Episode 373: The Chinese Zodiac
/The Chinese New Year is nearly upon us, and it’s the Year of the Dragon! But where do the animals of the zodiac come from? And are there legends surrounding the celebrations? You bet there are!
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of child endangerment, birth, pregnancy, animal death/endangerment, death, and illness.
Housekeeping
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Cast & Crew
- Co-Hosts: Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin
- Editor: Bren Frederick
- Music: Brandon Grugle, based on "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
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About Us
Spirits is a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and folklore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy retellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every week, on Spirits.
Transcript
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AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: And I'm Julia. And this week Amanda, Chinese New Year's coming up pretty soon.
AMANDA: Hell yeah, dude. So excited. The schools here in New York City are off. There's awesome parades, love to patron our local Chinese-owned businesses. What a good time of year.
JULIA: Yeah. So it is going to begin on February 10th this year, it is the Year of the Dragon, which I'm kind of really excited about. It's supposed to be a very lucky year. And because it's coming up so soon, I've been thinking a lot about the new year and the Chinese Zodiac. And I'm realizing that while I knew like a little bit about these kinds of things through stories and references, and media and stuff like that, I don't know a lot about the origins of either. So today, I kind of want to talk about the origins of the Chinese Zodiac, the legendary origins of the animals, and the New Year, and then also talk about the way that the festival is typically celebrated.
AMANDA: I love that.
JULIA: Because this is kind of like an important cultural and religious holiday celebrated not just in China, but across the world, as— as we just mentioned, I'm sure I am not the only person who did not grow up celebrating it who's listening to this episode, but is still interested. So this is mainly for those people, and I am so curious. I'll— I'll do a call to action at the end of the episode, but hey, I want to hear if you grew up celebrating Chinese New Year, if you still celebrate the Chinese New Year, I want to hear all about what your celebrations look like.
AMANDA: Absolutely. I know how my friends celebrated growing up, and I would love to know what your specific traditions are, and we'll do a little follow-up.
JULIA: So to start us off, let's kind of talk about the basics here. Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of the year for the traditional Chinese calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar. And there—
AMANDA: Just like the Jews, baby.
JULIA: And therefore, the year starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice. So that's why we're getting a February 10th celebration this year.
AMANDA: Something feels good about getting through the sort of dregs of winter, you know, and then being like, "Yes, like I have a thing to look forward to. Spring is coming, like this is the move."
JULIA: Yes. So while that is the specific day of the New Year, the celebrations and observances that make up the festival, which is also known as the Spring Festival, go from the day before the New Year to the start of the lantern festival, which is held on the 15th day of the New Year.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: So we'll talk a little bit more about the details of the celebration in the latter half of the episode. But the first thing I want to do is talk about the Chinese Zodiac, as each new year is connected to one of 12 animals that are part of this 12-year cycle, that is the Chinese Zodiac.
AMANDA: I love it.
JULIA: I— I say Zodiac, and there are some similarities between the Western Zodiac and the Chinese Zodiac. Each has 12 parts, and each is said to kind of influence a person's personality or fortune, based on when they're born. But unlike the Western Zodiac, the animals of the Chinese Zodiac are not references to constellations on the kind of, like, ecliptic path, which is, you know, the way that the Earth circles around the sun. But rather, these are based off of the Jovian Orbital Cycle, meaning the— the orbit of Jupiter around the sun, which is a little under 12 years. It takes a little under 12 years for Jupiter to fully revolve around the sun.
AMANDA: It's like operating on another timescale that I really appreciate. Because I was just thinking to myself when you said year of the dragon, I'm like, "I remember it being year of the dragon. Holy shit, that was 12 years ago."
JULIA: Do you know what our Chinese Zodiac sign is, Amanda?
AMANDA: Aren't we pig?
JULIA: We are the monkey.
AMANDA: The monkey. Okay.
JULIA: I was gonna say it might be different for you because you have a February birthday, but you're the end of February—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —and like the latest it can be I think is like February 20th.
AMANDA: Yeah. I'm— I'm the beginning of the year of the monkey, then.
JULIA: So as a result of this kind of 12-year cycle that it takes for Jupiter to revolve around the sun, we get 12 animals each representing a year rather than the 12 constellations of the Western Zodiac, which each represent approximately about a month, you know?
