By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The lion dancers are among us as area organizations begin celebrations for the onset of the 2024 Lunar New Year. Our neighbors have taken their red clothing out of the closets and are preparing their red envelopes. People around the world will mark this time of year by traveling many miles to ensure that the holiday is spent with those who are important to them. For our local Asian American officials, the people most important to them are us—the community.
“The numerous community events make Lunar New Year so special,” said Michael Itti, executive director of the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC). “I love seeing the joy and excitement on the faces of youth, family members, and seniors who attend CISC’s celebrations in the Sunshine Garden Senior Center and Family Center.”
Lunar New Year Celebration in 2023 in CISC’s Sunshine Garden. (Photo courtesy of CISC.)
Multiple celebrations take place every year to honor the Lunar New Year in cities, large and small, across Washington state. Along with CISC, events were hosted in downtown Seattle, at the Wing Luke Museum, and in Bellevue. The holiday, which has been around since at least the 14th century BCE, was marked much more quietly in the United States back in the early days of immigration by Asians to this country. Now, local governments are beginning to set aside at least a day on the calendar, and, of course, every year we get the postal service’s new stamp.
“I celebrate by joining festivities in various communities across the city, spending time with residents of all backgrounds in different neighborhoods. This year, I look forward to celebrating at Hing Hay Park as we install new lighting, including red and gold lanterns,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell, who has already come out for this year’s unveiling of the Year of the Dragon stamp, and attended the OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates of Greater Seattle’s (formerly Organization of Chinese Americans) Lunar New Year Celebration at Ding Feng Seafood Restaurant on Jan. 27.
“I like to celebrate with communities in their neighborhoods, which allows me to share with them in the joy of the holiday—and enjoy lots of great food! I invite my family to events, too, and it’s wonderful to celebrate with them as well,” said Harrell.
Traditionally, the lunar year starts with the first new moon and ends with the full moon, which lasts about 15 days. For us in the United States, where we follow the Gregorian calendar, this usually falls around January or February of each year, after we have celebrated the Gregorian version of the New Year on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Both sets of holidays represent a turnover from winter to spring and in a way, both could be said to represent hope and the turning away of bad luck for the next year.
In many countries, people are happy to celebrate both, even if in some cases history forced the Gregorian version upon them.
“Based on our history (Lunar New Year traditionally observed, 1/1 during the Japanese Occupation, Lunar New Year to go back to our roots, and then more recently reverting to 1/1 for what I see as convenience), Koreans celebrate both the 1/1 and Lunar New Year. On 1/1, we visit our parents to start the year off and eat a bowl of rice cake soup,” explained state Rep. Cindy Ryu.
“On the Lunar New Year, I repeat the same AND celebrate the real start of the new year! So I get a two-fer and wish everyone a happy new year from 1/1 to the Lunar New Year Day, and a couple of weeks beyond.”
Everyone loves a holiday, and yet there is a difference in feeling between the two sets of New Year celebrations, east and west, if you will.
“The Lunar New Year feels more ‘real’ to me, as that’s when the new Zodiac sign starts,” Ryu continued. “The most memorable was at my youngest brother’s house in Sammamish about 10 years ago, when my Dad was alive. Both Mom and Dad dressed in their Korean HanBok and we gathered around a large table loaded with food and with all the grandchildren gathered around it for a family selfie.”
“I think the biggest difference is that, during a time where too often Asian American communities feel unsafe or targeted by racist hate and misunderstanding, Lunar New Year is an opportunity to uplift AAPI communities, cultural heritage, and joyful traditions that bring people together by celebrating what we have in common, instead of what makes us different,” said Harrell.
Mayor Bruce Harrell attending 2023’s CIDBIA Lunar New Year celebration. (Photo credit to the City of Seattle, Office of Mayor Bruce Harrell.)
While state Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos told the Asian Weekly, “In the Japanese community, New Year’s Day (1/1) is also very social, but it involves going around to people’s homes and paying your respects, giving greetings to friends and family, and doing lots of eating…It is different in the feeling because it’s not that everyone in the community is gathering together…it’s in the families going out and doing all of the things.”
Santos also pointed out, laughing, that for the Japanese, and others, turning over a new year is not all fun and games—it’s hard work as people usher in the new and kick out the bad by cleaning, not to mention the amount of cooking done in preparation.
“If you knew how I spend New Year’s Eve, working, cooking, cleaning, it’s very different. You’re actually not in the community, you’re at home, tearing your hair out because you don’t know if everything is going to be done in time.” Santos, who is of Japanese descent, doesn’t celebrate the Lunar New Year like some others might. Yet, she still enjoys spending it with the community and remembers her childhood experience.
“One of my earliest memories of a Lunar New Year event wasn’t here in Seattle; it was in California…There was a huge crowd of people, packed, body to body, in the streets, and watching the lion dances—it’s a little bit hard to see the lion dances when you’re little, but you could hear the drums, the cymbals, and occasionally [see] the fighting lions.” Afterwards, she recalls “watching the lions going around to each of the different family associations” and “all of the firecrackers going off. There’s something about that experience…getting the little red envelope and the sweets inside. I have always felt that there was a sense of excitement and joy about being together to welcome in the new year like that.”
The Year of the Dragon is a particularly auspicious year, with the dragon representing health and strength. Many famous leaders have been Dragons.
“I do think it is fun to think about and explore these customs rooted in centuries-old beliefs,” said Harrell. “As a huge Bruce Lee fan, I recognize that 2024 marks the 50th year of his passing (who was also born in the Year of the Dragon), and look forward to more opportunities to celebrate his legacy both for our city and country.”
Santos added, “The reason I’m especially paying attention to this year is that the dragon is THE year, the most important animal…but also, my father was born in the Year of the Dragon. My father is going to be turning 96 in about two weeks, so it’s a very special year…every year is an additional blessing. I’m really happy to be celebrating the Year of the Dragon.”
“I enjoy attending the annual Lunar New Year celebrations, such as OCA’s and the Seattle Chinese Chamber’s events, and seeing friends and sharing a multicourse meal,” Itti said. “CISC honors the heritage of the people we serve by hosting celebrations in Seattle, Bellevue, and Renton, where we give out red envelopes and have singing and dancing.”
Michael Itti, CISC executive director, (right) and Karia Wong, CISC Family Center director, at a past Bellevue Square Lunar New Year. (Photo credit to Hut Kwan.)
Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweeky.com.