Editor's note:
"All things greet the spring and send off the wax, and the end of the year is tonight."
The traditional Chinese Spring Festival of the Year of the Rabbit is approaching, and people who have been tested by the epidemic have hope.
Starting from January 18, 2023, China News Agency's "East and West Questions" column has launched a series of articles "Decoding the Year of the Rabbit" to explore the meaning and influence of Spring Festival culture and "Shuanglichun".
China News Agency, Beijing, January 22. Question: How do overseas Chinese celebrate the "Chinese Year"?
—— Li Mu, Associate Professor of the School of Arts, Nanjing University
Author Xu Wenxin Jin Xu
The Spring Festival is a cultural symbol and emotional bond for the inheritance of Chinese identity.
In the process of celebrating the Spring Festival, overseas Chinese re-understand, understand and define their ethnic identity, adapt to the changing overseas society through cultural practice, transform and integrate the national historical and cultural memory with the real experience of the local society, and construct a Cultural awareness and identity that both respect tradition and reflect reality.
How do the customs of the Spring Festival cross the country and go to the world?
How has the way overseas Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival changed?
Li Mu, an associate professor at the School of Art, Nanjing University, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West".
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: Chinese immigration has a long history. When can the history of Chinese celebrating the Spring Festival be traced back? How does it relate to local social changes?
Li Mu:
From the first day the Chinese arrived and lived in the country, the customs of the Spring Festival have taken root in the local area.
Take Newfoundland, Canada as an example. In August 1895, the first group of Chinese immigrants arrived. On February 14, 1896, the Newfoundland local media "Daily News" reported the first Spring Festival after the Chinese immigrated there. Reported: "The Tianchao people in Gaohuaxin Street held a special celebration this Wednesday. They celebrated in a different way from ours, and it was very noisy, attracting many people to watch around their shops. (Their ) The laundromat was brightly lit, and (the Chinese) also set off fireworks.” The report showed the local people’s complex attitudes towards the Chinese New Year: curiosity about foreign cultures intertwined with rejection.
Celebrating the Spring Festival has become a symbol of the existence of Chinese culture, and it is repeated by the local mainstream discourse from time to time.
In 1988, Canada passed relevant laws to protect multiculturalism, encouraging all ethnic groups to protect and develop the cultural heritage of their own communities, and promoting mutual respect for different cultures.
With the improvement of the social status of the Chinese, the Spring Festival, as an important cultural symbol of the Chinese, has been recognized and absorbed by the local mainstream society.
Several Canadian prime ministers issued Spring Festival greetings to the Chinese community.
In 2016, Canada made the Chinese New Year an official holiday.
It can be said that the Spring Festival has become a very important part of overseas society.
On February 1, 2022, the first night of the first month of the lunar calendar, Niagara Falls, a famous tourist attraction in Canada, lights up "Chinese Red" to celebrate the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar.
Photo by Yu Ruidong
China News Agency reporter: What are the similarities and differences in the way overseas Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival in different countries and regions? As the "third culture", the Spring Festival is influenced by the culture of the country where you live?
Li Mu:
In different countries and regions, overseas Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival in different ways.
The Spring Festival of the Baba and Nyonya ethnic group in Malaysia combines Chinese culture and Malay culture; the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown in San Francisco is the "highlight" of the Spring Festival, and naturally there are dragon and lion dances, setting off firecrackers, and praying for gods; New York Empire The lanterns of the building are lit up in red and gold, the favorite colors of Chinese people, and these celebrations have continued to this day.
On January 18, 2020, in San Francisco, the United States, people dressed in traditional Chinese costumes performed traditional Chinese folk performances such as lion dance and stilt walking in "China Town", kicking off the curtain of a series of activities to celebrate the Spring Festival.
Photo by Liu Guanguan
The Spring Festival of overseas Chinese is a new cultural tradition formed after multicultural interaction in a specific social and historical background.
Overseas Chinese living in a foreign land do not copy Chinese culture mechanically, but reshape it according to their social environment and their own needs, thus creating an intercultural culture based on daily life practice. "Third Culture".
Through cultural practices such as the celebration of the Spring Festival, it not only ensures the cultural legitimacy of the overseas Chinese in the local society, but also perpetuates their inseparable connection and memory with their ancestral civilization.
More importantly, in the process of transforming ethnic culture into public culture, a community of human destiny in the cultural sense is being continuously constructed and shaped, providing the possibility of transcending race, nation, country and regional culture under the trend of globalization .