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: So we use Zodiac as a shorthand to describe both of these, but only because it comes from this ancient Greek word, which means the cycle of animals, which honestly fits the Chinese Zodiac better than it does the Western Zodiac, because there's a lot of non-animals in the Western Zodiac.
AMANDA: Like Libra, that— that's not an animal.
JULIA: Those are scales. Virgo, that's not an animal. That's a lady.
AMANDA: Yeah, you're right that— that fits the cycle of animals a lot better.
JULIA: Precisely. So in Chinese astrology, we have these 12 animal signs that are assigned by year. But much like Western Astrology, where you have not only your sun sign but also your moon sign, and your rising sign, and your Venus sign and so on. A person has a further zodiac beyond the year that they're born in Chinese astrology. So your animal sign based on your years, how you kind of like present yourself, or how others perceive you. And then there's also an animal sign for your month of birth, your day of birth, and your hour of birth. Respectively, each represents your inner self, your true self, and your secret self.
AMANDA: Ooh, that's cool.
JULIA: And I really like it because they refer to it as like your secret animal. I'm like, "I want to know, my secret animal is. That's so cool."
AMANDA: Very much so.
JULIA: So as I mentioned before, this year is the Year of the Dragon, which is a particularly auspicious year. In fact, there tends to be a spike in birth rates during Years of the Dragon because babies born during this year are considered especially lucky, to the point where sometimes hospitals are overwhelmed and understaffed for giving birth during this time period, so good luck with babies, make your plans, you know? So the Year of the Dragon is also tied to the element of the Earth as all the animals in the Chinese zodiac are tied to one of the five elements of Chinese philosophy. So like Dragon is Earth, which is— I'm a little— I'm not like surprised by that. Like, if I was gonna guess dragon—
AMANDA: That's not what I would guess. I would guess probably air or— you know, certainly I think there's a typical association with fire or even water, because we have— we have water dragons, but Earth, that surprises me.
JULIA: Yeah. And a lot of Eastern dragons are associated more with water than with fire, as we talked about in our dragons episode.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: So we have these 12 animal signs that are in a particular order that— it's a constant cycle of these 12 animals, the cycle does not change. But how did we get these specific animals, and why are they in this specific order?
AMANDA: I have no idea, but I bet I'm about to find out.
JULIA: Oh, Amanda, being this is Spirits, we have a myth about that, and it has to do with a race.
AMANDA: Ooh. Is this the— is this the finishing order of the race?
JULIA: Yes. Yes, it is. Alright. So there are many variations of the story about the race that determined the Chinese zodiac, but this is kind of the one that I found the most commonly popped up in my research, so that's the one that I'm going to share. The story goes that the Jade Emperor, who is one of the most important gods in Chinese mythology, he called for a race to celebrate his birthday. He invited all of the animals in the world to compete in this race, but only 13 animals actually ended up participating in it.
AMANDA: Oh. Oh, boy. Who didn't finish?
JULIA: You'll find out. So the goal, basically, of the Jade Emperor was to create this kind of like time measurement for mortals, and he decided that that measurement would be determined by the order in which the animals crossed the finish line.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: But this was no ordinary foot race, Amanda. They had to cross a river, a very large river with a very strong current, and then reach the finish line on the other shore.
AMANDA: I'm not gonna lie to you, that feels a little bit biased against nonamphibian or aquatic animal.
JULIA: Well, yes, that is 100% true, but you'll— you'll see what happens. So 13 animals were to compete in the race. They were the pig, dog, rooster, monkey, sheep, horse, snake, dragon, rabbit, tiger, ox, rat, and cat.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: Now, the cat and the rat, who were once friends, both knew that they weren't very strong swimmers. They knew they were going to struggle to swim across the strong currents of the river, but they were also both very clever. So they knew that their best option to win was by hopping onto the back of the ox. So, you know, big strong swimming ox, you know, can easily cross a river like that, et cetera, et cetera.
AMANDA: And Julia, we don't often talk about the fact that the ox, kind of high butt.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: That butt is up there. The butt can be like equal to the head, like it is high. And so you can just perch right on top of one of those little cheeks, right— right across.
JULIA: Yeah, especially if you're a tiny little rat or a little cat.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: That's exactly what they did. They ended up climbing onto the ox, the ox didn't really seem to mind the additional weight. You know, cat at most, what, 20 pounds?
