“Say goodbye to the year of the snake and welcome the year of the horse,” said Doctor Meiru Liu, the director of the Confucius Institute, during the opening statements at Portland State’s Chinese New Year Celebration Gala on Jan. 31.
Organized by the Confucius Institute at PSU, as well as the Chinese Student and Scholar Association of PSU, the night consisted of a raffle, a traditional Chinese New Year dinner and an entertainment program illuminating the talent of PSU’s Chinese community.
“[Chinese New Year] is just like Christmas or Thanksgiving in the West. It’s the biggest holiday in China,” said Liu.
Because it originates from the lunar calendar, which is usually about one month behind the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year occurs some time during the months of January or February.
The Chinese New Year celebration spans a period of fifteen days and symbolizes the beginning of spring.
“In Chinese, we call it the Spring Festival, because it’s celebrating the start of spring,” said Liu.
Rui, a Ph.D. student from Colorado State University who attended the gala, explained that his favorite part of the Chinese New Year was that it is “getting close to the spring and the winter is over so a lot of people are celebrating.”
“And good food,” he added with a laugh.
Food is an important component of the Chinese New Year celebration.
“Some foods are a must for Chinese New Year,” said Liu.
She continued to explain the symbolism associated with traditional New Year delicacies.
“Chinese dumplings are the shape of the ancient Chinese coin,” Liu said. “They symbolize that you will make a lot of money in the next year.”
Fish represent a surplus for the next year, apples symbolize peace and oranges signify an auspicious future.
Following the dinner was a program spotlighting the talent of various members of the Chinese community. One of the opening performances was a traditional Chinese Ma Nian Dance, or Lion Dance, featuring the iconic lion costumes. The formidable lions, one red and one silver, roamed the crowd to the beat of drums, much to the excitement of the children attending the gala.
The night also featured several celebratory musical numbers ranging from singing to guitar solos. Students from the Rainbow Bridge School performed a short play in Chinese titled Peng Cheng is Sleepy in Class, several Confucius Institute faculty members performed a traditional Tai Chi sequence and a magic show performed by PSU student Qin Geng astonished the audience.
Through this event, Liu said that the Portland Chinese community is promoting Chinese culture.
“We would like to educate the PSU community and let people know what Chinese New Year is,” said Liu.
Indeed, knowledge of the Chinese community is growing throughout PSU’s campus.
“I’m taking a Chinese class, so I thought it would be interesting to come here and see a celebration,” said Kelly Haggerty, a freshman majoring in applied linguistics who attended the celebration. “I was thinking about going to China at some point.”
PSU’s Confucius Institute itself has also flourished in the past several years. In December, it was named one of the top Confucius institutes in the U.S. at the Confucian Institute Conference in Beijing.
“Our mission is to promote Chinese language and culture and educate the general public to have an accurate understanding of China and China’s culture,” said Liu.
The Confucius Institute will host a lantern festival on Feb. 14 in the School of Business Administration building to signify the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.