I've been on holiday for the last week and a half and prepping for the return to uni. I meant to write up the Chinese New Year before I left, but life sometimes gets in the way...
Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year starts on the night of the new moon, usually the new moon in Aquarius, although this is calculated through a complex set of astronomical calculations (of which I couldn't find any complete details). This year it was the 9th February.
This year is the Year of the Rooster (in chinese, you) and you can find some details about what that means here.
In the valley, on Chinatown Mall, there are dragon dances and firecrackers every year on the Chinese New Year. I can remember when we were little and our parents still together, mum and dad taking Atratus and I out one year to watch, so it's been going on for years. Last year, RFB and I went and got caught out in a massive spectacular thunderstorm which was very cool. This year for the new year, I went out with friends and saw Starsky and Hutch, not very Chinese but fun anyway. We went out on Sunday to go and see the Dragon boats.
Based on the languages spoken at home in the 1996 census data, 2.5% of Brisbane residents spoke a Chinese dialect (see Link 4). Of course that doesn't give a true picture of people with a Chinese heritage, but its an indicator. We do have a strong presence in the China town precinct of the Valley and the Chinese club.
I guess what I want to comment on is that this year, Southbank and Treasury both ran Chinese New Year events. I think this is great. I have an interest in seasonal festivals and the way that we integrate them into our culture (possible post-grad research projects!). And I'm interested in commodification.
The Dragon Boat Race was an interesting case to look at. The River is an important part of our city, in a way I think it helps to define Brisbane, so it makes sense to bring a river festival into the celebration of the Chinese New Year in Brisbane - making it relevant and authentic. The Dragon boat races bring fertility and prosperity to the city, really good things.
But. We arrived mid afternoon to watch one of the races - heat, bad, tree, pretty - and didn't stay too long. I'll admit I was a little disappointed. The boats were large kayaks, some decked out with dragons heads and they were pretty cool. The teams and races were varied, some with high school teams, some with corporate sponsored teams and some with community groups. Which is all good. It's just it felt more Australian than Chinese. All of the groups were asked to give warcries, like when we were back in school and something which seems to hark back to our celtic roots. The race was over quite quickly but was kinda fun to watch. Obake's choice won, but ours didn't. Granted we didn't see how it started or ended, but it felt more like a sports carnival at school than a sacred event. Which I guess is very Australian and should be a sign of success at integrating a particular cultures celebration into the mainstream.
I'm not sure I have a decisive opinion about the commodification of the Chinese New Year in our city, although I'm a little wary of any 'crass commercialism'. I like to see events like this because it does reflect our diversity, but I'm aware of the distinction between respecting a culture and commercialising it. I guess I'm curious about whether Chinese ex-pats (etc) retain their celebrations and traditions separate to what is provided by our local council as an effort to promote tourism.
So the questions that I have for you, dear readers, are: What did you do for the Chinese New Year? For my Chinese friends, How does the way that we celebrate the Chinese New Year match up to your experiences and how does the mild commercialisation affect your views on what it means to be an Australian/ of Chinese Heritage?
Links:
1. Year of the Rooster summary
2. History & Info - the Chinese calendar at webexhibits.org: Discussion on how the chinese calendar is calculated and some history.
3. Chinese Lunar Calendar Chinese New Year Calculation - Chinese Astrology: Discusses broad astro calculations and links to other info about the Chinese festivals.
4. The Chinese Connection - Living in Brisbane: Discussion on the history of multiculturalism, particularly Chinese in Australia and an outline of the project to map resources for Chinese speaking brisbanites.
Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year starts on the night of the new moon, usually the new moon in Aquarius, although this is calculated through a complex set of astronomical calculations (of which I couldn't find any complete details). This year it was the 9th February.
This year is the Year of the Rooster (in chinese, you) and you can find some details about what that means here.
In the valley, on Chinatown Mall, there are dragon dances and firecrackers every year on the Chinese New Year. I can remember when we were little and our parents still together, mum and dad taking Atratus and I out one year to watch, so it's been going on for years. Last year, RFB and I went and got caught out in a massive spectacular thunderstorm which was very cool. This year for the new year, I went out with friends and saw Starsky and Hutch, not very Chinese but fun anyway. We went out on Sunday to go and see the Dragon boats.
Based on the languages spoken at home in the 1996 census data, 2.5% of Brisbane residents spoke a Chinese dialect (see Link 4). Of course that doesn't give a true picture of people with a Chinese heritage, but its an indicator. We do have a strong presence in the China town precinct of the Valley and the Chinese club.
I guess what I want to comment on is that this year, Southbank and Treasury both ran Chinese New Year events. I think this is great. I have an interest in seasonal festivals and the way that we integrate them into our culture (possible post-grad research projects!). And I'm interested in commodification.
The Dragon Boat Race was an interesting case to look at. The River is an important part of our city, in a way I think it helps to define Brisbane, so it makes sense to bring a river festival into the celebration of the Chinese New Year in Brisbane - making it relevant and authentic. The Dragon boat races bring fertility and prosperity to the city, really good things.
But. We arrived mid afternoon to watch one of the races - heat, bad, tree, pretty - and didn't stay too long. I'll admit I was a little disappointed. The boats were large kayaks, some decked out with dragons heads and they were pretty cool. The teams and races were varied, some with high school teams, some with corporate sponsored teams and some with community groups. Which is all good. It's just it felt more Australian than Chinese. All of the groups were asked to give warcries, like when we were back in school and something which seems to hark back to our celtic roots. The race was over quite quickly but was kinda fun to watch. Obake's choice won, but ours didn't. Granted we didn't see how it started or ended, but it felt more like a sports carnival at school than a sacred event. Which I guess is very Australian and should be a sign of success at integrating a particular cultures celebration into the mainstream.
I'm not sure I have a decisive opinion about the commodification of the Chinese New Year in our city, although I'm a little wary of any 'crass commercialism'. I like to see events like this because it does reflect our diversity, but I'm aware of the distinction between respecting a culture and commercialising it. I guess I'm curious about whether Chinese ex-pats (etc) retain their celebrations and traditions separate to what is provided by our local council as an effort to promote tourism.
So the questions that I have for you, dear readers, are: What did you do for the Chinese New Year? For my Chinese friends, How does the way that we celebrate the Chinese New Year match up to your experiences and how does the mild commercialisation affect your views on what it means to be an Australian/ of Chinese Heritage?
Links:
1. Year of the Rooster summary
2. History & Info - the Chinese calendar at webexhibits.org: Discussion on how the chinese calendar is calculated and some history.
3. Chinese Lunar Calendar Chinese New Year Calculation - Chinese Astrology: Discusses broad astro calculations and links to other info about the Chinese festivals.
4. The Chinese Connection - Living in Brisbane: Discussion on the history of multiculturalism, particularly Chinese in Australia and an outline of the project to map resources for Chinese speaking brisbanites.
posted by Chani Asha at 10:05 pm
1 Comments:
Hey Jen,
One of your comments was about the
"Mild commercialising aspects" which I thought was kind of interesting in the sense that maybe it's actually part of our western intellectual tradition to make a deal out of the commercialisation. There's all the concern about x-mas/easter/valentine's day and the break from the 'real' meaning - and yet all of these celebrations are actually personal things we do with our family/friends/community which are maybe then reflected in the larger communities.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
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