Lunar New Year in Taiwan: 2010
A twofer holiday!
In addition to being Valentine's Day, February 14, 2010 (Sunday) is New Year's Day as celebrated in several Asian countries. Many people use the term "Chinese New Year" to describe the holiday, despite the fact that the direct back-translation "中國新年" is rarely used; furthermore, it doesn't just belong to the Chinese.
Here's something from a couple of earlier posts related to why many people prefer to call this holiday "Lunar New Year" (Taiwanese: Lông li̍k sin nî; Hanzi: 農曆新年; Hanyu pinyin: Nónglìxīnnián):
It doesn't just belong to the ChineseAnd here's an update on the Taiwanese romanization which I derived by using an online dictionary on the Ministry of Education (MOE) web site:
Nor is it just "politically correct." Read about it in English and/or Chinese.
Happy Lunar New Year! 萬事如意! [=van.su_ru.yi! / wàn shì rú yì!]
UPDATE:Being in a bit of a rush to begin my vacation, I missed these links (all are presented in both English and Mandarin):* How the people of Vietnam celebrate Lunar New Year* How the people of South Korea celebrate Lunar New Year* How the people of Singapore celebrate Lunar New Year* How the people of Malaysia celebrate Lunar New Year
袂記得 [bē-kì-tit/buē-kì-tit]: Every time you say "Lunar New Year," a Chinese KMT'er cries. Lông li̍k sin nî khuài lo̍k (農曆新年快樂！) Bān sū jû ì! (萬事如意！)And as some people also say, Happy Taiwanese New Year!
Codecs: Taiwan, 台灣, China, 中國, Lunar New Year, 農曆新年
Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!
Labels: China, Lunar New Year, Taiwan, Tim Maddog, 中國, 台灣, 農曆新年
posted Saturday, February 13, 2010 @ 5:12 AM by Tim Maddog
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2 Comments:
Many Vietnamese would not object to the "Chinese New Year" translation because they are secured about their identity. Nevertheless, Hanoi is one time zone behind Beijing so their Tet may sometimes fall in another moon cycle. This calendar system of marking the beginning of a year on the second new moon after winter solstice was first reported as a practice of Xia, a prehistorical tribe which was supposed to had dwelt in what is now a core region of modern China. Taiwanese should celebrate Chinese New Year in Taiwanese ways instead. For one thing, placing the character "Spirng" upside down is not a lucky sign in Taiwanese Minnan as in Chinese Mandarin which pronounces "upside down" the same as "arrive". Most Taiwanese need to know that "Spring upside down" sounds like "Grain container falls down" (tshun to) but not "Spring arrives" (tshun kau) in their own language.
In Taiwan we write "Hsia" and not "Xia" ( it's important for people named like that in Taiwan ). Thanks for the explaination about "Grain container falls down", I never thought about that.
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