SPECIAL TO THE LOG CABIN
The UCA Chinese Scholars and Students Association and Confucius Institute will host a Chinese Spring Festival Gala beginning at 4:50 p.m. on Sunday, the Lunar New Year, at Reynolds Performance Hall.
According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the snake.
It’s a time for family reunions, and the gala is open to the public, admission is free.
A typical Chinese New Year banquet, hosted by CSSA at Mulan’s restaurant, 790 Elsinger Blvd., specifically prepared for Chinese New Year celebration will be served at 6:30 Sunday, $12 per person.
Make reservations for the banquet with Frank Huang at 501-269-9513 or frankiechenxi@gmail.com.
The grandest and the most important festival for the Chinese people, Spring holiday begins Saturday and ends Feb. 15. Legend has it that a strong monster was fierce and cruel and ate one kind of animal, including a human, once a day. Humans were scared and hid on the evening when the monster came out.
Later it was learned that the monster was afraid of the color red and fireworks, so now every year, fireworks are used in the observance to drive away the monster.
The reunion dinner is lavish with multiple courses with chicken, pork and especially fish, as fish served expresses the hope of a wealthy new year.
The Spring Festival is a new start for a new year, so it is regarded as the omen of a new year. People have many taboos during this period. Many bad words related to “death”, “broken”, “killing”, “ghost” and “illness” or “sickness” are forbidden during conversations. The festival originated in the Shang Dynasty, about the 17th Century BC.
Information provided by Lucy Xiaohong Lu, Deputy Director of UCA’s Confucius Institute.