"The fifteenth day marks the first full moon after the Spring Festival and of the New Year, also known as yuán xiāo jié meaning "first night of the full moon". That day is also known as Lantern Festival day." I said as I finished the house sweeping.
"Family reunion dinner is held with lanterns and oranges being a large part of this celebration. It is customary to eat special sweet dumplings called yuanxiao resembling the shape of the full moon. These round balls are made of glutinous rice flour stuffed with sugar fillings, symbolising reunion."
"Mommy, can I get to eat sweet dumplings ?"
"Ofcourse, I'll make them next time for you." I caressed her head as she came near me, "during this festival, lanterns are displayed, at times as lantern fairs. This festival is associated with guiding lost and ill bred evil spirits home, while celebrating and cultivating positive relationships between people, families, nature and the higher beings as they are believed to be responsible for bringing and returning the light each year."
But my daughter had a frown in between her brows. "What's wrong dear? What's with that expression?"
"Mommy, what are the evil spirits you are talking about?"
"There's a Chinese legend which tells us, Every year around the new Lunar Year, a mythological beast called Nian was said to come and lay waste to towns and eat people, particularly children. Everyone would hide from the beast until he left."
"One year, an old man appeared and refused to go into hiding, and decided he wanted to get revenge on the Nian. He put red papers up around the door of his house with lucky symbols and set off loud firecrackers. The day after, the villagers discovered that their town wasn't destroyed."
"They believed that the old man was in fact a god that came to save them. The villagers then realised that the colour red and loud noises deterred the beast. Next New Year the villagers hung up red lanterns, wore red clothes, and placed red character scrolls on windows and doors, and they set off firecrackers to frighten away the monster."
"And ever since then, Nian never returned to scare the villagers! I believe that Nian came to the town for a reason, the reason is if he didn't appear in the town we people wouldn't have discovered such lovely traditions and customs of Chinese New year which is so unique. In the end, everything makes sense. And every Lunar New Year had red lanterns and firecrackers, and lion & dragon dances."
"Eh... what is lion & dragon dance ?" She started laughing loudly, "Do people bring lions and dragons to dance in the spring festival?"
"Ah, no dear! The lion dance is a traditional Chinese dance performed on the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year for good luck, as it is believed that the lion is an auspicious animal. In Chinese culture, the lion symbolises power, wisdom, and superiority. People perform lion dances at Chinese festivals or big occasions to bring good fortune and chase away evil spirits."
"The lion dance is one of the most important traditions at Chinese New Year. It is performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year. The lion dance is also a way to create a festive atmosphere and bring happiness. And as for the performance, it's performed in a lion costume, accompanied by the music of beating drums, clashing cymbals, and resounding gongs, lion dances imitate a lion's various movements or demonstrate martial arts agility."
"Similarly, the dragon dance is also a Chinese tradition where Chinese dragons are a symbol of China's culture, and they are believed to bring good luck to people, therefore the longer the dragon is in the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community. The dragons are believed to possess qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. The appearance of a dragon is both fearsome and bold but it has a benevolent disposition, and it was an emblem to represent imperial authority. The movements in a performance traditionally symbolise historical roles of dragons demonstrating power and dignity."
"Wow, That sounds incredible Mommy. Have you seen the dragon & lion dances?"
"Well, not that year, but yes I've watched the lion and dragon dances in the last couple of years."
"This year, I'll watch the dances too. What happened to the story after people gathered at the river bank?" She cheered herself with enthusiasm.
"Oh yes sure dear." I smiled at her, "that day was full moon, people had reunion dinner together and most people came to the river bank for the lantern festival. I was far away from the bank to be seen by anyone while my brother was sleeping next to me."
"However, when the fireworks started, my brother turned toward the sky and said in a hushed voice 'Will Mom and dad be happy if I go to them today?' those few words made me clutch his palm tightly, made my heart sink."
"I comforted him, to the last extent I could do. I wanted him to recover only if it was possible for us."
"Soon there was light around us, on turning we realised there were numerous lanterns of different shapes and sizes floating in the air along with the busting fireworks in the night sky when the full moon was shining so brightly. That was the most magical experience we could ever have to sit under a sky full of lanterns."
"My brother held my hand tightly making me look at him. He was seeing the lanterns, I could see the reflection of the lanterns in his pupils, he suddenly said 'Happy Lunar New Year Sister' and fainted. Those were the very last words I could hear from him."
"I was panicked to see him, I was about to get up and take him to someone when I hit something with my head and I lost my consciousness."
"Mommy you were alright in the end, right?" she had tears in her eyes.
"Aww, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry my child. Hear me out first then you decide if I was alright in the end." I hugged her tightly, comforting her knowing the pain and how it feels to lose a mother.
"When I regained consciousness, I was in a room with white curtains, white walls, white furniture. I got out of the bed and ran toward the room door to find where was I and where was my brother."
"But before I could approach the door someone came in, a boy came with a tray of food. I asked him about my brother, and where was I. And Guess what happened?"
"He told me that I was brought to his mansion, my brother was sick but out of danger, he only had food poisoning which could have led him to death if he wasn't treated then. He told me about himself that he was 20 year old and the last heir of his family."
"Later when I told him about myself, his parents decided to adopt me and my brother. His parents allowed us to complete our education and finally a day came when that boy who turned into a man proposed to me for a marriage and now he is my husband and your father."
"Dad saved you?"
"Yes, he saved both me and your uncle." I chuckled, "So as I said everything happens for a reason. The last Spring Festival blessed me with a caring husband."
"And a good daddy." my angel interrupted me. "It must have been hard for you mommy."
"Yes it was, but we passed the test and became much stronger than before. That was the Last Spring Festival that taught me the taste of hardships, sacrifice, both body and mind strength, bonding and above all the knowledge of Chinese New year and the beauty of Chinese culture."
~𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨!~
"Someone came, let me check. Stay here!" I got up to unlock the front door.
"Here I brought the Chinese New Year gifts." My husband handed me two large bags.
"The other gifts are here brother." my brother responded to my husband.
"Daddy! Uncle!" my angel came to her dad, "Chinese New year gifts, for whom daddy and what are these gifts?"
"These are red packets and they contain money." my seventeen year old brother showed the packets to my daughter.
"And we will give these gifts to orphans, poor children during this year's Spring Festival." my dear husband explained as he caressed his daughter's hair.
"We do this every year. All the orphanages and poor children get red packets from us. We felt the pain, so we try to make others feel at ease by helping them." I smiled as I finished explaining.
Seeing me, my daughter chuckled and was happy. Afterall, it just takes a smile to be happy.
Only if I had known this, in the Last Spring Festival.