Chinese New Year At Home

[Livinginexile]

Every Chinese New Year is the same around our place.

My wife is very serious about it. No cleaning, no throwing out rubbish, even what you say can produce bad luck for the next year! 3 days of festivals around Chinatown, it doesn't seem to end.

There are also so many "do's and dont's" this time of year!

Tonight, the whole family is out somewhere burning stuff in honor of dead relatives.

Her and the family have been preparing for days.

Anyone else in the middle of all this?

[MrRichard2009]

Yeah I feel for ya man ..... I stay away from it as much as I can, it's just superstitious nonsense, drives me nuts to ! lol ESPECIALLY the burning, in fact I banned any burning of plastic as last year they burned plastic cell phones.

[Garry9999]

Yeah I feel for ya man ..... I stay away from it as much as I can, it's just superstitious nonsense, drives me nuts to ! lol ESPECIALLY the burning, in fact I banned any burning of plastic as last year they burned plastic cell phones.

Easters coming up soon, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, eggs, all that bloody superstitious nonsense, then later in the year more superstitious nonsense with Christmas and new year!

[cdnvic]

Yeah I feel for ya man ..... I stay away from it as much as I can, it's just superstitious nonsense, drives me nuts to ! lol ESPECIALLY the burning, in fact I banned any burning of plastic as last year they burned plastic cell phones.

Easters coming up soon, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, eggs, all that bloody superstitious nonsense, then later in the year more superstitious nonsense with Christmas and new year!

.....and we'll deal with that when we get to it. The topic today is Chinese New Years.

[Livinginexile]

That's interesting.

By the lack of reponse, I take it not many TV readers are married to Thainese girls.

[gpdjohn]

I married one..

For the last 2 yrs the WHOLE family shows up at this house and the festivites continue for sometimes up to 5 days.

This year the MIL said ( she is the Queen Bee! and loaded with moola ) she wanted to do it at her house in BangSue.

What a nice Year of the Tiger it was, kicking back in the peace and quiet watching NHL games all by myself.

( and yep, the pictures of the dead grandparents went with the wife in the back seat, seatbelted in for their safety to Bangers with the orcids strapped to the front grill )

[edwinchester]

Wifes family is Thai Chinese too but she doesn't seem as keen as her parents on all the ritual and has only been home once for the honouring of the grandparents and that was only for a couple of hours.

[lannarebirth]

That's interesting.

By the lack of reponse, I take it not many TV readers are married to Thainese girls.

My wife is 100% Chinese, but raised since a young child in Thailand. She pays zero attention to Chinese New Year or Quan Yin or ancestor worship.

[Millard]

I'm 100% Chinese and find all those rituals and all superstitution to be at the very least, silly. Whether I clean or burn offerings during New Year is not going to improve my stock portfolio or prevent layoffs at my company.

[astral]

Strange, my wife makes a big thing of cleaning the house and cooking lots of food for offerings..............

[Heng]

Yeah, I hang back for much of the New Year's stuff as well, although I do pass out red envelopes. I'll wai my ancestors of course, but I (like a lot of Thai Chinese, Huaren in general) don't believe they actually exist anymore, but it's a symbol of continuity of family, which in general IMO is a theme that is good for the family in the long run.

[anchan42]

I love Chinese new years. Chance to go back and be with my family, my mother ,sister, brother, nieces etc. Chance to introduce the children to their late grand father. Chance to get the children together so they would not be strangers to each other in the future. Lot of good food, laughing and talking.

Looking forward to tomb sweeping day.

Could not care less about x-mas and valentine's day.

[MiG16]

Strange, my wife makes a big thing of cleaning the house and cooking lots of food for offerings..............

Astral - I believe the practice is to do a HUGEEEEEEEE big clean before the actual new year (they have the shopping day prior to the actual new year I think - 'wan wai' = pay respect day, 'wan chai' = shopping day, 'wan trut' = new year day)

and general practice is not to clean, sweep, and throw things out of the house on 'wan trut'. if one really really must sweep - then you are told to sweep everything INTO the house, and pick up the dust. (as opposed to the common sweep outward towards front of the house). the idea is so that nothing good leaves the house anymore (ie. all the bad things left in the old year, today is new year - everything that is inside are good things, so we shouldnt get rid of it)

thats my take on it

[pampal]

Other than the cleaning, it hasn't been too bad this year.

[Donnyboy]

not much fuss to me, gf did make some offerings, whiskey, duck, chicken, sweets etc

[cdnvic]

We were so tired of Chinese cuisine that we had souvlaki for Chinese New Year. She did clean the house though.

[Livinginexile]

Strange, my wife makes a big thing of cleaning the house and cooking lots of food for offerings..............

Astral - I believe the practice is to do a HUGEEEEEEEE big clean before the actual new year (they have the shopping day prior to the actual new year I think - 'wan wai' = pay respect day, 'wan chai' = shopping day, 'wan trut' = new year day)

and general practice is not to clean, sweep, and throw things out of the house on 'wan trut'. if one really really must sweep - then you are told to sweep everything INTO the house, and pick up the dust. (as opposed to the common sweep outward towards front of the house). the idea is so that nothing good leaves the house anymore (ie. all the bad things left in the old year, today is new year - everything that is inside are good things, so we shouldnt get rid of it)

thats my take on it

You understand very well!

That's exactly the procedure in our house at this time of year

[Livinginexile]

I'm 100% Chinese and find all those rituals and all superstitution to be at the very least, silly. Whether I clean or burn offerings during New Year is not going to improve my stock portfolio or prevent layoffs at my company.

Excuse me Millard but you say you are 100% Chinses yet your posts indicate you are new to Thailand!

Also your writing of the English language indicates that you are Western educated from youth.

How can you compare your Chinese "heritage" beliefs to that of S/E Asian people that were born and raised here?

[hawthorne]

I think traditions are becoming less and less. My wife didn't do anything. But her mother still does the one day no cleaning, pork head, duck, chicken and the burning for the dead to come eat? Any way that is her explanation to me. My wife does not celebrate her chinese background

[cdnvic]

I'm 100% Chinese and find all those rituals and all superstitution to be at the very least, silly. Whether I clean or burn offerings during New Year is not going to improve my stock portfolio or prevent layoffs at my company.

Excuse me Millard but you say you are 100% Chinses yet your posts indicate you are new to Thailand!

Also your writing of the English language indicates that you are Western educated from youth.

How can you compare your Chinese "heritage" beliefs to that of S/E Asian people that were born and raised here?

Because there are Chinese all over the world who still grow up surrounded by a Chinese culture that is as strong as it is anywhere in Thailand.