Chinese New Year comprises a cycle of feasts beginning with the "seeing off of the gods" and lasting until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the new lunar year.
On the 24th day of the final lunar month, the household spirits leave for Heaven to pay tribute to the Jade Emperor and report on the activities of mortals. A Taiwan folk story recounts that a household deity was offended and told Heaven that mankind should be destroyed. Before the Jade Emperor could issue an edict, the other gods reported that men were not disloyal.
Informed of possible disaster, men held a pai pai (feast of worship) to appease spirits, ancestors and Heaven. The feasting lasted for several weeks to make sure that Heaven called off any plans for destruction. This was the beginning of the New Year's celebration.
On the day before New Year, a special service is held to honor the Jade Emperor. New Year's eve is reserved for ancestral worship and feasting. The household gods return from Heaven on the 4th of the 1st month. The Jade Emperor's birthday is celebrated on the 9th.
Lighting of firecrackers, burning of paper money and a feast are part of the ceremony of seeing off the household gods. Some families also burn horses and palanquins cut from yellow paper so the spirits may ride to Heaven. Steamed rice pudding is eaten.
In North and Central China, the god of the hearth, Tsao-shen, is seen oft on the 23rd of the last month. His mouth is filled with sweet sticky rice so he cannot report on the family's doings. Families in mourning are not allowed to make the pudding on Taiwan and must get theirs from neighbors. An exorcism is performed before making this pudding and other special New Year's dishes.
Pots and pans are washed and the furniture and house cleaned after departure of the gods. When present, the gods may cause sickness or bad luck if the furniture is disturbed or moved from customary places.
The family altar and the metal incense pot hanging from the ceiling are the first articles to be cleaned. The incense burner, a possession of the spirits, is scrubbed with a special oil mixed with charcoal ashes.
Some say that the spirits come down from Heaven to watch over men on the 25th. On this day, one is not to borrow money, pay bills or ask payment from one's debtors. Anyone who asks for money on this day may be struck a hard blow and may not take offense.
The 12th month is a good time to get married, especially after the household gods are gone. The spirits don't resent changes made in the house while they are away. If a new daughter-in-law is installed during their absence, they will not mind. The time is economical, too, because wedding and New Year's feasts may be combined. Taiwanese pai pai feasts may last for two or three days.
On the day before New Year comes a proliferation of tui lien, pairs of five or seven character poems written on red paper in fortuitous language. These matched phrases are written anew annually and pasted at entryways. Single characters for "spring" or "fortune" are written on red squares and pasted on the door. Wording of the tui lien is based on the shop or family name or profession. Booklets of appropriate verses are for sale or a friend may be asked to compose one.
The origin of tui lien is nebulous. Taiwan folklore says peach branches used to be placed over doors to discourage evil spirits. Then images of door gods were substituted due to the scarcity of peach wood. Then came the verses.
The peach is a classic charm for expelling demons and bringing good luck. Han Yu, in a famous memorial to the throne in 817 A.D., admonished the emperor to exorcise with a peach branch a relic of Buddha then being worshipped in China. Taoists use peach branches to cure sickness, expel demons and summon spirits. The peach itself is supposed to confer long life and is seen in the right hand of Shou Hsing, the Taoist god of longevity.
In times past much effort was given to determination of the exact moment when the New Year would begin. The almanac was consulted and wooden mooncakes tossed to determine the time for each household. When the moment arrived, firecrackers were exploded, paper money burned and the ancestral offerings laid on the family altar. It was said that the later the children went to bed, the greater the longevity of parents.
Nowadays the feast is usually prepared the afternoon of the last day of the old year. Members of the family bathe and put on new clothes. Paper money and incense are burned before the ancestral shrine and offerings of food set out with seven small cups of wine and seven sets of chopsticks. If an adopted son has brought along the tablets of his ancestors, there are 14 cups of wine and 14 pairs of chopsticks. The more abundant the food, the greater the reward during the coming year. The matriarch of the family casts the wooden moon cakes to determine when the ancestors have eaten their till.
Special dishes are prepared for the ancestral offering. Included are sweet fruits, sweet rice pudding, vegetable rice pudding, baking powder cake and an overflowing bowl of steamed rice. Before cooking, the stove is purified by sprinkling salt and ashes in four directions above the stove. The matriarch usually presides over the cooking. A woman about to give birth is not allowed in the kitchen. Care must be taken that the cake rises properly. Prosperity will be affected by a fallen cake. Cakes and an overflowing bowl of steamed rice are placed in front of the ancestor shrine together with a red paper streamer bearing in gold the character chun (spring). Chun has the same pronunciation as the word for "abundance" and thus serves a dual purpose.
