The Lunar New Year Celebration is a Chinese holiday celebrated by 1.5 billion people, and it spans around sixteen days to welcome good luck and prosperity.
It stems from the popular Legend of Nian. Nian was a wild beast who appeared every new year to wreak havoc upon the Chinese villagers, destroy the crops and take animals.The word “Nian” itself translates to “year”. The people eventually decided to fight back against this beast or bad “year”, by discovering the three things that scare it; loud noises, bright lights and the color red.
Over the years, however, Chinese New Year has evolved to a time of celebration, using the three components to reinforce community instead of fear. Many families light fireworks or sparklers, play loud music and wear traditional red Chinese clothing like the Hanfu (for men) or cheongsam qipao (for women).
This holiday is one customarily focused on family and togetherness which is usually done through large familial gatherings or attending sizeable and extravagant festivals filled with merriment.
This year, however, the Lunar New Year was celebrated uniquely. With COVID-19 still a prevalent issue, Chinese families across America needed to alter their traditional festivities in order to celebrate safely. Clarksburg High School sophomore Emily Gou discusses how her family celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year during the pandemic. “Usually, we would have gone to see the dancing dragon performance and attended the festival, but this year my family and I just had our New Year’s Eve dinner inside.” Another sophomore, Jamie Flynn from Poolesville High School celebrated similarly. “We just had our New Year’s Feast with close family, not really much more than that because we want to stay safe.“ Many people on social media have also shared their disappointment in not being able to travel to see family or just engage in their regular Lunar New Year activities.
Throughout the year 2020 and the beginning of 2021, change itself seems to be the only constant, and the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration proves to be no exception. The pandemic is closing the book on tradition and opening a new blank page in which each family is reevaluating the safety of their celebrations.
Article by Inaya Siddiqi of Clarksburg High School
Photo by May Pham of Walter Johnson High School