GONG XI FA CA!

That’s the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means, “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin.

Billions of people around the world are wishing for prsoperity as they were ringing in the new year on January 23, 2012--the Chinese New Year, that is, the biggest holiday celebration in China and other parts of Asia. San Luis Obispo is doing the same as Cal Poly’s Chinese Student Association (C.S.A.) is preparing for their 55th Annual Chinese New Year Banquet to be held on January 28th.

“We invite everyone in San Luis Obispo, and even outside so anyone can come,” said Aaron Jen, President of the Chinese Student Association at Cal Poly.


The banquet will feature several acts pertaining to Chines culture including a performance by the Cal Poly Lion Dance Team. Lion dances have long been performed in Chinese Culture marking the first day of the New Year according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar; they are also common during the New Year’s Eve.
“The purpose of a lion dance is to essentially bring prosperity and scare away demons of a store or restaurant, and in weddings as well,” said Corrine Goodwin, the lion dance team captain. “It’s believed that the loud beats of the drum and the sound of the cymbals with lion dancing can scare away the evil spirits.”  

The lion dance team has been performing around the county bringing fortune to restaurants and businesses for Chinese New Year. The team has the majority of their performances this time of year, before and after the New Year. The lion dance team is well received by the community, the past few weeks they have had 3-4 performances a week.
 

The team performed its ninth annual community blessing ceremony at the Volumes of Pleasure Bookshop in Los Osos last week.  

“The year of the dragon is revered. The dragon is the only mythical animal in the Asian zodiac,” explained owners Barbara Strauss. “For centuries, the ritual would scare monsters and evil spirits, but today it empowers business prosperity and health, long life and good luck for patrons.”
 

Strauss attended a trade show in San Francisco 10 years ago that coincided with the Chinese New Year’s Parade. They followed the dragon dancers in and out of retail shops offering the ritual blessings.

“It was exciting and beautiful. We wanted to bring the concept to Los Osos,” Strauss said. “We invited the Cal Poly Lion Dance Team to share their culture.”

By tradition, the payment for the lion dance members is hidden in a head of lettuce, and dancers must find it like a piñata. Ravaged lettuce pieces landing on guests bring prosperity. Up to 20 dancers wear vibrant colors and know to approach children gently without frightening them.

The Cal Poly Lion Dance Team performed all this week and last, but they are not slowing down for Cal Poly’s Chinese New Year Celebration Banquet.

“We’re going to have three separate performances of different difficulties representing the students progression through the year,” explained Goodwin. “There will be lots of jumping, running and standing from the lions.”
   

There will also be a performance from the San Luis Obispo Wushu Taichi Center. The center has been performing at the banquet for the past twenty years.

“Taichi is Chinese martial arts and also it’s the most popular exercise for people in the general daily life,” said Liu Yiu, the professional martial artist and owner of the Wushu Taichi Center.  

“It’s a gentle slow martial art movement with other forms. The taichi can help improve people’s health, balance, and the flexibility.”

The practice of taichi develops harmony of mind and body, reducing stress and increasing inner peacefulness.
Yu and her students will be displaying several styles of taichi at the banquet including taichi fan, taichi sword, and taichi wu.

To add a little history there are several variations on the mythology behind Chinese New Year celebrations. Most are based on an ugly monster named Nian that would emerge on the last night of each year to destroy villages and eat people. A wise elder advised villagers to scare the monster away with loud noises. That night, they set fire to bamboo, lit fireworks, and banged their drums. The monster, afraid of the loud noises and lights, ran away to hide in its cave. The story has been passed down, and now the lion dancers scare away Nian.
On the first day of the new year, the villagers celebrated, greeting each other with the words “Guo Nian” which means “survive the Nian”, a tradition that has continued to this day to mean “celebrate the new year.”

“In America we want to slay our dragons, but in the Chinese culture, the dragon is benevolent, said Struass owner of the Volume of Pleasures Bookshop. “This year, individuals are encouraged to assess their personal power then focus on traits to be the best they can be. Innovation, fertility, expansion, volatility, change and opportunity are associated with the Year of the Dragon.”

The Banquet will take place at 8:00PM in the Chumash Auditorium on the Cal Poly campus on January 28th, 2012. Ringing in the Year of the Dragon for the Cal Poly University.

   

 

Cal Poly Lion Dance Costumes

 

 

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