterns: The 15th day of the New Year is the Lantern Festival. People march under the full moon with lanterns.
• Papercuts, scrolls, and other wall-hangings. You often see the image of a fish, which symbolizes abundance, and ? (fu), which means “blessing.”
What to Say
Happy New Year!
? ? ? ? =xin nián kuài lè!
(It sounds like: sheen nee-en kweye luh)
