Happy Chinese New Year! The New Year begins on the new moon, which comes on February 8th this year. This is a holiday celebrated by millions around the world. In China, it’s a vibrant celebration that lasts two weeks and understood as a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. You may consider it as a second chance on your possibly unsuccessful January 1st New Year’s resolutions.
Time for Ridding of the Old, Making Room for the New
People typically prepare for the coming of the Chinese New Year by cleaning their homes, retrieving anything that’s been lent out, ideally paying off any debt that is owed; a cleansing and starting anew. Taking these actions before the New Year celebration is a way of setting the stage for the year ahead. It can also be thought of as cleaning away what’s been stagnant in the home or in your mind, in order to make room for new, creative endeavors. Live, blooming plants are often placed in the home as a symbol of new growth.
The New Year celebration is known for its firecrackers and dragon dancing with loud drums. These sudden, jolting noises also are used for the symbolic purpose of getting rid of the old, stagnant energy and making space for what’s to come.
Eating Auspicious Food
Traditionally, the big celebration of Chinese New Year is the “Reunion Dinner”. This is an extravagant banquet laid out to mark the onset of the New Year, when young and old family members gather to symbolize family harmony. The table is filled with all sorts of exciting dishes and delicacies named with auspicious, symbolic meanings assigned to each dish. When I was in China for New Year, I was the one who bit into the dumpling with the lucky coin in it. Of all the dumplings prepared, one gets made with a coin placed inside. The one who bites into that one is said to have good luck in the year ahead.
Come to Learn More and Enjoy a Cultural Tradition
In honor of Chinese New Year, Integrative Acupuncture is offering a “Reunion Dinner” for our community. This is a benefit dinner with proceeds supporting People For Acupuncture, a new non-profit dedicated to health insurance coverage equality, so that acupuncture is more of an option for all Vermonters. There will be an authentic, five course Chinese New Year’s banquet with entertainment and education around New Year’s customs and nutrition. The cost is $65 per seat and is on Saturday, February 6th from 6 to 8 pm. Visit www.acupunctureinvermont.com or call 223-0954 for more information on this event.