February 11, 2002 | KU Radio News Line

Audio


Contact: Wallace Johnson, East Asian Languages and Cultures, (785) 864-9130; or Frank Barthell, University Relations, (785) 864-8869.

Radio News Line text:
Chinese New Year is a movable feast, says KU professor

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, BEGINS THE YEAR OF THE HORSE, IF YOU FOLLOW THE CHINESE CALENDAR.

WALLACE JOHNSON, PROFESSOR OF EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, TEACHES A CLASS CALLED "MYTHS, LEGENDS AND FOLK TALES OF EAST ASIA."

JOHNSON SAYS IT'S UNCLEAR HOW ANIMALS CAME TO REPRESENT A CHINESE YEAR. HE SAYS SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE THE TRADITION GREW OUT THE BUDDHIST RELIGION.
Johnson: "Buddhism is almost unique amongst religions in that it's not species-limited. And the Buddha preached a sermon whereby animals could attain salvation. But only 12 kinds of animals sent representatives." (14 sec.)

JOHNSON SAYS MANY CHINESE LIVING IN RURAL AREAS OF THE COUNTRY PAY ATTENTION TO THESE ANIMAL SYMBOLS.
Johnson: "The year of the snake may be a very bad year for people who were born in the year of the rabbit. Snakes eat rabbits. All of this fits in with who you should marry. I mean, it would be a disaster if a girl born in the year of the tiger should marry a man born in the year of the goat." (15 sec.)

JOHNSON SAYS THE CHINESE NEW YEAR IS A MOVABLE FEAST, SINCE IT'S ESTABLISHED BY OBSERVING BOTH THE LUNAR AND SOLAR CALENDARS.
Johnson: "And so you end up by having New Year's come on the first new moon after the sun enters the constellation of Aquarius. And this means that it can't come earlier than our January 24th nor later than our February 20th so as to be able to plant more or less at the correct time." (25 sec.)

JOHNSON SAYS THE CHINESE DO NOT MAKE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS, BUT FOR MANY THE APPROACHING NEW YEAR IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT TO REST OLD GRUDGES AND RETIRE OLD DEBTS.
Johnson: "And maybe if you and somebody had a disagreement you'll go and say, 'We've known each other for a long time. Why don't we patch it up?'" (8 sec.)

JOHNSON SAYS THEATRE AND COLORFUL COSTUMES ARE A BIG PART OF THE CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION.
Johnson: "A part of a good time is color and the theatre is color. As a matter of fact, Chinese for 'a good time' is 'green, green, red, red'; it's those two words repeated. And so people put on fancy costumes and everybody enjoys it a great deal." (16 sec.)

JOHNSON SAYS THE SYMBOLS USED DURING CHINESE NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS ARE AGES-OLD CULTURAL CUSTOMS. FOR INSTANCE, FIRECRACKERS ARE USED TO SCARE AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS OR DEMONS.
Johnson: "Demons -- they're very sensitive to noise. So if you set off a lot of firecrackers, that will help to keep the demons away." (8 sec.)

DRAGONS, OFTEN PART OF CHINESE NEW YEAR, ARE DEPICTED IN WESTERN SOCIETIES AS THREATENING. NOT SO IN CHINA, SAYS JOHNSON.
Johnson: "But in East Asia the dragon wears a white hat. The dragon brings rain. And in an agricultural society, there's nothing more important than rain." (9 sec.)

THE CHINESE NEW YEAR ISN'T A DAYLONG CELEBRATION. IN FACT, IT LASTS FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AND ENDS THIS YEAR ON FEBRUARY 26 WITH THE LANTERN FESTIVAL. JOHNSON SAYS THE LANTERN FESTIVAL SYMBOLIZES THE BEGINNING OF SPRING.
Johnson: "It's called the establishment of spring, and it probably had to do originally with something of the sun starting again, and the lantern sort of illustrates the days are getting longer." (12 sec.)

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