Rat in, Pig out

Today is the start of the Year of the Rat according to the Chinese lunar calendar, starting a new twelve-year cycle after the exit of the Pig.

In a gala reception at the Manila Hotel last Monday evening, the Chinese embassy in Manila led by Ambassador Song Tao conveyed New Year greetings to the Filipino people, expressing hope that “the Year of the Rat will see stronger ties between our two countries.”

The biggest celebration of what is also known as the Spring Festival was observed last night, the eve of the new year or chuxi, when family generations gather around a sumptuous table in a ritual called weilu or gathering around the hearth. That is one time that the “no leftover” policy is taboo; rather, the food must be so plentiful that there are sufficient leftovers, symbolizing surplus. And since knives and fires are frowned upon on the first day of the year anyway, families dine on food cooked yesterday.

In particular, tradition mandates serving a whole fish, which is not to be entirely consumed, since the Chinese phrase “nian nian you yu” which means “May there be surplus every year” can also mean “May there be fish every year,” the character for surplus being a homonym for fish.

On the first day of the new year families remember their ancestors, and younger generations clamor to be remembered by their elders via gifts of money in red packets, hong pao or angpao. Red is the color of the day, simply because it is festive and bright, but if you need a supernatural reason, the old belief is that it scares the ghosts away.

Tomorrow is traditionally the time married daughters come home to visit their birth parents, and it is also the time to be extra nice to your dog, since the second day of the year is supposed to be the birthday of all dogs.

The entire festival lasts 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival, and the good news is that youngsters can collect hong pao until that day.

The Chinese calendar is both lunar and solar, and starts with the new moon. The lunar cycle is 29.5 days, and in order to “catch up” with the solar calendar, the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years, much like a day is added in a leap year.   

In China, this is the time of year for the greatest movement of people, when about 200 million migrant workers clog railway stations and bus and ferry terminals trying to get home.

The worst weather to hit the country in five decades has however severely compromised travel, and many have heeded government advisories to stay where they are. In Guangdong, where factories making everything from toys to transistors employ about 30 million workers from all over China, about 12 million are staying in their factory dormitories, away from family and what for many is the only festive and plentiful celebration of the year.

The government has said about 105 million people have been affected by the snowstorms; power has been restored to most of the 170 counties blacked out by the storms, but others are celebrating with candles, lamps, wood-fire stoves – and cigarettes.