Lunar New Year
By: Aishvarya Prahalad and Alyssa Sin
This barbie is wearing a qipao, an ethnic Chinese dress worn by the Manchu people and later adopted by royals from the Qing Dynasty. The qipao is complete with a flattering mermaid silhouette, frilly bell sleeves, and adorned with intricate white petals and Meihua plum blossoms, symbolizing resilience and strength in Chinese culture.
She is dressed in two primary colors: red, which stands out the most obviously (if you take a closer look, you’ll notice that her nails are painted red!), and gold jewelry to compliment her look. These two colors together symbolize prosperity, good fortune, wealth, and abundance—perfect choices to capture the spirit of the New Year!
Lunar New Year originated in China 3,500 years ago and is based on the popular legend of Nian. Nian, meaning “year,” was a monster who attacked villages at the beginning of the year, eating crops, livestock, and people. An old man discovered that the monster was scared of loud noises, bright lights, and the color red. So, the villagers used firecrackers, fireworks, and red decorations to scare Nian away. Lunar New Year is now used to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and celebrations start on the first new moon after the winter equinox and continue for 15 days until the full moon. This year, the celebration begins on Jan. 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake.
Today, 2 billion people around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, especially in China, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. China celebrates by wearing lucky colors, buying new clothes, and giving hongbao, or red envelopes, to young children. Jiaozi (dumplings), chun juan (spring rolls), babao fan (eight treasures rice), and tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) are commonly eaten. On the final day of celebrations, children parade around the neighborhood with lanterns, bringing light to the new year.
In Korea, people celebrate by dressing in hanbok, traditional wear, giving younger relatives money in white envelopes, and playing yutnori (a board game with wooden sticks). Families gather together and eat mandu (dumplings), ddeok (rice cakes), and japchae (glass noodles).
Malaysia and the Philippines have similar customs to China when celebrating Lunar New Year due to the large Chinese population. Some Malaysians wear qipao, eat yee sang (salad dish), nian go (Chinese New Year’s cake), and mandarin oranges. On the fifteenth day, houses are decorated with bright lights in a festival called Chap Goh Meh. The Tsinoy (Chinese Filipinos) celebrate by giving angpao (red envelopes) to children and eating tikoy (sweet rice cake).
In Vietnam, Lunar New Year is called Tết Nguyên Đán, or Tết, and is celebrated by eating bánh tét (cylinder snack), bánh chưng (a square cake), củ kiệu (pickled scallion), and mut tét (candied fruits). Some families go to the temple to pray for good health, luck, and fortune in the new year. In some parts of Vietnam, communities plant cây nêu, which are tall bamboo trees, to ward off evil spirits.
Although people around the world celebrate Lunar New Year differently, the holiday brings together families and communities with food, games, and festivals. This barbie serves to remind us of the wonderful diversity of Asia that can now be shared with consumers in America and across the world.
