Lifestyle
Samwan's post offers a vibrant cultural immersion into Chinese New Year traditions, connecting ancient customs with modern horology. He explains the significance of the lunar calendar and shares various practices, from blessings and red packets to specific dietary and social customs. The article also features moonphase watches, illustrating how horology reflects lunar cycles.
You've probably heard this phrase many times before - Kung Hey Fat Choy (or Gong Xi Fa Cai in Mandarin). Ever wonder what it means?
It means "Wishing you a Fortune"...it's a bit mecenary, I know, but such is the Chinese custom.
Today (February 23) is the first day of the Chinese Lunar Year. This year, as you may have heard, is the Year of the Dragon (the twelve zodiac signs are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey,rooster, dog, pig, in that order - and you can work out which sign you belong to). BTW, there is a story why we start with the rat but I won't explain it here.
The lunar calendar has a lot to do with horology and is designed for an agricultural nation like China - it defines important dates like the Summer and Winter Solstice, Spring and Autumn Equinox and events such as when the rain will come etc.
In case you are interested, here are some typical Chinese customs we adopt for the New Year:
(1) We say good things (blessings) to each other
(2) The elderly gives 'lai see' or red pockets to the younger ones
(3) We dress in new clothes, usually in red, and eat candies
(4) We put flowers in the house
(5) The young ones pay tribute to their elderly relatives but we avoid doing that on the third day of the month since people tend to quarrel (don't ask me why)
(6) We eat vegetarian food on the first day
(7) The seventh day is 'birthday' for everyone
(8) The 15th day is 'Chinese Valentine Day' and we hang latterns with riddles (as opposed to the Mid Autumn Festival)
(9) We clean the house on the 28th of the preceding month
(10) The whole family sit down for dinner on the 30th of the preceding month
And the list goes on and on... I must qualify that different customs are practised in different regions so there must be hundreds of them.
As for horology, since this is the first day of the lunar year, you won't see the moon in the 'moonphase' of the watch, not even the new moon. Here are some proofs:
Can you read the characters on the candy tray? What do you think it says?
Kung Hey Fat Choy everyone!
Sam
I don't know what I was thinking
The 5712 is really starting to call again!
Thats an extensive collection. May it grow in the upcoming years. Cheers
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Shy Moon but not shy watches Back to rat thing Is it true that by legend rat was on ox shoulders and jumped first in master room when master summoned animals to come (don't know if master is right term?) + there is no cat on list because rat cheated cat of the day the animals should come ...so afterwards cats always chase rats? Best to you and your family in year of (Water?) Dragon Damjan
put many younger generations from where I am to shame. Most are more concern about the amount of $ in the red packet, or ang pows. A Great of the Water Dragon to All. Melvin This message has been edited by mell0822 on 2012-01-23 01:34:52
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