On the evening of January 23, 2020, fireworks were set off over the Hudson River in New York, and the Empire State Building was lit up in red to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Photo by Liao Pan
China News Agency reporter: What role do Chinese celebrations play in conveying the culture of the Spring Festival?
Li Mu:
In China, the celebration of the Spring Festival is mostly held as a family or friends reunion. Overseas, the Spring Festival is more of a public festival, and the Chinese community and the local community participate in the celebration.
The Chinese Association of Newfoundland once continued to hold lion dance activities during the Spring Festival. This activity was canceled midway due to lack of manpower. Later, many local people wrote to the association, asking why the lion dance activities were suddenly cancelled.
Through Chinatown and Chinese gathering places, we can clearly see how overseas societies understand Chinese culture, and also intuitively understand what kind of Chinese culture can enter the field of vision of foreigners.
On January 26, 2020, the Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade for the Year of the Boxer Rat was held in Chinatown, Vancouver, Canada.
The picture shows the lion dance in the parade.
Photo by Yu Ruidong
China News Agency reporter: What changes in the worldview and behavior patterns of the Chinese community are reflected in the celebrations of the Spring Festival overseas?
Li Mu:
Overseas Chinese communities are the main places where overseas Chinese live.
Overseas Chinese communities have become an important carrier for spreading Chinese culture.
Needless to say, the importance of the Spring Festival to Chinese people.
In Newfoundland, Canada, most of the early Chinese came from the Siyi area on the coast of Guangdong, China. They were mostly related to each other and often supported each other in daily life.
Therefore, the celebration of the Spring Festival is often confined to the private sphere or the public space of the Chinese community, and the emphasis on "Chinese symbols" such as Chinese dances, Chinese knots, and paper-cutting is a manifestation of Chinese identity.
With the increasing social influence of the Chinese community, the activities to celebrate the Spring Festival have changed from self-entertainment of the "little people" within the community to promoting Chinese culture to the public.
As a link between Chinese and Western cultural exchanges, the Chinese community is actively seeking cultural integration. In addition to programs showing traditional Chinese culture, many exotic performances are also included in the Spring Festival celebration, taking into account the different needs of multiculturalism.
It can be said that the overseas Chinese community coexists harmoniously with other cultures. While adhering to tradition, more people in the world can realize the charm of Chinese culture.
The Vancouver Chinatown Chinese New Year Celebration has become one of the largest Chinese New Year events hosted by the Canadian Chinese community, and it is also a representative festival that showcases the multicultural characteristics of Vancouver.
The picture shows artists playing musical instruments in the parade.
Photo by Yu Ruidong
China News Agency reporter: What is the unique significance of the Spring Festival to maintaining the cultural identity of the Chinese nation? How should overseas Chinese teenagers understand the cultural connotation behind the festival?
Li Mu:
The Spring Festival is a cultural practice of overseas Chinese.
Through the inheritance and adherence to traditional festivals and customs, overseas Chinese have enhanced their emotional connection with each other, and strengthened their sense of belonging and identity with their ancestral (home) country and Chinese culture.
For Chinese teenagers, the Spring Festival is an important lesson in understanding China.
Understand the New Year’s time from the stories of parents and grandparents, feel the lively atmosphere and taste bud memories through close observation and experience of Spring Festival folk customs and cultural activities. Chinese culture is undoubtedly becoming more and more popular among Chinese teenagers.
Teenagers participate in the Chinese New Year Parade in Vancouver, Canada.
Photo by Yu Ruidong
More importantly, Chinese teenagers develop an instinct for "dialogue" subtly.
They are willing to explore the deep cultural connotation behind the festival, and they are more willing to introduce Chinese festivals to the people living in the country, and become a bridge and link between different cultures.
The Chinese Spring Festival can not only reflect the uniqueness of the Chinese as a minority group, but also show openness and inclusiveness in a multicultural context. Overseas Chinese youths will also become active inheritors and vivid narrators of excellent Chinese culture, and become A friendly promoter of exchanges and mutual learning between China and the host country.
(Finish)
Respondent profile:
Li Mu, Associate Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Moral Education Supervisor of School of Art, Nanjing University; Secretary-General of Jiangsu Folk Literature and Art Research Center, Director of Jiangsu Folklore Society, Director of Nanjing Folk Literature and Art Association; main research fields are: contemporary art and anthropology, Folklore and intangible cultural heritage; author of "Heritage Travel: The North American Road of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage".