RED & CHINESE NEW YEAR!
Happy Chinese New Year 2023 - Year of the Rabbit
Sunday 22nd January 2023 celebrates the Lunar New Year. The Chinese New Year rings in the year of the rabbit, a symbol of grace, beauty and good luck.
A quick note for those that don't know me, I'm British-born Chinese and was brought up in the UK with traditional Chinese values. The conflict between my Western schooling, and Chinese home was something I'm only really starting to unpack today. Long story short, at school I did everything to hide the fact that my home life was very different to all my friends. Time during the pandemic led me to find people who bore similar childhood experiences to me, and boy are there many! And only now, do I really appreciate my heritage. As I start to learn more about my heritage and the culture, there's a lot more new goals I want to achieve. (More on that at a later date!)
So, talking about Chinese New Year, I would lying if I said I could tell you all the traditions and the history behind it, where I actively chose to ignore my culture and never paid attention to much of the on-goings around me, all the superstitions and traditions, and their meanings. Sad, I know. But what I can tell you, that I prominently remember is seeing a lot of the colour red, I mean a lot! Used in decorations, in gift giving, in clothing, it was everywhere. So why do we choose the colour red?
In Chinese culture, the colour red is considered lucky, representing happiness and success; believed to be a 'power' colour to ward off evil. So we wear red to attract luck. Even brides wear red on their wedding days.
A commonality with the western world, is that red is connected with love, the colour of passion and fire.
Maybe we should all be wearing red more often throughout the year! Some days it feels like such a bold colour, that when I feel confident enough to wear it, I then actually feel empowered wearing it! So never forget how important our clothing choices are to us!
Will you be choosing to wear red to celebrate Chinese New Year with us on Sunday? Or are you planning to wear the colour red to celebrate your loved ones on Valentine's Day?
Happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit!