Kung Hei Fat Choi / Gong Xi Fa Cai

Today marks the beginning of the 15 day celebration of the "Chinese" new year. A large proportion of our planet's population (including, but not limited to, people living in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand) will be taking part in the festivals that take place over the next 15 days.

Happy Year of the Dragon, one and all!

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Comments

[Lonespark]

Sawadee Pi Mai? (I have no idea how one ought to actually transliterate that.)

W00t!

[Ross]

I remember years ago participating in an international joint project at work where all the particiapnts were adamant that our Big International Demonstration would be the first week in February, but one of the key contributors was in Taiwan, and kept trying to explain how hard it was to get anything done that week.

I mostly remember that because this dilemma was the only reason many of the participants had to be aware of the holiday, they kept refering to it as "Taiwanese New Year" and he had to keep correcting them.

[Winter]

Happpy New Year's, everyone. Sitting here on this cold and rainy day, I have no idea what bright git thought it should mark the beginning of spring. If you see the Chinese character for spring written upside down around this time of year, it's a pun on "Spring has arrived" since the words for "arrive" and "upside-down" are homophones in Mandarin.

I was in Taiwan for New Year's a couple years ago and it was fun, though helping out in a cousin's store was about equivalent to Christmas retail Stateside. Lots of shoppers, terrible music, and I don't think I could even look at a sausage for weeks afterwards.

[mercredigirl]

There are no seasons in Singapore, but friends in China share the reaction of “温暖的春风就要吹醒大地”？！ Weather does not match the music, kthx!

Anyway, to all who celebrate, 新年快乐！龙马精神，万事如意！

[Mmy]

Question to anyone who knows more about RTCism among people who use the "Chinese calendar" -- how does one square aware the fact that one culture has been continuously measuring the years for almost 5 millennia with the idea that the entire universe is scarcely a thousand years older than that. Or Chinese history stretches back to cover the times when "Biblical literalists" are claiming that everyone was still speaking one language and huddled in a small area of the world?

That sounds snarky -- but I really don't get how anyone can hold to particular RTC beliefs without basically denying the existence of entire cultures.

[Timothy (TRiG)]

Mmy, that would make a good question on Christianity StackExchange. You might get an interesting answer there.

TRiG.

[MercuryBlue]

I really don't get how anyone can hold to particular RTC beliefs without basically denying the existence of entire cultures.

I do. I got my existence denied to my face on Saturday. By my brother. (I do not 'claim to be' an atheist, brother dear.)

[mercredigirl]

I really don't get how anyone can hold to particular RTC beliefs without basically denying the existence of entire cultures.

Yes, I could introduce you to a lot of S. and E. Asians personally offended by young-Earth creationism!

Question to anyone who knows more about RTCism among people who use the "Chinese calendar" -- how does one square aware the fact that one culture has been continuously measuring the years for almost 5 millennia with the idea that the entire universe is scarcely a thousand years older than that.

I am not sure, but I suppose (if one wishes to venture into the dragon's den) that a look around fundamentalist Chinese churches like the Far East Bible College would be... um, enlightening? [TW in certain pages at that link: misogyny, hetero/cis/sexism, cultural imperialism]

[Anonymous]

I went to that site, and I even read through some of their publications -- they have about 16 years worth of newsletter available online in pdf format, and I really couldn't find anything about how the Bible's literal 6000 year old history is relevant to China. They seem to just ignore the issue entirely. Which is a shame, because now that mmy's asked, I'm curious too. Though I guess that's the answer: they ignore the issue entirely because there wasn't a white person around to measure the five millennia of history.

[mercredigirl]

@Anonymous: Oddly, though, YEC RTCs of Chinese descent whom I have encountered are also very likely to be chauvinist about the supremacy of their ethnic heritage (and often convinced that things like atheism and queerness are evil imports of the decadent West).