Lunar New Year is a vibrant time of festivity in Asia when families gather around tables of fragrant dishes and streets light up with festivities. Feb. 10 will commence the Year of the Dragon.
While studying at Pepperdine’s Malibu campus, Asian international and diaspora students find ways to carry out Lunar New Year traditions.
Marking the start of a new lunisolar cycle, Lunar New Year originated in China over 3,000 years ago, according to Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology. Lunar New Year is a 15-day celebration that ends on the first full moon of the lunar year calendar, according to the National Museum of Asian Art.
Muddled in thousands of years of history, Lunar New Year has many plausible explanations for its existence, according to the Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology.
For instance, the tradition of Lunar New Year may have stemmed from a Chinese folklore story. The story starts with a mythical beast named Nian, who terrorized the countryside by consuming animals and children, according to The Paris Review. People began putting food on their doorsteps to appease Nian before realizing loud noises and the color red frightened the monster. Since then, firecrackers and red decorations have become synonymous with Lunar New Year.
Today, a plethora of Asian countries, including South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Japan host Lunar New Year celebrations, according to the Center for International Affairs at Case Western Reserve University.
Cecilia Chen (’23) said Lunar New Year represents the gathering of families.
In her hometown of Guangzhou, China, Chen said many people move far away from their parents in search of work. As a national holiday in China, Lunar New Year presents a special opportunity because most companies give roughly one week off.
“That’s the only chance that they can come back to their parent’s place and to celebrate, spend time with families,” Chen said.
With the dance troupe RnD, Chen performed in the Chinese Students & Scholars Association’s 2023 Lunar New Year celebration. Along with other performers, Chen first had to pass an audition process. Chen said some students put on rap performances or hosted interactive games with the audience such as letter riddles.
In 2024, several clubs on campus will be celebrating Lunar New Year, including the Mandarin Christian Student Ministry and Taiwanese Student Association.
Senior Esther Li serves on the executive board of both organizations. She is an international student from Taipei, Taiwan.
Esther Li said Lunar New Year is a tradition everyone upholds in Taiwan.
“It’s just like Christmas,” Esther Li said.
In previous years, Esther Li said she celebrated Lunar New Year off campus with her friends. This year, she is planning a Lunar New Year hotpot dinner with the Mandarin Christian Student Ministry members.
Around Feb. 10, the Taiwanese Student Association will also host a Lunar New Year dinner or dine at West LA’s Sawtelle Boulevard, Esther Li said.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate tradition with my friends,“ Esther Li said.
Senior Jack Li said his hometown of Qingdao, China, kicks off Lunar New Year by lighting fireworks. His favorite Lunar New Year activity was watching the fireworks in Qingdao, which would start in the evening and last until midnight.
Jack Li said he also enjoyed watching the nationwide broadcast of a New Year’s Gala. The New Year’s Gala is an annual Chinese television program that features a variety of performances celebrating Lunar New Year.
In response to how he would describe the significance of Lunar New Year in one idea, Jack Li said, “Unity, because it’s one of these festivals that brings people together.”
“It’s very important there to be a time where everyone in the family or close friends can all come together and share in a meal,” Jack Li said.
Among Asian diaspora, people also celebrate Lunar New Year. While in the United States Lunar New Year is not widely-recognized as a national holiday, many Asian communities actively celebrate it as a way to preserve their cultural heritage.
As a Chinese American, senior Jenny Chu said Lunar New Year was important in her childhood.
Chu said her home church back in San Jose, Calif., would hold traditional Lunar New Year activities such as calligraphy and paper lantern making. She also recalled fond memories with her mother growing up.
“She would make dumplings and then with each dumpling, there’s something different,” Chu said. “Either a piece of candy or a coin or ribbon or something else or just normal dumpling.”
Previously, Chu had not attended on-campus Lunar New Year festivities because she did not know about them, she said. However, she would participate if the event information was made widely available.
Sophomore Jordana Xu is from Shanghai, China. She has attended school in the United States since she was 12.
Growing up in Shanghai, Xu said she found lots of joy in the Lunar New Year tradition of receiving red envelopes from older relatives. Associated with good fortune, the red envelopes bear cash or small trinkets. With her red envelope money, Xu said she would splurge on snacks that were usually off-limits.
Xu’s favorite memory of Lunar New Year was eating dumplings with her mother while celebrating Caishen, the god of wealth in the Chinese pantheon.
During the 2023 winter break, Xu flew home to Shanghai to be with her parents.
“So even though I’m not here with my family, over the New Years I spent Christmas with my family, and that means a lot to me,” Xu said. “That’s my Lunar New Year.”
Lunar New Year, a holiday centered around family reunion, loses some traditional relevance in the modern context, Xu said. With plane rides now easily-accessible, people no longer have to make long and treacherous journeys back home. Family reunions are easier to take place.
Formerly taking days or weeks, trips home now only take a couple of hours with planes, Xu said. People nowadays can also access meat and other delicacies formerly reserved for Lunar New Year dinners.
This year, Xu said she will be participating in Lunar New Year festivities hosted by the Mandarin Christian Student Ministry.
“It’s really about love and caring,” Xu said. “Being able to share what you value and what you cherish the most.”
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Contact Sophia Luo via email: sophialuo.luo@pepperdine.edu