AMANDA: I'm sure some conspirators will be like, "My cat, though."
JULIA: I think 20 pounds is large for a cat. I'm— I'm aiming high for the cat size on that one.
AMANDA: Ju— Julia, my cousin has three Maine Coons, they literally together weigh more than like his 8-year-old,
JULIA: They're huge cats, but also they're Maine Coon, not native to China in general.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So probably wasn't a Maine Coon that was doing this race.
AMANDA: No, no, no.
JULIA: But I like it. I like the— I like the image. I like the vibe.
AMANDA: Fair.
JULIA: So they are crossing the river on the back of this ox. However, the rat was eager to win the race. He wanted to impress the Jade Emperor. So halfway across the river, the rat pushed the cat into the river.
AMANDA: No. Damn.
JULIA: In some stories, the cat drowned. In other stories, he simply swept away and cannot complete the race. There's also another version of the story where, like, everyone got invitations, and the rat told the cat that it was a different day, and so the cat misses the race entirely.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: So like either way, like the cat and the rat, that's why they have beef.
AMANDA: Makes a lot of sense, there's history there.
JULIA: So the— that's why cats are always eager to catch rats. And that's like a good— not only do we have a mythological origin for the Chinese zodiac cycle, but also now we have a story for why cats want to eat rats.
AMANDA: Incredible. Tom and Jerry have no idea.
JULIA: Right. So regardless of what version or what happens, the ox and the rat make it across the river. The rat leaps from the back of the ox, comes in first in the race, and then the ox comes in second. And then soon behind the ox is the tiger who's quite strong, able to cross the river with ease. Tigers, shockingly good swimmers, by the way. Like just in general, like in real life.
AMANDA: Really? I mean, I guess that makes sense. I— I— I sort of associate cats with not loving water necessarily, but like tigers live in jungles, and forests, and mountains with all kinds of water in there.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah. I don't know if you've ever been to, like, a zoo where they have tigers, but like, oftentimes, if the tigers are active, they're out in the water, and it's like really cool to just see them like bopping around with, like, a little ball and stuff like that, just swimming, just doing their thing.
AMANDA: So cute.
JULIA: So as these three, the rat, the ox, and the tiger finished the— crossed the finish line, soon after they hear a loud thumping noise, which is the rabbit. And so the rabbit appears, he crosses the finish line. He had, rather than swim, jumped from stone to stone to cross the river, which is smart because he's a little rabbit. He can't really swim that well.
AMANDA: He didn't even get wet. He looks great for his finish line photo.
JULIA: Well, Amanda, he did get a little wet because as he's jumping from stone to stone, he ends up slipping on one of the wet stones and falls into the river, right?
AMANDA: Alright.
JULIA: Luckily, there was a log that was floating by at the time and the rabbit was able to grab onto it, and then it floated to the shore, letting the rabbit finished in 4th.
AMANDA: Love to hear it.
JULIA: Now, not far behind the rabbit, the dragon comes across the finish line, which kind of surprises both the Jade Emperor and all the other animals, because they were like, "Hey, the dragon can fly. Um, shouldn't you have won?"
AMANDA: What gives?
JULIA: "You could have just gone right across." And the dragon tells the Jade Emperor, "Hey, I stopped several times on my journey to help villagers that were having some trouble on the river."
AMANDA: Cute.
JULIA: "And then I was approaching the finish line, but then I saw the rabbit on the log and he seemed like he was having a tough time, so I blew a little wind his way and brushed him onto the shore so he could arrive safely."
AMANDA: Dragon. What a mensch.
JULIA: Dragon, good boy. So the dragon ends up coming in 5th behind the rabbit, and then not long after that, the horse gallops up to the finish line. However, Amanda, the horse did not realize at the time that the snake had actually slithered up its leg and had kind of hitched a ride on the horse, similar to how the rat in the cat had hitched a ride on the ox.
AMANDA: I see.
JULIA: Now, the snake appearing in front of the horse, scares that horse because he's a big creature, but he's scared of snakes, obviously.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And then the snake uses that to his advantage, comes in 6th place, horse comes in 7th.
