As Lunar New Year celebrations get under way around the world, Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu is hoping the Year of the Ox will bring us the strength and stability to get through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Lunar zodiac has a 12-year cycle, each represented by a different animal.
There is also a cycle of five elements – wood, fire, earth, metal and water – and when the two are combined, they create a 60-year cycle, with 2021 marking the Year of the Metal Ox.
Year of the Ox
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Mayor Chu said the ox stands for “strength and stability.”
“I am really hoping, as we come through this year, that we will hold strong and have the stability we need as well,” she said. “The Ox has always symbolised that.”
She said the celebrations mean different things to different people – with the Lunar New Year marked in a host of different Asian countries, as well as China.
“For some people, that would look at the zodiac more and put more weight on it, they would say each year means a different thing,” she said.
“So, there is the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the ram, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig and each year would symbolise something different for people.
“But all the celebrations would be the same each year. The same things you shouldn’t be doing and things you should be doing on the day – there are different traditions depending on where you are.”
The Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu at The O'Connell Plinth outside Dublin’s City Hall, 06-07-2020. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNewsIf the virus had never hit, last night would have seen families gathering for a “feast of around 12 dishes or so.”
“Even numbers of best, odd numbers are bad luck and the number four is definitely bad luck,” she said.
“The number sounds like the word for death in Chinese so we don’t like it being said on New Years Day. When I said there are some traditions of what you shouldn’t; do that is one of them
“You are not supposed to send out messages with anything to do with death on the day itself.
“You are also not meant to cut your hair today and you are not meant to sweep your house because apparently that sweeps all the fortune and the good luck away – so, those are things you definitely shouldn’t do.”
Tuán nián
Today meanwhile, would have seen families handing ‘lai see,’ which are red envelopes filled with treats or money, to their children.
“It is just to see family to be honest with you,” said Mayor Chu.
“There is a phrase we have called ‘tuán nián,’ which means reunion – which is what people do during Lunar New Year.
“They go back to their families or their friends and it is all about reuniting with them. We can’t do it this year but I am hoping next year there will be a bigger tuán nián.”
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