Happy Chinese New Year!
~Blog Post #2~
April 13, 2015
Sarah Olson
Chinese New Year is a huge 16 day festival/celebration in the Chinese culture, and also a huge time for special occasion food! On Chinese New Year, the food and HOW it's eaten is important. I'll tell you a little about certain foods eaten at this celebration and their symbolic meaning. First off is fish. In the Chinese language, "fish" sounds like "surplus". Eating crucian carp is believed to give you good luck through the whole year because its first character sounds like "good luck" in the language. There are also rules that apply to HOW you must eat the fish, and the position it is on the plate. For example, the head should face elders and distinguished guests, as a sign of respect. The person facing the fish head gets to eat before everyone else. The fish can't be moved from position. Also, the person who is facing the head should drink with the person facing the tail.
Another symbolic, important food for CNY is Chinese Dumplings. There are many different types of dumplings with different fillings, and each filling has a different symbolic meaning. The more dumplings you eat, the more fortune you'll get in the next year. Lucky dumplings should have a good number of pleats (flat dumplings symbolize poverty), and they should be arranged in lines rather than circles. Lines symbolize progress, as opposed to going around in circles. Some Chinese even put coins in dumplings, and it's believed that whoever eats that dumpling will become rich.
Besides those two foods, there are so many others, and each one has just as much meaning as fish and dumplings (spring rolls, rice balls, good fortune fruit, etc). As you can see, the life of the people and their food is very connected and elaborate! Chinese culture is absolutely fascinating. Read even more about it here: http://www.chinesenewyears.info/chinese-new-year-food.php
Sources:
"Chinese New Year Food:Top Lucky Foods and Symbolism." ChinaHighlights. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
Wow it all sounds delicious. I didn’t know how much of their food had meaning and symbolism. It was interesting reading your blog and learning about the process of crucian carb. It is very precise and seems very important as well. They don’t have those types of traditions in France. Although in France they do care very much for the food and how it’s made, although the process of eating French food isn’t at all like your countries. I found it very fascinating and fun to read! I would love to try their food sometime and learn more about their traditions.
ReplyDeleteHi there, after reading all your blog posts about the Chinese food culture, I have learned a lot and found out many things that I had never known about China. I’ve always heard so much about this Chinese New Year but never really looked into the details of it. I thought all the beliefs that had about getting good luck for the next year was really quite cool because I am also more of a superstitious person and could see myself following some of these rules. I had really no idea that fish was popular in China at all and the dumplings were interesting because they are also a huge part of the German food culture.
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