Wednesdav. Januarv 28. 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Year of the Tiger striped with tradition
By Sara Anderson
Kansan staff writer
Members of the Chinese Student Association demonstrate a guessing game during the group's Chinese New Year celebration. The association sponsored the event Saturday night at Ecumenical Christian Ministries. Photo by Rooper Nomer/KANSAN
For many Asian students at the University of Kansas, the new year should start off with a bang—or a roar.
The Year of the Tiger begins today and marks the start of the Chinese New Year.
Nguyen said that each of the animals had its own unique characteristics.
The new year is based on the lunar calendar and the Chinese zodiac. There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, and the calendar repeats every 12 years, said John Nguyen, Wichita junior and president of the Vietnamese Student Association.
"The Year of the Tiger symbolizes leadership, power and a lot of fortune. The characteristics are associated with the animal itself," Nguyen said. "The most important aspect is to get together with family, making sure that the new year starts off right. Everyone wishes each other good fortune."
Re Yang Lee, Taipei, Taiwan, graduate student and president of the Chinese Student Association, agreed.
"The big aspect is about family," he said. "The Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving in the United States. It's a time for all the family members to get together."
Nguyen said traditional new year's festivities included fireworks, traditional foods and dances. He said that
although different cultures had unique ways to celebrate, most of the celebrations were uniform.
Nguyen said the major distinctions were cultural. The way food was prepared and offered, the style of dress and songs varied between groups, but basically were consistent, he said.
Nguyen said the Dragon Dance was one of the traditional dances during the new year.
"The Dragon Dance is used to ward off evil spirits of the new year," he said. "The dragon is initially wild and is then tamed by a tamer. It's symbolic of getting things in control for the new year."
YEAR OF THE TIGER:
Years: 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
Characteristics: sensitive, emotional, capable of great love, have a tendency to get carried away, stubborn, often seen as a "hothead" or rebel
Good Occupations: boss, explorer, race car driver, or matador
Famous Tigers: Marilyn Monroe, Marco Polo, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Nguyen said the tradition of lucky money also was popular. He said red envelopes containing crisp new dollar bills were given to young people. Keeping the money would bring good luck during the new year.
"But it doesn't usually work out that way," he said. "People spend it."
Shengli Feng, assistant professor of East Asian languages and culture, said that the new year celebrations began shortly before the spring season. Feng said that originally the new year meant starting a new season for farmers or peasants.
"Its an agricultural country," he said. "The word for year, nian, means harvest, according to the ancient characters. The new year's celebration is looking forward to the new harvest and getting everything ready for the jobs and work of next year."
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