By Tin-chee Lo
Today is 2025’s Chinese New Year. My children and grandchildren were born in the United States, so they have little knowledge of Chinese culture. As it is a festive season, I would like to take this opportunity to tell them what “Chinese New Year” means.
Source: The origin of the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) can be traced back to ancient China (5,000 years ago, before Abraham, perhaps the time of Job in the Old Testament), and is closely related to farming culture. This was an important festival in ancient China for offering sacrifices to heaven and praying for blessings (note that ancient China believed in monotheism), celebrating the end of a year’s farming season and the arrival of the new year. Biblical Jewish festivals also centered around the harvest times. The Chinese and the Semites (Jewish people) have the same origin and are both descendants of Shem, one of the sons of Noah.
Historical legend: The legend of the Spring Festival is related to the “Nian Beast”. The word “Nian (年)” means “Year.” According to legend, the Nian Beast is a monster that harms humans and animals. People use the color red (hence the “red” envelopes), fire, and firecrackers to drive it away. If we succeed, we will “pass over” the New Year threshold safely, so the Spring Festival is literally means “going through the security checkpoint of the ‘Nian’ gate.”
At this point, let me inject a bold guess or speculation, trying to link Chinese culture with Jewish culture together: The Old Testament records the story of an upright man named Job. One day, while his children were celebrating the Harvest Festival, a natural disaster and a man-made calamity suddenly appeared like a beast and wreaked havoc over Job’s entire household, destroying not only his properties and livestock, but also the lives of all his children and family members (Job 2:17). 1:1-19). Perhaps it’s the ancient Chinese’s imagination of the “Nian Beast”.
Evolution: Since the Han Dynasty (200 BC), the Spring Festival had gradually become an important festival in China, and its customs were further complicated during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (around the time of Martin Luther in the 16th century). Since Buddhism was introduced to China, many Buddhist superstitions and practices have been brought into the practice of celebrating the Spring Festival. Today, Chinese New Year emphasizes on family reunion, which is not unlike the Western “Thanksgiving holidays”. This is why Chinese people in China are flocking back to their hometowns, causing train stations and airports to be extremely busy.
In closing, I wish everyone a blessed Year of the Snake. I am referring to the “bronze serpent” in the book of Numbers (22:8). It means those who behold the Savior will be saved, and hence, blessed.
你想知道中國新年是怎麼回事嗎？
作者: 盧天賜
今天是2025年的年初一。我的孩子和孫輩出生在美國，所以他們對中國文化認識甚淺。適逢佳節，我想藉此機會告訴他們究竟「過年」是什麼意思?
起源：春節（農曆新年）的起源可以追溯到古代中國（5000年前，亞伯拉罕之前，或許是舊約約伯的時代），與農耕文化密切相關。這是中國古代祭天祈福（注意，中國古代信仰一神教）、慶祝一年農耕結束和新年到來的重要節日。聖經中的猶太節日也以收穫時間為中心。中國人和閃族人有著相同的起源，都是諾亞的兒子閃的後裔。
歷史傳說：春節的傳說與「年獸」有關，相傳年獸是一種危害人畜的怪獸。人們用紅色（因此有「紅」包）、火、爆竹來驅趕它，如何成功，我們便平安無恙地「過了」年關，所以春節被稱爲「過年」。這也成為了新年習俗的來源。說到這裡，容我作出一個大膽的猜測和關想，試圖把中國文化與猶太文化拉上關係：舊約記載了一個正直人約伯的故事。有一天，他的孩子們正在慶祝春節，天災人禍如猛獸一搬，突然出現並破壞了約伯的整個家園，不僅毁壞了財產和牲畜，更毀掉了所有兒女和家人的生命（約伯記 1:1-19）。這可能就是我們的祖先有「年獸」的想像。
演變：自漢代（公元前200年）以來，春節逐漸成為中國的重要節日，隋唐時期（約16世紀馬丁路德時期）在禮俗方面得到進一步複雜化。自佛教傳入中國後，很多佛教的迷信和做法都被帶進了慶祝春節的實踐中。如今，中國新年強調家庭團聚，這一點與西方的「感恩節」非常相似。這就是為什麼在國內的華人紛紛湧回家鄉，導致火車站和飛機場異常繁忙。
祝大家「蛇年」蒙福。我是指民數記中的「銅蛇」。
