Monday, January 26, 2009

‡ Happy Chinese New Year 2560 ‡


Yap, hari ini adalah tanggal 26 Januari 2009 yang merupakan hari pertama Tahun Baru China alias Imlek.


Happy Chinese New Year!

恭喜发财.
(Gōngxǐ fācái)

新年快樂.
(Xīnnián kuàilè)


Kali ini gw sertakan beberapa kepercayaan yang ada dalam Imlek yah..
(maaph gk diterjemahin.. wkwk)


GOOD LUCK
- Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.
- Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.
- Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.
- It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, as explained below, cleaning the house after New Year's Day is frowned upon)
- Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Chinese people will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
- Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.
- The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.


BAD LUCK
- Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The character for "shoe" (鞋) is a homophone for the character 諧/谐, which means "rough" in Cantonese; in Mandarin it is also a homophone for the character for "evil" (邪).
- Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year's Eve.
- Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
- Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
- Saying words like "finished" and "gone" is inauspicious on the New Year, so sometimes people would avoid these words by saying "I have completed eating my meal" rather than say "I have finished my meal."
- Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious.
- Buying books is bad luck because the character for "book" (書/书) is a homonym to the character for "lose" (輸/输).
- Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral colour.
- Foul language is inappropriate during the Chinese New Year.
- Offering anything in fours, as the number four (四), pronounced sì, can sound like "death" (死) in Chinese.
- Also you should never buy a clock for someone or for yourself because, a clock in Chinese tradition means your life is limited or "the end" which is also forbidden.


+Lyrics of the day+
Now this next song was a big hit comedy song before I was born, and I took this song and modernized it, I hope. The hero of the song was originally Jewish, and I made him Chinese - which is no small achievement, actually. Uh, and the reason I did that was that a couple months ago, in January, I was appearing in San Francisco, and it happened to be during the Chinese New Year. And I learned that to the Chinese people, this is the year 4664. And of course to the Jewish people, this is the year 5726. Which means that for 1062 years, Jewish people have had to do their own laundry.

Now this is a very tender, poignant song, actually. It's beautiful if you want to know. I figure I better tell you it's beautiful before I start singing it, because once I start you'll have no way of knowing that it's beautiful.

This is a song about a man who walks into a tailor, and tells him a very sad story. And it goes like this:
(A Few Words About The Chinese New Year by Allan Sherman)

0 issues: