Celebrating the Year of the Tiger 2022
01 February 2022
Happy Year of the Tiger!
Thank you to everyone who sent through their photographs and stories of how they celebrate the lunar new year, you can check them all out on the #DiverseReading blog. Below we have shared Dr Daguo Li discussing Yasuiqian, or lucky money, and YoungWoo Shin reminisces about celebrating lunar new year in Korea pre-COVID.
My wife said for this Chinese New Year, she will put a red packet under the pillows of me and my daughter. It reminds me of my childhood memories of looking forward to receiving Yasuiqian (the red packet or lucky money) from my elders in the village in the Chinese New Year and we children needed to kowtou (kneel down with head touching the floor in front of the elders to show our respect) to receive it as part of the ritual – well, only symbolically as far as I can remember. Nowadays, kowtou is truly a thing of the past, but the folklore and the tradition of giving and receiving Yasuiqian (the lucky money) during the Chinese New Year have been passed on from generation to generation.
Why a red packet for the Chinese New Year? What does it symbolise?
I found the following brief story on the Yasuiqian (lucky money) shared by Cindy on Travelguide an interesting read.
I look forward to my red packet! Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous Chinese New Year of the Tiger!
Dr Daguo Li, ISLI
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Lunar New Year's Day left me with many memories. Family and relatives gathered to thank our ancestors (“Chalye” in Korean), ate “tteokguk”, bow to adults with saying 'Happy New Year'(“sebae” in Korean), and played traditional games such as “yutnori”. Since the spread of COVID-19, it has become difficult for family and relatives to gather on Lunar New Year's Day, but I hope that we can get together again from this year and have a good time.
I wish all the students and staff at Reading University become a Happy New Year.
YoungWoo Shin, law Student at University of Reading
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