The Lunar New Year
Goats, snakes and horses are teaming up with dragons this week at H.B. Anderson Elementary School in Garden Grove. They are learning about rice farming in Vietnam. About mythical races. About how to put on a Lunar New Year’s party.
Tet holds a special place in the lives of many of the students, about 80% of whom are Vietnamese. While adults may be focusing on this weekend’s three-day Tet Festival 2000 in Garden Grove, these kids have been putting together their own production.
Lauren Vu, a fourth-grade teacher at the school, has for the last four years organized a Tet celebration at the request of parents who want their children to learn more about their culture.
What began as a couple of dances has now turned into a full-blown celebration with many dances and a play, written by Vu, explaining the origins of the ancient Vietnamese holiday.
Tet “is more important than Christmas to the Asian community,” said Vu, 27, who was born in the Year of the Rat. “It’s like it’s everybody’s birthday and it’s a three-day celebration.”
And with this being the Year of the Dragon, Vu said, it’s definitely different from other years.
“The dragon is the only sign in the zodiac that is a mythical creature. All of the other signs are earthborn creatures,” Vu said. “So there’s something about dragons that is just a little more special.”
Vu said that while you cannot know a person based only on their sign, there are definite differences between classes each year. She describes her current class, mostly horses, as generally playful; a class of dragons two years ago was more focused and intense.
Some children, like 12-year-old Thao Le--a dragon--know many of the stories surrounding Tet. Le told about the great race that determined what order the signs would follow. She explained how the dragon could have won the race but came back to warn the other animals about a pack of vicious wolves waiting near the finish line.
Others, like 10-year-old Heather Casperson--a horse--are just beginning to learn about the culture. Casperson is in the hat dance this year and explained that the hats worn by people in Vietnam serve two purposes: to provide shade and to collect and clean rice in the fields. She said that her father’s a dragon but that he didn’t know the significance of it.
“People in Vietnam believe that there’s a lot of good luck with the Year of the Dragon,” said Quang Trinh, 10, a snake who is performing in the dragon dance today. “In Vietnam, there’s a lot of poor people and so they came up with this dance to give something back to them. It’s like Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s all rolled into one.”
All of the children agree that Tet is a time for presents, fun and activities. Even those not performing in the school celebration said they will be going to the Tet festival at Garden Grove Park this weekend.
“It’s a very big weekend to celebrate Vietnamese culture,” said 12-year-old Jenny Ha, a dragon. “It’s a time for bonding. Around the new year everyone comes together to celebrate and be with their family.”
Tet Celebration, H.B. Anderson Elementary School, 8902 Hewitt Place, Garden Grove. Performances today at 8:45 and 9:30 a.m. Information: (714) 894-7201.
CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Dragon 2000
1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000
Those born in Dragon years are said to be wealthy, wise, powerful and eccentric. They are compatible with Rats and Monkeys, but not Dogs.
Common Greetings
Chinese: “Gung Hay Fat Choy” (Extend happiness, prosperity and wealth)
Vietnamese: “Chuc Mung Naam Moii” (Greet New Year to you)
Saturday marks the beginning of the year 4698 on the Chinese lunar calendar. It’s the year of the dragon, one of 12 animal symbols that rule each calendar year. It’s the most significant holiday in many Asian cultures, including the Vietnamese, who call it ‘Tet’ or ‘Tet Nguyen Dan’ which translates to ‘the first morning of the first day of the new year’. How the holiday is celebrated:
TRADITIONS
GETTING READY: Homes and businesses are cleaned, repaired, painted and organized for a fresh start on New Year’s Day. Debts are paid and new clothes purchased to evoke the feeling of prosperity and well-being.
LUCKY MONEY: Crisp, new bills tucked in small red envelopes are exchanged to pass good luck on to family members. Typically, older people give lucky money to younger family members and married people give it to their unmarried relatives.
KITCHEN GOD: A deity depicted in a paper image hung on the kitchen wall. Toward the end of the last lunar month, the head of the family places the paper image on an altar. Special foods and objects are placed before it in hopes that it will say only good things about the family when it rises to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor. The image is then burned so the kitchen god can rise in the air to heaven. It returns on New Year’s Eve to guard the household once again.
VISITS, GIFTS: New Year’s Day is spent visiting family and friends. Gifts of flowers, New Year’s cakes, candied fruits and seeds are exchanged as expressions of good luck, togetherness and good health.
FOOD
* Fish (served whole): The Chinese word for fish (yu) is a homonym of the written character meaning “more than enough”. Served on New Year’s Eve, with the hope that the family will have so much luck or wealth that that there will be something left for the future.
New Year’s Day is a vegetarian day, since killing something on the first day of the year may bring bad luck.
* Nien goh: Steamed pudding made of sweetened rice flour. ‘Nien” means ‘year’ and ‘goh’ is a homonym of the written character for ‘high”. The pudding is consumed on the first day of the year in hope that it will bring upward mobility, promotions and higher grades in school.
* Noodles: To signify long life.
* Bahn Day: Round rice cakes that represent the sky
* Bahn Chung: Square rice cake filled with bean paste and ground meat that represent the earth.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE
* Garden Grove Park
NOTE: OUR METRO STORY SAID ATLANTIS PARK. THAT’S A KIDDIE PLAY AREA INSIDE GARDEN GROVE PARK. GARDEN GROVE PARK IS CORRECT LOCATION. JJ
Feb. 4 to Feb. 6
Sponsor: Vietnamese Community of Southern California
10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Carnival, food, games entertainment
Admission: Adults $3, children $2
Parking: Free
* UC Irvine Student Center
Feb. 6
7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m
Dancing, karaoke, Chinese movies
Sponsor: Chinese Student and Scholar Assn.
Admission: $2
Parking: $4
* Westminster Mall
12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Hourly prize drawings, free Pokemon card and Lucky Money for kids. Saturday: Martial arts demonstration, magic show Sunday: Dragon dance, jugglers and a Chinese noodle-making demonstration
Graphics reporting by JANICE JONES DODDS/Los Angeles Times
Sources: Sympatico.com; Westminster Mall and Times reports