About 7 in the evening, the dishes are taken away and reheated for the family feast. Though the Jade Emperor and other celestial figures are honored with an uneven number of dishes, an even number is proper for humans. Sixteen to 20 may turn up at a New Year's banquet. A sweet dish usually announces the halfway point. A charcoal fire may be placed under the table to warm the feet of the diners. Only happy talk is allowed. Peace reigns over the family for this meal.
Afterward, oranges are stacked in fives before the ancestor tablets and household gods. A red cloth imprinted with a dragon is hung before the altar. The dragon is the spirit of feasting. The bowl of rice and rice cakes remain on the altar until the gods come back on the 4th day of the new year. The oranges remain until after the Lantern Festival on the 15th. Older ladies place red paper flowers bearing the chun character in their hair to ask abundance for the coming year.
At midnight, after the arrival of the New Year and the firing of firecrackers, or if the family went to bed early, at the first possible moment in the morning, children and younger members of the family must bow to their elders. Daughters-in-law offer a cup of sweet tea to her mother-in-law and father-in-law. Guests begin to arrive early. Sweets are prepared. When leaving, guests give red envelopes containing money to the children. For the first three days of the New Year, it is forbidden to eat rice congee because this might offend the gods and result in too much rain The fourth day is marked by a feast to welcome back the family gods. Beef, pork and chicken dishes are placed on the family altar, incense and paper money are burned and life begins to return to normal.
Early in the morning of the ninth day, the Taiwanese celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor. Festivities may last from 1 a.m. until breakfast. Sometimes called the Emperor of the Vast Heavens, the Jade Emperor has sometimes been identified with Chinese legendary heroes but is usually regarded as an anthropomorphic supreme being.
A special feast is prepared. The banner of the Eight Immortals is hung over the entrance to the main hall where the ancestor shrine is maintained. The table is round and higher than ordinary. On either side of the table is a sugar cane stalk with the leaves left on top. These are much like pillars stretching to Heaven. The character for "sweet" and "Heaven" have the same pronunciation ("ting") in the Taiwanese dialect.
Pork, duck, chicken, mutton and beef are laid out. Old and the young gather and males over 16 burn paper money printed in gold and larger than that burned for house gods and ancestors. It is the Jade Emperor who assures male offspring. Members of the family kneel three times and pray nine times. Washed clothes and night soil may not be carried through the main hall during the Jade Emperor's presence.
In earlier times on the Chinese mainland, the people from Changchou in Fukien, who settled southern Taiwan, observed this feast on the 15th of the first month, while the people from Ch'uanchou, who now inhabit northern Taiwan, observed it on the 9th. Taiwan now observes the Jade Emperor's birthday on the 9th. The 15th is reserved for the three celestial officials.
The Jade Emperor, supreme deity of the Taoist religion, has sometimes been confused with the leader of the Yellow Turban rebellion in 185 A.D. at the end of the Han dynasty. Though the Yellow Turbans were heterodox, with roots in popular Taoism, their leaders were highly esteemed by the common folk. Chang Yi, the religious leader of the rebellion, was supposed to have had the power to cure ills and to confer longevity with his medicines and incantations. In 1014, Emperor Shen Tsung of the Sung dynasty recognized the Jade Emperor as the supreme deity worshipped at the winter solstice ceremony. Emperor Hui Tsung of Sung is said to have issued an imperial order in 1115 to make Chang Y, and Yu Shang Huang Ti the Jade Emperor, into a single deity.
Some 138 tempies on Taiwan are dedicated to Kuan Ti or Kuan Kung, the god of war. His birthday is usually celebrated on the 13th of the first month. However, it is celebrated on the 24th of the sixth month in Taipei and on the 13th day of the fifth month in Tainan. His statue is kept in most temples and can be identified by the bright red face and flowing black beard. He also figures prominently in Peiping opera. The sword and costume worn by the character portraying Kuan Kung are set aside and given special reverence.
Known in Mandarin as Kuan Kung or Kuan Yu, this god was one of the famous "three musketeers" of the period of the Three Kingdoms (221-280 AD.). Liu Pei, pretender to the defunct Han throne, led his two blood brothers, Kuan Yu and Chang Fei, into the Shu kingdom (present day Szechwan), where they maintained themselves until the death of Kuan Kung (263 AD.). Kuan Kung's real name was Shih and his given name Shou-ch'ang. He was born in P'uchou, - Shansi province. At the age of 16 he swore blood brotherhood with Liu Pei and Chang Fei.
Kuan Kung is also venerated by merchants. One of the episodes in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells how Ts'ao Ts'ao captured the two wives of Liu Pei. Kuan Kung was sent to bring them back. Ts'ao agreed to release them provided Kuan Kung would serve in the Wei army for a stipulated period. Agreeing, Kuan rode to battle with Ts'ao's army. Ts'ao sent Kuan money every day, hoping to win him over. Kuan Kung returned all the money at the end of his service and left with Liu's wives.
