Throughout the whole north hemisphere, the time between November and February—typically known as “winter months”—can feel sometimes very dull, a natural but unfortunate consequence of the dimming sunlight, chilly weather, and relative lack of viable outdoor activities (unless you do skiing or skating). It is therefore necessary to have something that cheers everyone up, and holidays fulfill the role quite well. Holidays offer excuses to relax, party, decorate, and feast. Who would not take advantage of such good opportunities?
Of the various holidays celebrated during winter months, two major ones—one mainly celebrated in the Western culture, one in the East Asian culture—form an interesting contrast. Through my own experience and conversation with family and friends, I have had some observations and thoughts in the way people celebrate the two holidays that I would like to share. In American culture, as well as many other Western cultures under the influence of Christianity, Christmas is arguably the largest and most important holiday of the year (unless you are Jewish, in which case it would be Hanukkah. I would not pretend to know enough of Hanukkah and Jewish culture, so I won’t discuss the customs and celebration of Hanukkah here). Though it is originally a holiday for Christians, nowadays it has been widely accepted by many Christians who do not practice Christianity otherwise, by many non-Christians in Western cultures, and even by some non-Westerners in other parts of the world. Many Chinese people who have very little knowledge of American culture have heard of Christmas, and without further understanding of the culture, view it as a western counterpart of the Chinese Spring Festival. This popularity is perhaps partly thanks to the worldwide spread of Western media, partly thanks to the happy and cheerful atmosphere that the holiday brings, and partly thanks to the amiable image of Santa Claus and the excitement associated with gifts (at least for kids:D). Despite having been heavily commercialized, Christmas in the mind of many Americans, still retains the core of a family gathering celebration event. As I already mentioned, the Spring Festival in China can be viewed as the counterpart of Christmas, in many respects. With a few thousands of years’ history dating back to agricultural society, Spring Festival is actually the New Year by lunar calendar, so it carries the function of saying goodbye to the old year, welcoming the upcoming year, and hoping for good luck in the new year. The popularity of Spring Festival among the East Asian cultures (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Chinatowns in Western countries) is comparable to Christmas among the Western cultures. As traditional Chinese society places high emphasis on family, Spring Festival is the unquestionable “necessary” family gathering time in these cultures. On the surface, Christmas and Spring Festival seem to be very similar in how they are celebrated. Family gathering is considered as the most important, and family members near and far try their best to gather at the same household and have a dinner/feast together. Gift exchange is also usually expected, but the similarity seems to end there. I have seen three main differences that are of particular interest, but there are definitely more—feel free to share your own thoughts! First, there is slightly different expectation of gift exchange in terms of the giver and recipient of gifts. Christmas gifts are mutual gifts, as it is common for parents and adult children to give each other gifts as a way of showing affection. The youngest generation (i.e. the children of adult children, if any) is the lucky gift recipient without any expected reciprocity—I guess all they need to do is to be good kids so Santa Claus keeps bringing them gifts every year:P Gifts for Spring Festival are less mutual. Since it is generally the case that adult children who have already left their parents’ home return to parents’ home for the holiday celebration, the adult children are expected to bring gifts for their parents, as well as gifts for all the younger generations (particularly the kids of their siblings). The parents usually do not need to prepare gifts for their adult children, but they would give their grandchildren money sealed in a red packet. The youngest generation is again exempt from the hassle of preparing gifts—their days will come some day. Second, although both holidays are happy and cheerful, Spring Festival is more boisterous while Christmas is more peaceful. This difference can be tracked down to the origin of the holidays. According to the tale of Spring Festival, there was a monster named “年”(year) who roamed the villages and towns on New Year’s eve, seeking to attack people. This monster was afraid of loud noises and the color red, so people made lots of noises using gongs and drums, and put up red stickers on their doors to scare away “年”. Firecrackers were also common (they still are in areas that allow them), since they definitely make A LOT OF noises. The customs have been passed down even though few people nowadays really believe in the tale per se. Consequently, most of the Spring Festival celebration in the community tends to be exuberant and exciting. In contrast, Christmas is a religious holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, so it is associated with serene and peaceful atmosphere. When a child is born, even though the parents may be happy, they are probably also exhausted to generate much excitement, but instead enjoy the moment of contentment and peace. It is also not a good idea to scare the newborn with lots of noises (new parents probably all know this) or you’ll regret it. In fact, the most well-known Christmas carol, “silent night”, depicts a calm and tranquil scene where all is bright and beautiful, highlighting the expected atmosphere of Christmas. Third, where would the feast be? There are many regional variations, but traditionally, Christmas dinner is a family dinner that should be prepared by the family members and served at home. This tradition has been observed by most, if not all, Christians, regardless of how pious they are and whether they actually practice Christianity otherwise. As a result, most Western-style restaurants are closed on Christmas Day, and many on Christmas Eve as well, so as to allow all the employees to get together with their family, since they do not expect much business coming in anyway. To some Christians, even though it may be troublesome to cook a Christmas dinner, they are still reluctant to accept an alternative way like eating out in a restaurant. A friend’s mom told me, after carving the ham, mixing the salad, baking the dessert, setting up the silverware, putting up decorations, and laying out all the side dishes, “this is what Christmas is about.” Interestingly, though family dinners eaten at home are still common in relatively rural areas in China, urban people are more likely to opt for eating out, and reservations at nice restaurants specifically for the New Year’s Eve dinner need to be made two months in advance as they are so packed on New Year’s Eve (some people have even booked the dinner for next year!). Most restaurants admit that Spring Festival time is the busiest time and usually bring in the largest revenue of the year. It seems that people are less particular about the location of the dinner or who actually cooks it, but more about sharing the dinner with the family. I guess nowadays, people living in large cities face so much pressure in daily life and they really want a break from all the work including cooking and cleaning, just for Spring Festival.
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