Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year heralding the Year of the Snake, and the busy time of year for Madison’s Zhong Yi Kung Fu School. Listen to the City Cast Madison podcast as Nelson Ferreira, founder and lead instructor at the school, about how Zhong Yi’s signature “dancing lions” help Madison celebrate the holiday.
Here’s more on the origins of the Lunar New Year, the traditions associated with it, and where you can see those dancing lions in Madison this year.
🐉 What Is Lunar New Year?
The holiday marks the arrival of spring, starting on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and lasting 15 days until the first full moon. This year, it will last until Feb. 12, and many cultures conclude the celebration with a lantern festival.
It’s the most significant holiday in China, which is why it is sometimes referred to as Chinese New Year, but is in fact celebrated throughout different Asian communities, including Korea and Vietnam.
🐍What Is the Year of the Snake?
The Chinese zodiac follows a 12-year rotation of animals. The snake (also known as the “little dragon”), symbolizes transformation, wisdom, and intuition.
🎆 How Is It Celebrated?
Traditions vary by culture, but common threads include feasts, family gatherings, and noisy celebrations (including fireworks). A few days before Lunar New Year starts, families will thoroughly clean their homes to get rid of any bad luck.
The first day of Lunar New Year is reserved for family traditions. Family members who have passed away are remembered, and small red envelopes called hongbao containing money are given to children in the family.
🦁What’s the Deal With the Dancing Lions?
The lion dancers of the Zhong Yi Kung Fu Association appear at local businesses to ward off evil and bring good luck. The two-person “lions” playfully dance and “eat” tangerines and lettuce heads in exchange for blessing a business.
The lions will also accept red hongbao envelopes, but do not give them anything white, as that color is a sign of bad luck. If the lion “spits” back out the lettuce or tangerines and you get hit, it’s considered a sign of good luck. Lucky you!
🧧How Is Madison Celebrating?
The Dancing Lions will be out in force at the Downtown Lunar New Year Celebration on Feb. 8 at noon at Lisa Link Peace Park. The dancers will perform at the park for about 20 minutes, then roam up and down State Street looking for businesses to bless, which they’ll go inside “if the lion fits.”
On Feb. 9, the association will host its annual Lunar New Year Party at its home base on East Washington Avenue. In addition to the traditional lion dance, there will be martial arts demonstrations, Asian appetizers, and more ways to celebrate good fortune.
Bloom Bake Shop is offering a special assortment of Lunar New Year cookies, including mini Nin Gau sticky rice squares and walnut cookies. And UW Health’s Learning Kitchen at its East Madison campus has a special Lunar New Year cooking class Jan. 29 where participants can learn how to make black sesame sweet rice balls, dumplings, and a mandarin orange mocktail.