AMANDA: Pissed.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: But also, a horse has good instincts, and a snake bite can take down a horse, so—
JULIA: True facts, true facts. It took a little bit more time, but the next to arrive at the finish line were the monkey, the rooster, and the sheep. And unlike the other animals who had used their own strengths or taken advantage of others, the monkey, the rooster, and the sheep had all agreed to work together to get to the finish line.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: So the rooster had located a raft, while the other two animals had climbed aboard. And they worked together to kind of navigate this dangerous river and crossed it, so that the sheep became the 8th, the monkey became the 9th, and the rooster became the 10th.
AMANDA: Nice. Very cooperative, I'm into it.
JULIA: I love that. You know, like— you know if you're gonna be like, "Yeah, I'm a monkey, I can't really swim super well. I'm also a sheep, I can't swim super well. I'm a rooster, so I can't really fly, I guess, so we'll— we'll all just cross together." Like, what a great teamwork building.
AMANDA: Exactly.
JULIA: It's like—
AMANDA: I can wait another year or two.
JULIA: I really like the idea of this being like the— the teamwork exercise for like a company that the Jade Emperor is, like, throwing. It'd be like— and then there's a ropes course after this.
AMANDA: Exactly. And— and the floor is lava, and these little scooters are islands, and you must get across.
JULIA: Oh, man. I missed that scooter game from elementary school. It was so cool.
AMANDA: I know.
JULIA: So the next to arrive was the dog, who was a great swimmer. Dogs, pretty good swimmers. But he had arrived to the race actually late, and so therefore was one of the last to finish because he just didn't get there on time.
AMANDA: What was he doing?
JULIA: Uh, I don't know. Chillin'.
AMANDA: Chillin', playing, getting like distracted about peanut butter.
JULIA: He found a big stick and then could not get it through a doorway. That's my favorite dog thing.
AMANDA: Oh, shit.
JULIA: He's like, "Look how big the stick is."
AMANDA: Always happens.
JULIA: So the dog finished in 11th, and the Jade Emperor at this point, getting tired of waiting to see who the last animal to arrive is going to be, checking out that river, is like, "You know what would be really nice right now? I want to take a bath in that river. That'd be really good. Like, I just want to take a quick bath like, you know, enjoy my birthday."
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: A nice bath on someone's birthday, wonderful. Love it.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: So just as he's about to get into those tempting waters and call the race off, he hears the small little oink, and the pig arrives.
AMANDA: Aw. The pig.
JULIA: Now, the pig had become hungry in the middle of the race, decided to stop, find some food, after he ate, fell asleep, which you know, honestly, relatable, same.
AMANDA: So relatable.
JULIA: But he managed to cross the river once he woke up from his nap, thus making him the 12th and last animal to arrive.
AMANDA: Listen, Julia, if you ask me, the pig, actually, won here, because he got to have a snack, have a nap, and still make it into the zodiac.
JULIA: You know what? I think we should all embody the pig a little bit more.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: When the year of the pig rolls around again in 7 years, I think, we should all just take that as a year where we're like, "We're going to treat ourselves. We're going to take our time. We're going to be gentle with ourselves and not feel rushed by society."
AMANDA: We're going to have more snacks, have more naps. The— the finish line comes for us all one day, and 11 of us didn't have a snack or a nap. And one of us did.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: Who do you want to be?
JULIA: Some of us did get to sleep in a little and then arrive late. I'm looking at you, dog. Meanwhile, some of us were like, "I had to help many people on the way over here, and that's why I'm fifth."
AMANDA: Good for the dragon.
JULIA: Now, we know the origin of these zodiac animals, and that means we can get to the New Year celebrations. But before we do that, Amanda, let's go and we'll grab our refill.
AMANDA: Let's do it.
