CNY 2020

This blog is now 6 years old and one of the very first entry was around the chinese new year and it featured an ‘everyday’ conversation between my parents. It’s a really ordinary chat on the surface but the discerning listener (esp one who is their offspring) you can hear how totally co-dependent they have become on each other when even the simplest of decisions is a joint one. Around Chinese New Year, there are indeed many things to do: from spring cleaning to banquet meals.

Every culture has its rituals and these rituals are most manifestly expressed in the major festivals. For those of Chinese ancestry, there is no festival bigger than the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival. The new year for the Chinese is marked not by a static calendar but rather the celestial calendar. It falls on the day that the Spring Season is deemed to have arrived. Spring itself is a season laden with many good meaning. It is when the first green shoots of growth, the first flowers bloom and the weather turns far more pleasant from a cold dark winter. It is indeed a season worth celebrating.

For the Chinese, the celebration is done loud. Loud noises (from lion dance drums and fire crackers) and loud colours (bright red clothes). It is also done big. Big family gatherings (reunion dinners and visitations) and big business (from all the spring cleaning and new stuff procured). It is also done abundantly. Abundantly long (it last half a month!) and abundantly generous (with food and ang pows galore). 

This year it is celebrated on the 25th of January. So, we are celebrating two new years in a month. Its the year 2020 and the year of the mouse which starts a 12 year cycle. The Chinese New Year is also anchored by a zodiac animal. There are 12 altogether. Legend has it that the celestial supreme being had summoned the world’s creatures for an audience and the first 12 were honoured with years named after them. The first of these animals is a mouse. The legend continues that the mouse, though small is really crafty. It had sought out the hardest working animal, the ox, whom it knew would set out first to the heavens and hitched a ride on its back. Upon reaching the gates, the mouse leapt off the ox’s back and dashed to be in first place.

So this new year is a particularly apt moment to start afresh. I am reminded of this quote from Walt Disney.

Never doubt a small creature. Especially one with imagination and courage. Just like Walt’s Mickey.

May the year of the mouse bring all of us abundant peace and happiness.