Chinese New Year
On February tenth of this year, families will gather to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Chinese calendar was based on the lunar cycle which is why the New Year is not celebrated on January first. The New Year is a time to remove the old and bad while welcoming new and good things. Chinese New Year originated about 3,500 years ago during the Shang Dynasty. Before the holiday, many families clean their houses of dirt and unwanted items to replace them with red lanterns and new furniture. Traditionally, the New Year celebration is a time to worship ancestors and pray for a good harvest. On New Year’s Eve, people bathe themselves to wash away the bad luck before having a big New Year’s Eve dinner, also referred to as Nian Ye Fan. The food eaten at this dinner includes dumplings, fish, and Laba Congee, a dish with rice, beans, peanuts, and more. People eat fish because the character for fish in Chinese reads the same as the character for plenty, which symbolizes a year of plentiful wealth. At midnight, families set off firecrackers to welcome the New Year.
Ash Wednesday
On February fourteenth this year many people will be celebrating Ash Wednesday. Western Christians such as Roman Catholics and Anglicans celebrate this holiday. Marking the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday is a time for people to reflect on their lives, repent for their sins, and prepare for the celebration of Easter. The day is usually very solemn, consisting of a worship service. The pastor gives a reflective sermon and then invites the congregation to get ashes put on their foreheads. Placed in a cross shape on the forehead, the ashes represent death and repentance. At the service, there are also confessions, both communal and private. The day is a reminder of humility, mortality, and human frailty. An example of this is the act of fasting on Ash Wednesday. People do this to recognize mortality, but also to ring in the Lent season.