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JULIA: Hey, it's Julia, and welcome to the refill. Let's start off first by thanking our newest patrons. Thank you so much to Shantih, Charlotte, Sarah, and Leti. Thank you so much for supporting us here on Patreon. And you can support us like our supporting producer-level patrons, Uhleeseeuh, Anne, Arianna, Ginger Spurs Boi, Hannah, Jack Marie, Jane, Kneazlekins, Lily, Matthew, Nathan, Phil Fresh, Rikoelike, Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Sarah and Scott. And of course, our legend-level patrons, Audra, Bex, Chibi Yokai, Morgan H., Sarah, and Bea Me Up Scotty. And if you would like to join the ranks of our patrons here on Patreon, go to patreon.com/spiritspodcast where you can get some cool rewards like for instance, if we were to go on a tour, say, coming up soon, you would get stuff like early access to those tickets for our tour. So go to patreon.com/spiritspodcast today to sign up and get some very, very cool rewards. Now, normally, I would put a recommendation here, we'll get to that in a second. But we have to talk about how Spirits and Join the Party are going on tour right now. We are doing a 7-city tour in March, starting on March 21st, in Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. We are so excited to be touring again, let me tell you. And you can find out more and get tickets for the Rolling Bones Tour by going to spiritspodcast.com/live right now. That's spiritspodcast.com/live to get your tickets to the Rolling Bones Tour. Go! Do it! My recommendation for you this week, I teased it before, but I am really enjoying Infamous by Lex Croucher. It is like a queer Bridgerton kind of thing. I am really digging it and it scratches that itch for me of the kind of like romantic but also historical, and also a little bit queer romance novel that I really enjoy. So that's Infamous by Lex Croucher. And hey, besides the tour, what else is going on at Multitude? Well, I want you to check out Big Game Hunger. Big Game Hunger is a weekly comedy show, where Jenna Stoeber and friends craft the next big video game every episode. Starting with a randomly generated genre concept and vibe, Jenna and a variety of funny and game-obsessed guests will take these ideas far enough that they can pitch it to a shadowy board of rich investors. By the end of the episode, they'll have honed an IP so irresistible, you'll be ready to risk $25 for it on Steam. Get ready to laugh about games you love, learn about game trends, and yearn for titles that will surely never make the release date. New episodes every Monday. Check it out, Big Game Hunger. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Listen, I have been in a relationship with my husband for 16 years now, and it's something that I have worked really hard on. People say that like, "Oh, you know, when it's right, it's right. 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JULIA: So Amanda, we're back. And traditionally during Chinese New Year, people will drink a Nianjiu, which literally translates to year of alcohol.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: I love that.
AMANDA: How cute.
JULIA: However, this is more of like a all-encompassing thing. It isn't a specific type of alcohol that one drinks during this time of year. It's just like the drink that you have during Chinese New Year.
AMANDA: Oh, sure, sure. Like— yeah. A special— special drink because it's the New Year.
JULIA: Yes, exactly. So the most common alcohol to drink for that is a baijiu you which is in case you have not heard of baijiu before, it's a fermented sorghum drink traditionally. It's made of a lot of different things nowadays, but traditionally, it is based on sorghum. It is strong, kind of like vodka is, usually unflavored, but there are different types of Baijiu that is flavored. So for example, traditionally, these flavored Baijius are enjoyed during New Year's Eve, there's Tusu Wine, which is spiced with like cinnamon and Szechuan pepper.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: And there's also Jiao wine, which is flavored with cypress tree leaves and Szechuan pepper flowers, which sounds amazing.
AMANDA: Yeah, I gotta get my hands on some of these.
JULIA: Yeah. I think it's really cool as well, because like, I— you know, in the West, we have a lot of like aperitifs usually coming out of Europe and stuff like that, which have a lot of different, like, spices and herbs, and whatnot. But I— sometimes I get bored with like the— and there's licorice, and there's this, and there's that.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And I feel like this would be— like cypress tree leaves and Szechuan pepper flowers, that sounds amazing.
AMANDA: That sounds so good. Yeah. And, like, wake up your palate or, you know, give you a little bit of like— you know, when you had a full meal and you have like a nice, you know, floral, or herbal, or even spicy sort of palate cleanser. That's lovely.
JULIA: Yeah, exactly. And usually, these are served in like shot glasses, and they're either taken as shots, or kind of like sippers, like you would have like a aperitif cocktail afterward, or like an aperitif alcohol afterwards.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So you can— you can go however you want to go with it. If you can find some Baijiu around you, I would definitely recommend trying to get some for any sort of New Year celebration that you might be a part of. And you can also use it to make a martini, which I would also recommend as a way to do it. I would say hey, sub part of your gin or vodka, not all of it, but like some of it. Maybe like a third to a quarter of it and use baijiu instead. And you can also infuse your vermouth with, like, ginger and maybe like a green tea or something like that.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: Really helps highlight the flavor of the Baijiu.
