In Chinese culture, the dragon represents auspiciousness, power and good health. It is unique in comparison to the 11 other Chinese zodiacs as it is the only zodiac that is a mythical creature. The dragon is regarded as sacred and powerful, and this year happens to be the year of the almighty dragon. Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a holiday celebrated across the globe by over a billion people. It is considered to be a principal holiday of China, where it originated from, though it is widely celebrated in other countries with large Chinese populations. South Korea, Vietnam and Singapore are excellent examples of countries that have adopted Lunar New Year as a central holiday. Many people in numerous countries, regardless of ethnicity, celebrate Lunar New Year. The holiday commemorates the new year according to the lunisolar calendar, as well as the arrival of spring. The date of Lunar New Year varies, as it changes with the moon cycle each year. 2024’s Lunar New Year is on February 10th, as it falls on the date of the second new moon after the winter solstice. Celebrations of Lunar New Year span over 16 days in total, ending 15 days after the new year has started according to the lunisolar calendar. The 16 days are a time for unification, among family and sometimes friends, to celebrate the new year and wish for a prosperous transition from winter to spring. It can be celebrated in many different ways, but it is typically celebrated by eating lots of food, putting together decorations and by gifting money in “hong bao” (which translates to red envelopes) from elders to children. It is common tradition to wear red clothing and use red and gold decorations for Lunar New Year as it is said to signify good fortune. Fireworks are also a form of celebration that many countries who celebrate Lunar New Year will partake in. Parades, dances, floats, lion costumes and dragon costumes often accompany the fireworks.
Many legends surrounding the origin of Lunar New Year exist. However, the most common story includes a beast known as “Nian” (which translates to year). The beast is said to have stalked villages and cities each spring and would attack the people living there. The legend states that people began to use firecrackers and the color red to scare the beast away, as it feared those two things. The holiday also symbolizes hope for the transition from winter to spring. The Chinese zodiac system, intertwined with Lunar New Year, cycles through 12 different zodiacs that change each year. This Lunar New Year, of 2024, is the year of the dragon. The year of the dragon is a special one, and people born within the year of the dragon are thought to inherit traits such as power, intelligence, charisma and natural luck. Each zodiac comes with its own unique traits, but the traits of the dragon are considered the most favorable.
The “Lion’s Dance” kicked off Fieldston’s Lunar New Year Celebration. The performance featured two dragons, one red and the other blue, who came out at the very beginning of the celebration in Fieldston’s cafeteria, where the event took place. The Lunar New Year Celebration at Fieldston took place on February 8th, two days prior to the Lunar New Year of 2024, and was from 5 PM to 6 PM. Many of Fieldston’s families, teachers, and students gathered to celebrate and were amazed by the spectacle given by the opening performance. The two dragons danced to music and even tossed candies to the audience midway through the performance. After giving their performance, Samuel Bialkin (Form V) and Gideon Bialkin (Form V), who were in the red dragon, and Ethan Leonard (Form V) and Julian Ghiazza (Form V), who were in the blue dragon, reported that the dance was a common Chinese New Year tradition. It required much preparation to properly perform, and over the course of 10 different practices during their mutual free periods, they accumulated 10 hours of practice in total.
Between performances and events, Amelia Kwong (Form V) and Julian Ghiazza (Form V) fulfilled the roles of MCs. Kwong spoke in Chinese to the audience, giving information to transition events, and Ghiazza followed right after with English translations of what had just been said. Later, in an interview, Kwong opened up about what Lunar New Year meant to her and how she celebrated it. She described it as a time she and her family, whether immediate or extended, would connect with one another to celebrate the start of the new year. Kwong stated that she and her family would eat foods like noodles, which represent long life, dumplings, as well as many other traditional foods. She described the task of MC as straightforward, as it was just reading lines in Chinese to a lot of people.
The second performance given was a trumpet and saxophone duet of the song: “The Moon Represents My Heart”. Levi Ginsburg (Form III) and Mr. Whitcomb, a Chinese teacher at Fieldston, performed this duet. Ginsburg played the saxophone, and Whitcomb played the trumpet. Their shared interest in jazz music caused them to find a way to incorporate that into their Lunar New Year performance. After the performance ended, Whitcomb shared his personal journey celebrating Lunar New Year in an interview. Although Lunar New Year represented a time of togetherness to him, growing up it was not a holiday he celebrated. Living in China for about 8 years led to the initiation of traditions such as Lunar New Year in Whitcomb’s life. The holiday causes him to reflect on the many close friends he made in China and the connections he has with those friends and his own family.
The Chinese language department at Fieldston worked hard not just to coordinate the Lunar New Year event, but also to organize a song and dance performed by all the students learning Chinese at Fieldston. The same song performed in the trumpet and saxophone duet, “The Moon Represents My Heart”, was sung by the students, who gathered in a horizontal line facing the audience to do so. Background music was played while the students sang the lyrics of the song in Chinese. Following the song performance, the same students all rearranged into multiple rows to perform a synchronized dance. The performance was lively, and well-received by the audience. A Chinese language student at Fieldston, and partaker in the performance, Jackson Wang (Form V) expressed pride in the performance given despite the fact that there was little to no preparation done outside of class time. He also shared that he always celebrated Lunar New Year with his family, and they would eat dinner together, which always included dumplings. Additionally, his family would give each other red envelopes containing money.
Following the students’ performances, people began to participate in various activities. There were many activities spread throughout the space. Activities such as paper lantern making, cutting out Chinese characters and reading children’s books about Lunar New Year were spread out for people to enjoy. Snacks were left out on tables, including clementines, rice crackers and white rabbit candies. Polaroid cameras were present at the event for those who wanted to take a photo to commemorate the experience, whether individually in the photo or with family. The calligraphy station, run by Brooke Bezoza (Form IV) and Stella Brothers (Form IV), had practice sheets in which participants could trace Chinese characters with a brush, to write different words such as love or dragon. People could also freehand and write what they wanted, often writing their names in Chinese characters. Bezoza and Brothers explained that calligraphy was a traditional form of writing in China, though few people tended to use it in daily life, and it was more often used on special occasions like holidays.
After the time allotted specifically for activities came to an end, the “Face Changing Performance” began. A hired performer came to share a dance. Dressed in robes, and with a fan and striking face, the performer enlightened people with their dance. Often reaching out to shake people’s hands, before moving away and swiftly changing the mask on their face within the blink of an eye, which was done several times throughout the performance. The performer’s real face was finally revealed as the dance ended. A Kahoot prepared by Fieldston students then began. The Kahoot consisted of 12 trivia questions about Lunar New Year. In the end, 6th-grade Fieldston students Anne Clark and Clea Sheng worked together to get first place.
Fieldston’s Lunar New Year Celebration was an event that brought our community together to welcome the new season, and to celebrate the start of a new year. Various students, family members and faculty joined in on the celebration, which ended with a feast of dumplings. As Lunar New Year spreads and becomes more recognized by many states and countries, it is important to honor this widespread tradition.
