The Lantern Festival in China by: Alexa Luo

           The Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals. It takes place on the fifteenth day after the lunar Chinese New Year. This holiday marks the end of celebration of the Lunar New Year. On the day of the Lantern Festival, people go out to the temples carrying lanterns that are made of red waxed paper. At night, people light candles inside the lanterns, and those lanterns will fly into the night sky when the air inside the lanterns heats up enough, just like hot air balloons. Ancient Chinese believed that the flying red lanterns brought their best wishes to God in the heavens. Though thousands of years have passed, the tradition of flying red lanterns has not died out. Every year, the flying red lanterns against a starry sky make a terrific scene unique to the Lantern Festival.

Lanterns Light the Sky. Art by: Aubrey Groves

            The history of Lantern Festival can be traced back to circa 220 B.C. People carried firebrands around the farms and fields in order to drive the injurious insects away. The people hoped that this practice would reduce the insect pests and bring a better harvest. During the following centuries, the Lantern Festival has grown into one of the major festivals in China. The royals made huge lanterns in different shapes: dragons, lions, figures of Buddha and so on. Everyday folk made small lanterns in the shapes of flowers, trees and animals. With a gentle breeze, those big and small lanterns, along with colorful fireworks, would light up the entire city of Beijing at night.

            Because China is vast in territory, different regions have their unique traditions to celebrate holidays like the Lantern Festival, but there are three major activities that everyone will do on the day of the Lantern Festival: eat sweet pudding balls, admire fancy lanterns and guess lantern riddles in the parades. Families usually sit together at a big round table and eat a delicious meal in the evening while the moon gradually comes out. The atmosphere is filled with love. In China the round shape of tables, lanterns, and the moon all implies family reunion and concord.

The parades have many performances, such as: dragon dances, lion dances, and stilt dances. Ancient people regarded dragons and lions as symbols of power that were given by nature, and these dances aimed to worship the animals. These activities attract countless visitors. People gather on the streets, where various shapes and sizes of lanterns are hung, and children often sit on their fathers’ shoulders to watch these exciting performances. 

Lanterns hang from the ceiling at Red Orchid Restaurant in Charleston, SC Photo by: Alexa Luo

“Guessing lantern riddles” is also an essential and fun thing to do during the Lantern Festival. Lantern makers write riddles on pieces of paper and stick the paper on the lanterns. If the tourists guess, they can open the lantern and find a piece of paper with the answer inside. If they are right, they will get a gift from the makers. This “riddle guessing” activity first occurred in the Song Dynasty about 1000 years ago. This practice of guessing riddles was not only fascinating but was also full of wisdom and knowledge. Soon, “riddle guessing” became popular all over the country.

Later at night, a grand and gorgeous firework show will often end the parade. The fifteenth day is the first full moon night of the New Year; therefore, the Chinese regard the Lantern Festival as a symbol of perfection and unity. According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar in 2014, the Lantern Festival is on February 14^th, the same day as Valentine’s Day.

Every year, my mom, grandma and aunts cook a big meal on the Lantern Festival. All of my relatives will sit together around a round table and enjoy the delicious dinner. We also watch an annual Lantern Festival Show on television. It is the last day of Chinese New Year, therefore we will all give blessings and then start the next year. I encourage you to try some sweet pudding balls while you enjoy watching the lanterns. It will be a wonderful experience of another culture.

Happy Year of the Horse! by: Aubrey Groves

Sometime around January and February, depending on the moon, the people in many different Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year. Shouts wishing people good fortune, wealth, progress and smooth sailing can be heard around this time. Another facet of greetings that may be heard or seen pertain to the animals of the out-going and in-coming years. These animals are part of a 12 year zodiac cycle that stems originally from an ancient Chinese legend.

There are many variations on the legend, but one version goes that the Jade Emperor invited all of the animals to a feast in Heaven. On the day of the feast, the order in which the animals entered into Heaven determined the order of the zodiac. The rat, being small and clever, jumped onto the kind ox's back and thus entered Heaven first. The animals in order are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The 2014 year is a horse year, just as the years 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990,  and 2002 are also horse years.

If a person is born during the lunar year of a specific zodiac animal, then they are considered to embody the qualities of that animal as seen in Asian cultures. For example horses are thought to be great communicators, "clever, kind to others, and like to join in a venture career. Although they sometimes talk too much, they are cheerful, perceptive, talented, earthy, but stubborn" (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse.htm).

These signs can also predict who will be a good match for someone. Horses are excellent matches with "Tigers, sheep, and dogs," but horses should "avoid rats, oxen, and rabbits"(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse.htm).

Some famous Horses over the years are:
Louisa May Alcott, Chopin, Davy Crockett, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Sandra Day O'Connor, Rembrandt, Teddy Roosevelt, Sir Isaac Newton, Barbara Streisand, Cindy Crawford, Cynthia Nixon, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Jason Biggs, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, Leonard Bernstein, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Rembrandt, Ashton Kutcher, Emma Watson, Josh Hartnett, Katie Holmes, Kristen Stewart, Kobe Bryant, Genghis Khan, Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng of China’s Qing Dynasty (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse.htm)

What people may not often know is that not only is your zodiac personality determined by the year you were born, but it is also determined by the month, day of the week, day, hour and minute that you were born. Also, five elements influence the different years of the zodiac. Those five elements are wood, water, fire, metal, and earth. This horse year is a wooden horse year, and a wooden horse will manifest slightly different personality traits and develop differently than a fire horse or a water horse, for example.

So the next time you see your Chinese zodiac on a place mat or hear mention of it around this time of year, you will know more there is more to the story than that you are one animal or another. You are made up of a specific mixture of animals and elements down to the minute you were born. You are a horse of a whole different color!

Happy Year of the Horse!