The accounts he kept made him Chinese history's first accountant. His image may be seen in most shops and households along with portraits of his bodyguards, Chou Chang and Kuan Ping.
Two events arc celebrated on the 15th of the New Year. The first is the birthday of Tien Kuan Ta Ti, the Great Emperor Official of the Heavens. He is one of the Taoist Trinity ruling Heaven, earth and sea. The second is the Lantern Festival, observed in the evening and now mainly for children.
Lanterns no longer have any religious significance. Originally they were hung in temples to honor the Jade Emperor or perhaps Tai Chi, the Eternal Principle from which all things flow. Popular lanterns are made in the shape of Kuan Kung's sword, the lotus blossom or the animal of the year. Larger temples compete with each other in the size and beauty of their lanterns. Historical scenes may be depicted. In 1971, the legend will be that of Chu Pachieh, the pig that accompanied Monkey and Hsuan Chuang to India in search of the Buddhist sutras.
The dragon dance is performed in the streets. Bystanders throw firecrackers, often of alarming size. On Taiwan, the dragon dance is especially popular in Hakka areas. Miaoli county is noted for the number and size of its dragons.
Lanterns were used in an ancient ceremony welcoming the spring light. Willow branches welcomed the spring rains. Another story is that the lanterns were used to sight and avoid evil spirits.
Tradition allows young ladies to go out on the night of the 15th in hope of being seen by an acceptable young gentleman.- Michael Saso, S. J.
Museum Newsletter - Bronze mirrors
Mirrors of ancient China were made of bronze and usually were round. The polished side served as the reflecting surface. A knob on the back facilitated handling. These decorated bronze mirrors had no ritualistic significance. They were wholly functional. Yet the fine workmapship shows the taste for elegance among the upper strata of ancient society. Some mirrors were square and others resembled a many-petalled flower. Back decorations were inventive.
Bronze mirrors were made as early as the late Chou dynasty. Excavations in the Huai River basin and in Honan have uncovered many splendid examples from the Warring States Period (481-205 B.C.). The bronze casting technique was advanced by then and there were three methods of decoration: casting, inlaying with gold or silver and painting. Sometimes the mirror was made in two pieces and front and back soldered together. Relatively simple, these Warring States mirrors compare favorably with those of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D).
In Han times, mirrors were favored gifts. A proverb said: "High hangs the clear mirror," referring to the fairness of an official with sympathy for the problems of the people. Designs featured dragons, other mythical animals, fairies, birds and geometrical and cloud patterns. Characters expressed wishes for good luck. Dates and reign years also appeared. Borders were more ornate. Such mirrors were passed on from one generation to the next or might be buried with the dead.
The art of mirror making flourished in the Tang dynasty (618-905 A.D.). Designs of flowers, leaves, dragons and birds were used in free patterns. Taoist legends of fairies and the diagrams of I Chin (Book of Changes) also appeared. Taoists used the mirror to ward off evil and carried one as protection and sometimes used it to cure illnesses.
Mirrors became celebrated in proverbs and poetry. One story relates that in the K'ai Yuan reign of the Tang dynasty, a man named Li Tai presented to the emperor a mirror on which a coiled dragon was carved. A real dragon supposedly hid beneath the design. Years later there was a great drought. Emperor Ming Huang led the priests in prayer for rain while holding this mirror. Mist was seen to emit from the mouth of the dragon of the mirror and sweet rain fell for seven days without stop.
Another story tells of Hsu The-yen, who was married to Princess Lo Chang, the sister of Chen Hou-chu who reigned from 583-589 as one of the kings in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. The kingdom of Chen was threatened and Teh-yen said to his wife: "With your beauty, you probably will be taken into the household of one of those in power. Does this mean we must part? I feel our life together is not yet ended. We must hope to meet again. Let us each keep a token of our bond." He broke a mirror in two and husband and wife each took a piece and agreed to match them at the marketplace on January 15 some years later. The kingdom of Chen fell and the princess was captured by Yang Su, who treated her well. On the appointed day, Teh-yen returned to the capital and met a servant selling half a mirror. The halves of the mirror were matched and Teh-yen entrusted the old man with a poem for his former wife. The poem read:
Once both mirror and person left me,
Now the mirror alone has returned;
Without the shadow of Chang-O,
It alone reflects the empty moon.
Upon receiving poem and mirror, the princess wept and would not eat. When Yang Su learned the cause, he summoned Teh-yen and allowed the princess to be reunited with her husband. The couple lived to a great and happy age in Chang An.