AMANDA: Incredible. I gotta find a Baijiu cocktail.
JULIA: Well, I will be including one of my favorite recipes for our patrons as a part of the— the recipe cards for this episode.
AMANDA: Hey.
JULIA: Hey. So now that we have that in hand, my Baijiu martini, let's get back to Chinese New Year. So there are a lot of aspects and practices that make up the Spring Festival. I'll say right now, we're not going to touch on everything, but I do want to talk about some of the parts that are relevant to what we talk about here on Spirits, because while any sort of festival is going to have kind of like practical and religious reasons to celebrate, of course, we have to talk about mythological reasons that it's celebrated as well.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: So it was said that in the past, there was a beast that was called the Nian, which lived away from people, either in the sea or far in the mountains depending on where the story is being told. Whatever the, like, scary area near your village was, that's where—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —the Nian would hang out. So it was a creature that had a flat face of a lion, the body of a dog but like much larger, and huge teeth, particularly like the incisors are like very, very big, right?
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: So once a year— so once a year, every year, at the beginning of the year, the Nian would emerge from its hiding place, either in the sea or in the mountains, and it would go hunting. It had a particular taste not only for livestock and for crops, but for people as well. So it would attack during the winter when food was scarce, and people were already struggling, and it would sometimes eat their crops. And then if that did not satisfy it, it would attempt to eat the children of the village.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: However, from observing it, the— one of the stories goes that, like, everyone was very afraid of this and an old man decided that he was going to stay up, and watch it, and see if it had any weaknesses or anything like that. So they discovered that the Nian was afraid of certain things. So it was afraid of the color red, it was afraid of loud noises.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: It was afraid of fire. So the villagers took preparations the following year to ward off the Nian. They put red lanterns in their windows, they put red decorations on their doors, they set off fireworks, they banged on drums and on empty bowls. And if all else failed, they left food out on their doorstep, so that if the Nian wasn't scared away by all those things, it would eat the food rather than them.
AMANDA: Brilliant.
JULIA: Yeah. Smart move.
AMANDA: And I'm— I'm drawing some lines in my head between, you know, certain parades, customs, fireworks, firecrackers.
JULIA: Yes, exactly. So as such, many of the activities that warded off the Nian continued to be a part of the New Year festivities, including the dragon and lion dances, which I think is probably— if you're picturing a Chinese New Year celebration, you're probably picturing either a dragon or a lion dance.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Which— have you like seen one live, Amanda, before?
AMANDA: Oh, yeah. No, it's— it's truly astonishing. The dancers are so good. The— the streets are packed and shut down, and so beautiful, and they— they really do tell a story.
JULIA: Yes. It's— so the Chinese lion and dragon dances are not exclusive to Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival, but a lot of times when it is performed during this time of year, it is retelling the story of the Nian.
AMANDA: Incredible.
JULIA: Another practice that is tied to a mythological story that is practice at Chinese New Year, is the practice of giving out red envelopes. Have you heard of this before?
AMANDA: I have, where you give gifts to people and even if it's not a ton of money, you know, it's— it's sort of a— from my outside understanding, a way to pay forward fortune for the New Year.
JULIA: Yes. So typically, it is married couples or elder members of the family that give it to either younger members of the family or just, like, unmarried members of the family. Almost always has money inside. The amount varies based on tradition and family. This kind of money is supposed to suppress evil spirits and bring wealth and good fortune, like you pointed out. It's also usually a denomination of 8 in some—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —way because 8 is considered an extremely fortunate number.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: So this tradition comes from a story about a monster called Sui, which is said to have come out every New Year's Eve and would touch the heads of sleeping children.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Already somewhat creepy.
AMANDA: Very creepy. Yup.
JULIA: This would cause harm to the children. It would frighten them, it would wake them up, it would give them a fever that could be deadly.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
JULIA: Yeah. I was like, "Two of those things are not like the final thing."
AMANDA: I mean, even if it was simply creepy, that would be enough, you know, dayenu, but like, damn.
JULIA: The story goes, the original story goes, that there was an elderly couple who had a young son who was worried that the Sui would cause their son harm. I also feel like this is a very classic, kind of— like, we've talked about kind of the fairy tale stories where it's like, "And they begged to have a child, and then finally they were given the child, but then the child is endangered in some way."
