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Old 01-23-2004, 08:46 AM
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Arrow Asian Celebrate Lunar New Year

www.sfgate.com Return to regular view
Many Asian cultures celebrate New Year
Lunar holiday observed in Korea, Vietnam
Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2004
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ


URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/22/VIETKOR.TMP


The beginning of Lunar New Year is popularly known in the United States as Chinese New Year. What many people don't know is Thursday also marks the beginning of Solnal, the Korean New Year, and Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.

While these holiday celebrations are smaller in scale compared with the annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, members of the Korean and Vietnamese communities say they are just as significant.

"It's always referred to as the Chinese New Year when it's really the Lunar New Year celebrated by many Asians," said Youncha Shin Chay, director of the Korean Center in San Francisco.

"Everyone says Gong Hay Fat Choy. How about Saehae Bok Mani Paduseyo?" she said, referring to the Chinese and Korean New Year's greetings.

There's also the Vietnamese version: Chuc Mung Nam Moi.

"The reason it's known as Chinese New Year is because the Chinese were the first Asians to come to America," said The-Vu Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese American Community Action Team in San Jose. "They were the first people recognized as celebrating (the Lunar New Year)."

The Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is the oldest of its kind and largest outside Asia. It began in Chinatown in the 1860s, when a group of recent immigrants marched down what is now Grant Avenue carrying colorful flags, banners, lanterns, and drums and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits. The event took traditional Chinese cultural themes using an American venue -- a parade -- to showcase them.

This year's parade will take place on Feb. 7, celebrating the Year of the Monkey.

While the different cultures will commemorate this Lunar New Year 4702 in unique ways, central to each celebration is the family, tributes to ancestors and the hope for better luck and prosperity in the new year.

The Korean Center, a nonprofit organization that established the Intercultural Institute of California in 1995, will hold a traditional Solnal celebration tonight. Teachers and students from the institute will dress in traditional silk costumes.

Of the three celebrations, Solnal is the most private and subdued, according to Eun-Hee Koo, a professor with the institute. In South Korea, large cities such as Seoul become virtual ghost towns for days as families return to their towns of origin during the holiday.

The evening celebration begins with the children ceremonially bowing to their elders. Gifts are exchanged, with children receiving money that they keep in silk purses. Dduk gook, or rice cake soup, and manduk gook, or dumpling soup, are served.

Angie Choi, a hypnotherapist from San Francisco, celebrated Solnal early when she visited her brother and his family in Atlanta last month. Her nephews, ages 4 and 2, did not dress in traditional hanboks, but they performed the bows. Choi's family kept the tradition going after they moved from Korea to Arkansas more than 30 years ago.

"We pay tribute to our ancestors and share a meal together to signify a prosperous and abundant year, that everything is right in the universe," said Choi, 35.

Kyung Jin Lee, 28, will celebrate Solnal well into next month. She and members of her Korean Youth Culture Center in Oakland will visit Korean American-owned businesses in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco to perform Korean songs and dances. The practice, which Lee says is still performed in small Korean villages, is meant to bring good luck to the businesses.

"The performances are a way for us to connect to the homeland and bring our traditions to the United States," she said.

Vietnamese Tet celebrations have become much more visible in the Bay Area in recent years. The Tet Festival, which will be held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds for the 22nd time on Saturday and Sunday, draws about 50,000 people every year. The Vietnamese Spring Festival and Parade in San Jose on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 is expected to attract 50,000 to 60,000 people, said event organizer Son Nguyen.

San Francisco's Vietnamese community hosted its own event last weekend in the Tenderloin, with about 15,000 people attending.

Tet festivals often include performances by well-known Vietnamese singers and performers, lion and dragon dances, beauty contests and booths that sell traditional Tet symbols such as rice cakes and chrysanthemums.

Gina Hoang, 17, left Vietnam when she was 5 but knows all about Tet from stories told by her relatives.

"I hear about it so often," said the Oakland High senior. "In Vietnam, the whole country celebrates the New Year the way Christmas is celebrated here. Houses are decorated inside and out. Families visit each other. No one locks their doors because everyone's out on the streets mingling."

Tet also includes visits to the temple or church and cemeteries as one way to pay tribute to ancestors.

The Vietnamese holiday has many similarities to the Chinese New Year. The celebrations include fireworks to chase away bad spirits and red envelopes for monetary gifts. Celebrants clean their homes and sometimes apply a fresh coat of paint before the New Year, but make sure there is no cleaning done on the first day of the year. They are always on their best behavior because the first day is believed to set a precedent for the rest of the year.

"By midnight, you set up an altar and make sure everything is clean," said Lan Le, a San Francisco resident. "You make sure the food is ready for your ancestors and that there are incense and firecrackers. In the morning, you go to temple.

"It's like Christmas and New Year's and Mother's Day all rolled into one," Le said.

Other countries that recognize the Lunar New Year include Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ

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Old 01-23-2004, 03:16 PM
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HHHMMM,I think I will write the year 4702 on all of my cheques this year. HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!!
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Old 01-23-2004, 03:34 PM
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So in China the year is 4702, which means they are in their 5th Milenium. That's really neat! I did a little research on the net but I couldn't find what was going on in China when they started the calendar...was there an event that they started counting from?

Happy New year!
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Old 01-24-2004, 12:18 PM
Loren Loren is offline
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Originally posted by lakritze
HHHMMM,I think I will write the year 4702 on all of my cheques this year. HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!!


You would then have to use the whole Chinese calendar. You can't take the Chinese year and the Gregorian day/month.
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