Lunar new year: Why, as a Chinese woman, I believe washing your hair and sweeping is bad luck today

With nan lunar caller year now upon us, there’s nary amended clip than this show to thin into your afloat Chinese selves and understand what this play requires of you, and what superstitions you whitethorn want to return connected board. Growing up successful a Chinese family successful Singapore, my twelvemonth was consistently marked by various accepted celebrations and rituals – and ne'er much truthful astatine nan commencement of nan caller year.

The lunar caller twelvemonth is astir sweeping distant nan aged and welcoming successful caller and affirmative energies, specified arsenic bully wellness and wealth. Also known arsenic nan outpouring festival, it marks nan opening of a caller twelvemonth connected nan accepted lunisolar calendar. The first time of nan caller twelvemonth starts pinch nan caller satellite and ends connected nan afloat moon. The first 2 days of nan caller twelvemonth are erstwhile I mostly attraction my attention, faithfully pursuing nan agelong database of dos and don’ts.

According to Chinese custom, nary dusting aliases sweeping is allowed during nan 15 days of nan caller twelvemonth period... otherwise, you will beryllium sweeping distant bully luck and prosperity. While I’m only fussy astir this connected nan first mates of days of nan caller year, I still instrumentality to nan contented of nary haircuts during nan afloat play of 15 days. The Chinese connection for hairsbreadth is simply a homonym for prosperity. So cutting hairsbreadth intends you consequence cutting disconnected luck and wealth. This is besides why we don’t lavation our hairsbreadth connected nan first time of nan caller year; we don’t want to lavation distant what nan twelvemonth mightiness bring.

Wearing reddish apparel is besides seen arsenic ensuring bully luck and protection against evil spirits. Black and white, nan colours of mourning, must beryllium avoided. Don’t return retired nan rubbish and enactment distant from lending money: you will beryllium breaking your relationship pinch bully fortune, and it will beryllium flowing distant for nan remainder of nan year. And nary crying and arguments connected nan first day; it could mean conflicts passim nan year.

The week starring up to nan first time of nan caller twelvemonth will person been afloat of preparations: repast planning, dusting and cleaning. This Year of nan Fire Horse, according to Chinese metaphysics, is afloat of momentum and bold transformation, but besides unruly and combustible. The operation of nan equine zodiac animal and nan occurrence constituent is considered uncommon and intense. One of my friends commented that “it makes maine want to spell dishonesty down”.

When I was increasing up, during nan lunar phases of nan caller satellite and afloat moon, we had to eat vegetarian nutrient for nan time – a accepted believe successful Buddhist culture. The galore gods successful Chinese culture (the Goddess of Mercy, nan Goddess of nan Sea, nan Kitchen God are conscionable nan extremity of nan iceberg) punctual maine of Christian saints – St Francis of Assisi, nan patron saint of animals, nan environment, and ecology; St Jude is nan go-to for mislaid causes; and St Cecilia for euphony and musicians. There’s a deity for everything.

The Malaysian-born American comedian Ronny Chieng has a full stand-up section astir our obsession pinch nan “God of Money” (Caishen). When my relative moved into his caller house, he rolled a pineapple into nan location upon opening nan door, symbolising nan presence of prosperity and bully fortune. I person heard of immoderate group rolling a pineapple into each azygous area of their caller location – for nan fullest and astir thorough blessings, and besides because it’s conscionable rather funny.

Myths, history and legends are threaded into nan customs and stories passed down done nan generations. Asian children are told disconnected for pointing astatine nan satellite arsenic it’s disrespectful to constituent astatine nan Moon Goddess who lives there. Groceries must ne'er beryllium placed connected nan floor; they person to spell connected nan table. Not conscionable for hygiene reasons, but besides retired of respect for nan food. Of course, location is ever a symbolic meaning alongside these commonsense practices. Putting nutrient connected nan level is interpreted arsenic treating blessings carelessly, which is believed to bring bad luck. The Kitchen God is ever watching.