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: It follows those kind of beats very classically.
AMANDA: Of course. And what a— what a way to heighten tension, because when— especially, when the, you know, child is— is the result of the struggle, you don't want additional struggle afterward.
JULIA: No, but like totally understandable when you work so hard and, like, probably gave up a lot in order to have that child.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: You want to make sure that child is safe.
AMANDA: You want that to be the happy ending to the story and not the— the intermission.
JULIA: So the couple decide that they're concerned that the— if the boy falls asleep, he will fall prey to the Sui. So they take out 8 copper coins to entertain the boy.
AMANDA: Oh. Very shiny, very nice. Fun to play with.
JULIA: However, much like all babies do, son grows very tired, so they say, "Okay. We're gonna let you go to sleep." But they put the 8 copper coins into a red paper bag and then place that under the child's pillow.
AMANDA: Can't hurt.
JULIA: As the monster did every year, the Sui arrives while the child was sleeping, but when it reached to touch the child's head, the pillow glowed with a bright golden light, which scared away the monster.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: Now, the story spread across the land and so the tradition of giving money within the red envelope or the red bag to children became a part of the tradition in order to protect them from harm.
AMANDA: Love that. That's awesome. And then when you, you know, get married, have a kid, if that's— if that's what you do with your life, then you, you know, pass along that to the— the person you're in charge of protecting.
JULIA: Exactly. There's also another version, which is much more dramatic, I think, where there is a monster that is terrorizing a village. No man is able to defeat it. All these scholars try to come, all these warriors try to come, no one's able to defeat this monster, right?
AMANDA: Julia, neither the scholars nor the warriors?
JULIA: Yeah, no. No statesmen, no warriors, no one.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: So at last, an orphan boy, a child, Amanda.
AMANDA: Whoa.
JULIA: Shows up. He's got a magical sword that he inherited from his ancestors, and he goes, and he battles with the creature, and he destroys it.
AMANDA: Damn, dude.
JULIA: And for his bravery, the elders of the village gave this young man a reward in a red envelope.
AMANDA: Hey.
JULIA: So that's the kind of mythology behind giving these red envelopes as a sign of good fortune and passing it down to the— the younger members of your family.
AMANDA: So sweet.
JULIA: So if you were visiting China around Chinese New Year, or even your local Chinatown during this time, you might see statues or art of these three bearded men. Now, these three bearded men are known as the Sun Jing. They are Fu, Lu, and Shou. And they are the embodiment of fortune, prosperity, and longevity, respectively.
AMANDA: Three older men that I would love to be friendly with.
JULIA: So specifically, they represent the three attributes that in traditional Chinese culture make up a good life, which is fortune, prosperity, and longevity. And they are honored during Chinese New Year, especially in the hopes that the new year will bring fortune, prosperity, and longevity.
AMANDA: Classic.
JULIA: I also think it's really interesting because who presides over the planet Jupiter, and as we discussed when we were talking about the Chinese zodiac, the zodiac is based on the movement of Jupiter, which kind of ties them together both astrologically and astronomically, which I think is just a really cute, fun fact.
AMANDA: That is really fun. I'm wondering now if the word jovial is supposed to describe Jupiter.
JULIA: I think so.
AMANDA: Always learning something here today, Julia.
JULIA: I think it was probably more of a vibe of Jupiter, the Roman god, and not Jupiter, the planet, but I like it. I'm into it. So one of the last things that I want to talk about in regards to Chinese New Year is traditional food. Because if you know me, you know that I'm a big fan of food, and especially food that is eaten specifically for celebration or for specific—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —times of the year. I love specialty food for an event. So it is important to note that New Year's Eve is traditionally a family reunion dinner, where family members will gather together to celebrate typically at the home of the eldest member of the family.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: There are 8 individual dishes that are served because that number represents good fortune. I also was reading something— like if you had a family member who passed away in the previous year, you would serve 7 and then go back to 8 the following year, which is—
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: —like a nice, little honor thing. Especially because Chinese New Year is also tied to family and ancestor veneration.
AMANDA: Yeah, that makes a ton of sense.
JULIA: There are quite a few notable foods that are enjoyed at this dinner. And again, while 8 is the traditional number of dishes served, it really depends on your region, and your family, and your custom as to what those dishes are. But there are a few that, like, tend to show up at a lot of tables.
