By Mystical folktales, foods and red envelopes filled with money kept the tradition of Chinese New Year alive at California State University, Long Beach.
On Saturday, CSULB’s Chinese Student Association teamed up with Cerritos High School and Whitney High School to host the Chinese New Year Festival on Friendship Walk on campus.
Austin Yin, a sophomore health and science major and the Chinese New Year event coordinator, said that one common misconception that Americans might have is thinking that only Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year.
“Chinese New Year is celebrated by many cultures from Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and even Filipino,” Yin said. “Chinese is a really broad culture. It extends, so much so that is why a lot of Asian countries celebrate it.”
This is why Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, Yin said. The Chinese New Year Festival aimed to bring friends, families and people from other cultures together to enjoy an afternoon filled with food, music, games and free giveaways. Yin said the festival also aimed to educate people on the many traditions that are associated with Chinese New Year.
Kyle Lu, a member of Whitney High School’s Chinese Club, said he follows the tradition of wearing red on Chinese New Year in order to prevent bad luck and deter evil. Lu said that this tradition originates from old folklore.
“Back then, there was a monster called Nian, and he would eat everybody around the day of Chinese New Year,” Lu said. “So there was one person who decided that by wearing red and setting off loud fireworks, the monster would be driven away and would not attack their village.”
Lu also said that there is symbolism in the food that they eat. He said his family cooks fish, but never eat the whole fish in order to have some for the next day. He said that this act symbolizes prosperity throughout the year.
Kyle Chou, a junior American studies and human development major and vice president for the Chinese Student Association, said that there are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac and that this year’s Chinese New Year marks the year of the ram.
“For rams, they are some of the kindest and empathetic people you will ever meet, but they are often indecisive,” Chou said. “This year, a lot of people will be eating goat dishes to bless them, and I think to become a better person internally.”