It was while idly scrolling done Instagram that I was stopped short by a station that seemed to cognize each these things astir me. “So you want to beryllium much Chinese, present are nan 10 things you request to know”. Why was it asking maine to beryllium Chinese? I americium Chinese! Yes, I do each of nan things successful nan station and more. After immoderate rooting around, I was introduced to nan caller inclination for Chinamaxxing – group who are now declaring themselves to beryllium astatine a very Chinese clip successful their lives.

At first, I wasn’t judge if it was racism aliases taste appropriation. But Chinamaxxing does, successful truth, look to beryllium a ceremony of Chinese culture alternatively than a criticism. Sherry Zhu, a Chinese-American TikTok contented creator, was influential successful popularising nan trend. Laugh-out-loud memes, informative posts astir accepted Chinese medicine (TCM), absurdist humour – 5,000 years of Chinese civilization successful a meme – possibly 8,000 years if this archaeologist is proved right. How unthinkable is that?

When my Chinese family and friends sojourn america successful London, they ever susurration and inquire maine for a solid of lukewarm water, for illustration it’s a soiled secret. Thanks to Chinamaxxing, everyone and their pekinese are now good alert of nan benefits of lukewarm water. Irrationally, I now consciousness self-conscious erstwhile I’m drinking lukewarm water. Even erstwhile I’m each unsocial successful nan kitchen.

My improvement into a full-blown Chinese auntie, however, has been gradual. When I deed perimenopause, I turned to utilizing dong quai (also known arsenic female ginseng) to thief maine done encephalon fog and basking flushes. Remembering nan contented exchanged betwixt my grandmother, mother and aunties, I started to move my Chinese wave to maximum. My postulation of medicated lipid expanded. To my lone tiger balm ointment, I person now added Axe marque cosmopolitan oil, reddish flower oil, and nutmeg oil. In Chinese medicine, location is an lipid for each ailment. And yes, I do abide by nan adage that if it still hurts, past conscionable use more.

For each fully-fledged middle-aged Chinese aunties, nutrient and wellness are 1 and nan same. Food contains energetic properties, and nan yin-yang bodily equilibrium must beryllium maintained. Cucumber is cooling. Fried nutrient is heaty. Rice goes pinch everything, and for breakfast, luncheon and dinner. Generic agelong atom grain tastes of nothing, but fragrant jasmine rice? Now that is nan king of rice.

Food is cardinal to Chinese culture, and it’s often connected our minds. When nan post-apocalyptic bid The Last of Us was connected air, and group reeled from nan Cordyceps fungus that turned humans into convulsive creatures, my contiguous thought was, “Eat nan cordyceps, goddamit! They’re really tasty successful a herbal soup.” Cordyceps is simply a highly prized accepted Chinese medicine.

In much than 25 years of surviving successful London, it hasn’t ever been easy to unrecorded my Chinese personality nether nan Western gaze. So it’s liberating to spot Gen-Zers embracing Chinese culture, their curiosity and liking encouraging maine to unrecorded my afloat Chinese-ness successful wide daylight. Hopefully, Chinamaxxing is much than conscionable a fad and will past beyond nan Year of nan Fire Horse. I want group to observe nan richness of Chinese history, civilization and diaspora.

Some of my Chinese auntie ways are circumstantial to my Straits-Chinese heritage, and each Westerner indulging successful a spot of Chinamaxxing coming should cognize we aren’t 1 amorphous mass; we travel from different dialect groups, person different customs and food. My ancestors came from Hong Kong Island, Kinmen Island successful Taiwan and Fujian region successful China. In nan 18th century, they ended up successful Singapore and Indonesia for endurance and trade. Even though they assimilated into nan section Malay communities, they kept live their Chinese traditions, connection and culture.

If there’s 1 point to return distant from each of this Chinese flexing, it is really migrant groups tin successfully merge and toggle shape wrong a big civilization without ever losing their ancestral soul. I americium each for everyone getting to cognize Chinese civilization and appreciating its breadth and nuance. Perhaps nan occurrence equine will thrust america into a gyration of multiculturalism, pinch coexisting taste identities wrong societies. It mightiness happen. As agelong arsenic we don’t trim our hair.