The last minute cleaning 大dà扫său除chú
and the gather around eating 围wéi炉lú
Now that we have all the food supply well stocked in the pantry and freezer; all the new clothing (intimate and not so intimate wears) is in order, hanging and lining in the wardrobe that are cleaned as good as new; while sitting in your well dusted house that feels as if newly remodeled, you are tempted to make yourself a nice cup of hot tea, sit yourself down on the sofa with covers soft as baby's behind, and bath in the warm winter sun. Before you start praising the wonder of life and the beauty of simple contentment, please remember, you are NOT yet done with your New Year's Eve preparation.
First, there is the shrine. The food offering today is for the ancestors. Though it does not need to be as lavishing as the food offering for gods, as this is the eve of a new year, the choice of fruits and sweets will be those that carry the same sounds as the joyous expressions. Fruits for example, apple is 苹pín果gŭo, 苹pín carries the same sound as平pín, as in平pín安än, safe. Tangerine is橘jú子zï, or 桔jéi子zï, 橘jú or桔jéi sound similar to吉jí, as in吉jí利lì - good fortune (吉jí means good, and 利lì mean fortune, profit).
As for the sweets, these are mostly traditional sweets made of rice. The two must have items are发fä糕gäo and年nían糕gäo. 发fä as in 发fä财cái - rich and profit, 糕gäo as in 步bù步bù高gäo升shëng (步bù as in step, 步bù步bù means step by step, 高gäo is tall/high, and 高gäo升shëng means rising high)- getting advanced at work or academy; 年nían糕gäo is the same, except the first character is 年nían, as in 'year' - well advance in career or academy in the new year. Both items are made of rice, 发fä糕gäo shapes like a cup cake with pointing tops, and the color is yellow (as in gold); 年nían糕gäo normally comes in the shape of a round cake, sometimes mixed with red beans, as the color red is a festival color. After all the offerings are in place, the family will gather together to pray to the ancestors, to thank them for the blessings for the past year and to pray for the continues blessing for the year to come.
After the prayer, when the ancestor enjoyed the worships, the family sits down to have the dinner together. This, as we mentioned previously, is the holiday that, similar to Thanksgiving or Christmas, all the members of the family will gather together to celebrate. In the old days, the main course would be a hot pot with coal burning in the middle of the hot pot. That is why the New Year's eve family get together dinner is also called 围wéi炉lú. 围wéi means to surround, and 炉lú is the stove/furnace, so together the term refers to sit "around the stove/furnace". As the coal burning in the center of the hot pot reaches red hot, it symbolizes the family member being numerous and the family fortune being bountiful. The dinner normally last a very long time, sometimes over 3 or 4 hours. This not only represent that the family members being many, and that the lives of every member, as well as the good fortune of the family, would last a very very long time.
It's time again to wrap up the much information for digest. But before we leave, just a quick note for a taboo on the New Year's Eve dining table.
One of the must-have dishes on the New Year's Eve dinner is the first. Fish is 鱼yú, and the sound of 鱼yú is the same as 余yú. Have a fish on every New Year's eve makes the phrase 年nían年nían有yŏu余yú, which literally mean there are (something) left from the previous year, to 'have' instead of to 'lack'. For that purpose, the fist is not to be fully consumed. The family will put in the freezer for latter days, so don't worry too much about wasting food - meaning, don't be so kind to grab the last pieces thinking that you're doing the mom a favor. You just might get kicked out of the house right there and then.
And though the fish has two sides, there is absolutely no turning side on the New Year's Eve dining table. Originally, it is a practice of the fisherman or the Navy as turning the fish brings the bad luck in the turning of the boat/ship. Many people follow that practice, hoping that all good fortune would not be 'turned aside'. If you really enjoy the fish so much that you want more when this side is up, exercise your chopstick holding skill and reach between the bones to get the meat from the other sides.
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