Religious Education Update: February 3, 2008
Happy Chinese New Year!
The most important festival in China, the New Year, begins on February 7 this year. It is a lunar holiday, and always begins on a new moon, so its date varies on our solar calendar. The celebrations begin with big family dinners on New Year’s Eve, followed by fireworks at midnight. The feasting continues on New Year’s Day, usually with vegetarian food in honor of the Buddha. On the seventh day of New Year’s, everyone turns a year older. Lantern Day closes out the celebration on the fifteenth, a traditional day for matchmaking and romance.
Chinese New Year is a religious holiday. Before the holidays begin, families clean their homes to sweep out all the bad luck that has accumulated over the year. They buy new clothes, take baths and wash their hair. Everything must be new and clean. Families go to the temple on New Year’s Eve to honor their ancestors and to pray for good fortune. On New Year’s Day, families set up an altar in their homes with photos of their ancestors, oranges for prosperity, tangerines for good luck., and sweets.
The New Year is a time of visiting relatives and giving gifts, such as oranges for prosperity for adults or lucky money in red envelopes for the children. People believe that each relative must be visited in the first three days, or relationships will be strained all year.
This year is the year of the Rat, and children born this year will have the rat’s attributes, meaning that they will be charming, creative, ambitious and friendly. (What animal are you?)
The children will learn about Chinese New Year today, with special guest Karen Rutherford, who traveled to China to adopt her daughter, Hannah. I feel blessed that Hannah and her family are part of UUP, and that they are willing to share this part of Hannah’s heritage with all of us.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
The most important festival in China, the New Year, begins on February 7 this year. It is a lunar holiday, and always begins on a new moon, so its date varies on our solar calendar. The celebrations begin with big family dinners on New Year’s Eve, followed by fireworks at midnight. The feasting continues on New Year’s Day, usually with vegetarian food in honor of the Buddha. On the seventh day of New Year’s, everyone turns a year older. Lantern Day closes out the celebration on the fifteenth, a traditional day for matchmaking and romance.
Chinese New Year is a religious holiday. Before the holidays begin, families clean their homes to sweep out all the bad luck that has accumulated over the year. They buy new clothes, take baths and wash their hair. Everything must be new and clean. Families go to the temple on New Year’s Eve to honor their ancestors and to pray for good fortune. On New Year’s Day, families set up an altar in their homes with photos of their ancestors, oranges for prosperity, tangerines for good luck., and sweets.
The New Year is a time of visiting relatives and giving gifts, such as oranges for prosperity for adults or lucky money in red envelopes for the children. People believe that each relative must be visited in the first three days, or relationships will be strained all year.
This year is the year of the Rat, and children born this year will have the rat’s attributes, meaning that they will be charming, creative, ambitious and friendly. (What animal are you?)
The children will learn about Chinese New Year today, with special guest Karen Rutherford, who traveled to China to adopt her daughter, Hannah. I feel blessed that Hannah and her family are part of UUP, and that they are willing to share this part of Hannah’s heritage with all of us.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
posted by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma @ 1:29 PM
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