Customary/Ritual
Lunar Year Birthday
TY
Zoom
Novemnber 9, 2020
Informant Data:
TY is a senior at Dartmouth College, where she studies Computer Science. She is Chinese American and currently lives in Texas. She is an only child. She feels Americanized in many of her practices, though she is familiar with traditional Chinese rituals and customs largely through her parents, who often tell her about Chinese customs. Most of her family lives in China.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: The traditional Chinese calendar is lunar rather than solar. The Chinese zodiac classification system is based off this lunar calendar. Each year is assigned an animal and that animal’s associated attributes in a repeating 12-year cycle (ex: the year of the rabbit, the year of the rooster, etc.). The lunar year of one’s birth provides one with his animal and associated attributes, which are meant to represent one’s personality traits. Additionally, red is a color traditionally associated with good luck in Chinese culture, and noodles are a traditional food that symbolize longevity.
Social Context: TY learned of this tradition from her Chinese parents. Every 12 years, one’s birthday falls during the lunar year of their birth, which gives this birthday a special significance due to the importance of the lunar calendar and zodiac in Chinese culture. Celebrations for one’s lunar year birthday involve meals with one’s family and extended family. The focus for these celebrations is on family rather than friends. The 60th birthday has even bigger importance. This birthday is a major milestone because it is both a lunar birthday and the beginning of a new decade. This birthday celebrates the transition into older age, and the birthday person receives valuable presents.
Item:
This information is paraphrased from notes taken during TY’s Zoom interview.
During one’s lunar-year birthday, the birthday person wears red for good luck and eats noodles at a celebratory meal with family. The noodles symbolize good health and life as long as the noodle. Foods like sticky rice and bun pastries are also enjoyed at the celebration.
Naomi Meron, 21
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Fall 2020