FCC joins the St. Louis Chinese community celebrates
2002 Chinese New Year at Worldways Children's Museum
by Dennis Kane
Chinese New Year is the major celebration of the festivals in Chinese Culture. There are many things that we are aware of about this celebration. Things such as giving red envelopes to children, cleaning the house, and having a big feast are well known to the adoption community. However, are we aware where these traditions originated?
In my reading I have found that most of the traditions come from about the second century B.C. The God of the Cooking Stove is Tsao Wang. On the 33rd day of the first lunar month he is "sent" to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on how the family has been. There has been a tradition of hanging a new picture of him behind the stove. The reason for hanging the picture in this area is that traditionally this was the center of activity in the home. His picture was there so he could hear and watch the activities of the family in the home. There was even a tradition of smearing something sweet on his mouth (in the picture) so that he would only have "sweets" coming out of his mouth when reporting to the Jade Emperor.
The stove in traditional Chinese culture stood for the unity of the home. When a home was split up it was even called dividing the stove. Each year the new picture would be hung behind the stove so that Tsao Wang could see the unity of the family. There would be spring couplets attached to the gate and lintel of the doorway. These would have traditional sayings of blessings for wealth, health and long life. On the gate itself, there would be placed bright pictures of fierce warriors/guardians. These would be to protect the family from the Nian or beast that roamed during the New Year's celebrations.  
Traditionally, Chinese culture has been centered on the family. Family groups would stay in the same area for generations. While we were in Changsha, there had been a recent archeological discovery. There had been some ancient tablets found that had the owners of local property listed. The dates were from several thousand (yes, thousand) years ago. Many of the names listed were related to the current owners of the same properties. A family living in the same place for that kind of time is something that we cannot comprehend in our culture. For us, a normal first question that we ask someone is where he or she grew up. Our transient culture has caused us to lose some of the meaning of family that can be found in the Chinese culture.
If we begin to incorporate the traditional values of Chinese New Year in our bi-cultural families, we can become part of an ancient tradition that honors the family. To me, the great thing about Chinese New Year traditions isn't the red envelopes (children probably disagree), the decorations, Tsao Wang, or even Nian. The best thing is the emphasis on the family. Let's make a conscious decision to establish some Chinese New Year traditions that will bring our families together. 
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