The Year of the Rat is the time for renewal and fresh starts. The quick and alert little creature symbolizes leadership, ambition, passion and practicality. But most central to celebrations of any kind, and to the Chinese New Year especially, is food. Let's take a closer look at the symbolism of food in the Lunar New Year celebration.
Everything about Chinese New Year - even here in Bangkok - is done to invoke the spirits of health, wealth, longevity and bounteous progeny. Auspicious food shared among family and friends blesses all who partake in it. Meaning is generated via metaphorical channels rather than through dead superstitions - drawing parallels between actions, sounds of words, the flavours, textures and colours.
Inviting prosperity
As the new moon approaches, the time leading up to the occasion is spent in purposeful preparation. Parts of these activities are directed to bidding farewell to the old and making room for the new. Cleaning, fixing, getting rid of the unnecessary and settling old debts are ways of gracefully letting go of the past and entering the New Year on good terms. Another reason for the frantic activities prior to the actual festival is due to a set of taboos that come into play during the celebrations. It is thought to be unlucky to cut anything with a sharp object for the first three to four days, as it could symbolize the breaking of good luck or fortune, hence foods are kept intact (served whole, i.e. pork, chicken). Also, sweeping is discouraged as one could easily sweep away some of the good fortune coming your way.
Flirting with the kitchen god
This is also the time assigned to silencing the kitchen god on his report to the Jade Emperor, concerning household affairs. The reason sacrificial confectionary left to him had a sticky consistency, was so that the poor fellow couldn't open his mouth. But over time, the deity grew to quite enjoy the offering and it became sweeter, so as to sweeten the report - rather than make him choke on his words. On the last day of the old year, the poster representing the kitchen god is burnt to send him skywards, and a new poster replaces it to signal renewal of familial harmony.
Spreading the love
The following are some of the ways in which food is put to auspicious use. Sticky rice coheres, as families should. Such is the texture of the fruity and nutty porridge cooked on the last day of the old year and eaten on the morning of the first. The cake's origins can be traced to many variations of a story, all relating to the act of sharing among the family and community. Today the custom of offering the porridge first to the ancestors and then to the family - while the surplus is offered to beggars - are reminders of the noble acts of sharing and filial piety.
Meaningful mouthfuls
The complex Chinese writing system is rich territory for a lot of word-play, and Chinese merrymakers love finding homonyms, allowing them to manipulate meanings to suit the occasion. For example, the sound of the character for fish also sounds like the word for plenty. So when there is fish left over, it means there will be surplus. The reunion dinner, held on Old Year's Eve, is an occasion brimming with auspiciously charged foods. As is usually the case, homonyms abound, but there is also a lot of attention to the physicality of the food - the shape, consistency, and colour, that surpasses mere appreciation.
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Meatballs and fishballs, by their round shape and virtue of consisting of many bits rolled into one, symbolize reunion between friends and family. The shape of dumplings resemble gold ingots, and there is a custom of hiding a coin inside one of them. Whoever bites into that dumpling has the best luck for the year. Springrolls resemble gleaming gold bars and are hence symbolic of wealth. Niangao sticky cakes rise, representing the raising of oneself financially every year. The colour of oranges, mandarins and dried apricots resembles gold. The '8 Treasures Pudding', corresponding to the eight trigrams of the I-Ching, is an auspicious delicacy full of sexy, healthy, rich and life enduring tidbits: cherries, dates, almonds and lotus seeds - the latter itself an embodiment of all good wishes.
No wonder Chinese cuisine is so appealing; not only is it a feast for the taste buds, but it is drenched in symbolism that can be traced back thousands of years. |