AMANDA: In McLoughlin family lore, we went to a Chinese New Year dinner with my grandpa's best friend who emigrated from China before I was born. And it was like probably 12 courses. I was— I was quite young, like I think 8 or 9. And so I would love to do that again when I can drink alcohol and also appreciate the origins of all the dishes, but I just— I have so many memories of being like I— I simply can't eat anymore, and kept coming, and it was incredible.
JULIA: That sounds so delicious. I want to do that so badly. Someone, please take me out to that dinner so I can enjoy it.
AMANDA: My first time eating chicken feet, they were so good.
JULIA: There are, like I said, a few notable dishes, usually representing different things that one hopes for in the new year. So for example, uncut noodles, as long as you can make them, are served to represent longevity.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Not in exclusively a Chinese New Year thing, but it is one of those things where if you are going to eat your first meal of the new year, it should be long noodles because it'll make sure that you live a long life.
AMANDA: I love that, and should flex on how long you can make your noodles. My— my dad's mom could apparently peel the whole apple with just, like, a paring knife and like the peel was all one piece.
JULIA: That's so cool.
AMANDA: Which I can do with a peeler, which is much less cool. But every time I do it, I'm like, "Nice."
JULIA: Yeah, like knife skills, nice.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Cantonese families, for example, often have a fried dumpling that is called, I believe, Yau Gok because it is like a little purse, and it also kind of looks like old Chinese gold ingots.
AMANDA: Cute.
JULIA: So it's supposed to represent the— the money and the fortune that is going to come your way in the new year.
AMANDA: All for it.
JULIA: Yeah. There is a dish that is called Buddha's delight, which you might have had. It's a very, like, often served at vegetarian or vegan Chinese places. It's often found at the table around this time of year for two reasons, which is some households maintain a vegetarian diet for the first five days of the new year, as is a Buddhist tradition, a kind of like purification thing.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: And then the other reason is because one of the ingredients, which is fat choi, which is a type of like algae that kind of looks like long black hair. That word also sounds like the Cantonese word for prosperity.
AMANDA: Nice. Love a pun.
JULIA: Amanda, so many of these are puns. I— I was like, "Let me do the non-pun ones first, and then we'll get to the puns."
AMANDA: Bring it on, I'm ready.
JULIA: For example, the word apple is a homonym for the word for peace.
AMANDA: Hmm. Good. A thing you want at new year.
JULIA: Yes, exactly. Same for oranges. They have a similar word for the word for luck. The word fish kinda sounds like the word for surplus. So you would serve—
AMANDA: Hey.
JULIA: —fish with the hope that you will have a lot of extra in the year to come.
AMANDA: Love to hear it. And if that extra takes the form of more fish, I'm happy.
JULIA: There was also one that I really liked, where it's like chicken is always served at the New Year's Eve meal. Because the idea is, no matter what family you are coming from, no matter like what your social status is, no matter how much you have, the hope is you will always be able to, at least, serve chicken.
AMANDA: Oh, that's great.
JULIA: I really like the puns and the homophones. Like, those are so much fun.
AMANDA: It just— again, it— it really makes me feel seen as a member of the, you know, the human species that everyone's like, "Wait, that thing sounds like that thing." And then makes a really sweet tradition out of it.
JULIA: It is. It's really nice. And there's a ton of other foods that are— are served during this—this time. I'm very curious, what are friends at home who have celebrated this in the past or continue to celebrate it. Like, what does your traditional table look like? I'm— I'm very curious to see, like, what you eat and why you eat it.
AMANDA: I would love to know, and a very Happy New Year to everyone who is celebrating at this time.
JULIA: There's a lot of aspects that make up the celebration of Chinese New Year. Not only is it a festival that celebrates the new year, but also honors deities, and ancestors, and your family. And like I said, if you grew up celebrating Chinese New Year, if you still do, I would love to hear what your personal celebrations look like. So send us a message, telling us what your favorite memories, your favorite parts, your favorite foods that you eat during the holiday are. And I— I want to hear about all of your experiences.
AMANDA: Love to hear it. And Julia, thank you for giving us this wonderful tour of the origins and ways that the new year is celebrated and why.
JULIA: It is my pleasure. And hey, next time you are crossing a river to impress the Jade Emperor, stay creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
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