Lion dancers will bring in the Lunar New Year to VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Chinatown to celebrate the upcoming Year of The Rabbit with music, food and tradition.

Celebrations of Lunar New Year, also called Chinese New Year, are steeped in traditions that go as far back as time and while the first day of the new year falls on Jan. 22, celebrations will be held in Chinatown on Jan. 29. This yearB次元官网网址檚 celebration is sponsored by .

On Jan. 22, youB次元官网网址檒l find most families relaxing at home, eating food and enjoying time with each other, Daniel Low said. Low works with the , which provides lion dancers for special events like weddings, business openings and multi-cultural events, as well as celebrations for Lunar New Year.

B次元官网网址淐hinese New Year to me, is like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter all rolled into one,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t is about family, food and celebrating coming together.B次元官网网址�

Holding celebrations on the weekend following the actual start of the new year allows more people to come out and gives performers the chance to spend the holiday with their families.

This year, the lion dance parade and Kung Fu demonstrations will begin at the Gates of Harmonious Interest and will move through downtown, visiting merchants who offer the vegetarian lion leafy greens and lucky red envelopes.

B次元官网网址淲hen the lion sees a leafy vegetable, he says B次元官网网址極h! IB次元官网网址檓 getting offered, so IB次元官网网址檓 going to go cleanseB次元官网网址�,B次元官网网址� Low said. B次元官网网址淗e goes to the business or the storefront and does his dance and kind of just clears the bad vibes from the year before to ensure there are good vibes for the year coming.B次元官网网址�

These modern celebrations stem from the legend of a village in the mountains of China, which had to scare away a monster every year during the spring harvest. The monster would come out of the mountains and wreak havoc on the village, ravaging the harvest and crops and killing animals.

B次元官网网址淭hat monster, the sound it made, it would say B次元官网网址渘ianB次元官网网址� and that sounds like the word for year in Chinese,B次元官网网址� Low said. B次元官网网址淔or the Chinese people, everything about superstition, we use a lot of word play.B次元官网网址�

The tradition of scaring off the monster is where we get our modern version of the celebration, during which people beat a drum, symbolizing the lionB次元官网网址檚 heart beat and bang on a gong, which replaced the pots and pans villagers would hit to scare the Nian Monster away.

B次元官网网址淭hat is the myth,B次元官网网址� Low said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檇 think, if we create the costume and make it more ornate and have purpose-used instruments and set off fire crackers for loud noise, it scares it off.B次元官网网址�

The term Lunar New Year is used to encompass the celebrations for every culture that celebrates it. It is also called Tet by the Vietnamese, Solnal by Koreans and Losar by Tibetans. It is also referred to as the Spring Festival, as it marks the harvest and beginning of spring.

B次元官网网址淐hinese New Year itself lasts for about 15 days,B次元官网网址� Low said. B次元官网网址淏asically, its the Lunar New Year - it is the spring festival, it is the beginning of spring, so people are celebrating the welcoming of spring and the harvest.B次元官网网址�

Traditionally, those chosen to participate in the lion dance were the most advanced of Kung Fu students, because the foot work and choreography of the lion was a direct reflection on the Kung Fu teacher. It was also reserved for male students. TodayB次元官网网址檚 lion dance teams are more inclusive, allowing women to participate as well as less experienced Kung Fu students, but it is still deeply entrenched in tradition.

Each lion is decorated with bright colours, traditionally just black and red, black and white or rainbow, but today you can find lions of all colours. They have a mirror on their forehead because legend holds that if evil sees itself, it will be scared away.

The frames are made of bamboo and the heads are made with paper mache, making them relatively light, despite their sturdy look. The costume, however, is still challenging to hold up while moving, jumping, kicking and pawing. Each lion requires two people.

Students at Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club train for hours at a time, several times a week to perfect the foot work and discipline necessary to put on the 10-15-minute performances they do nearly 10 times a month. The first half of their training time is focused solely on the practice of Kung Fu, which lays the foundation they need in order to do the lion dances.

The concept of cleansing bad auras and vibes from the year before is central to the lionB次元官网网址檚 purpose, but other cleansing on new yearB次元官网网址檚 day is a bad idea, said Dr. Melissa Lee, CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum.

Lee said superstition holds that cleaning on the first day of lunar new year puts you at risk of accidentally clearing out good luck.

B次元官网网址淪o before the actual start of new year, everyone will clean and everyone will wash their hair and clothes right before but on the actual new years day, no on will do it,B次元官网网址� Lee said.

This tradition lasts for the first few days of new year celebrations, which take place over a 15-day period. Those 15 days of celebration have a practical purpose, Lee said, as many people in China work away from their home towns. During the 15 days of the new year however, everything shuts down to allow people to travel home and spend time with their relatives.

This is the year of the rabbit, which Lee said symbolizes luck and prosperity, but for some zodiac animals which donB次元官网网址檛 interact well with the rabbit, like the snake or the rooster, it can mean bad vibes.

B次元官网网址淚t is also related to the character of the animal, so rabbits are meant to be really quick-minded and ingenuous,B次元官网网址� Lee said. B次元官网网址淓veryone has their zodiac animal, so even if youB次元官网网址檙e not the year of the rabbit - if youB次元官网网址檙e a the year of the rooster or the dragon, there are also astrologers that can tell you how the rabbit interacts with your animal and that way you can see whether or not it is a lucky year for you or if you need to be careful.B次元官网网址�

hollie.ferguson@vicnews.com
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