THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602180026
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A world away in far Cathay, Monday marks the New Year.
The day for many Asian countries begins the Year of the Rat, which will end Feb. 19, 1997, when the Year of the Ox arrives.
Asians in northeast North Carolina celebrate the day, too, although the ceremonies won't include parades and fireworks like they will in areas more popular with Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese.
The Lam family, for instance, will celebrate with a feast, with offspring coming home ``to pay their respects to the older people,'' said Richard Lam, owner of North China Express in Nags Head.
``We will have three generations together,'' said the 50-year-old restaurateur, who came to America in 1971 and has been on the Outer Banks for 10 years. ``Maybe there will be fish, and water dumplings.
``The older people will give `lucky money' presents in red boxes to the younger people for good luck.''
The new year, 4694 in ancient Chinese reckoning, starts one of the 60-year cycles that make up the traditional Chinese calendar. The cycles consist of five groups of 12 years, with each group bearing the repeating name of 12 different animals.
Between the Year of the Rat and the Year of the Pig in 2007, there will be the Year of the Ox, 1997; Tiger, 1998; Rabbit, 1999; Dragon, 2000; Snake, 2001; Horse, 2002; Sheep, 2003; Monkey, 2004; Rooster, 2005 and Dog, 2006.
Contrary to the belief of many Americans, the animal names of the years in a 12-year cycle are of no particular significance.
``They have no special meaning; they don't promise good fortune or otherwise,'' said Liming Gang, a press attache in the Republic of China's embassy in Washington.
Hsin Nien is the name of the four-day celebration that marks the New Year festival in China. Fireworks and a powerful form of rice whiskey phonetically called ``Ong-ga-pay'' are often plentiful in Hsin Nien rituals.
Vietnamese only need three days to observe Tet, their name for New Year. Koreans call it Suhl and they celebrate for three or four days, depending on where they are and how playful they feel.
``Japan and Malaysia and some of the other countries also celebrate the same day we do,'' said Lam, who grew up in Hong Kong.
Asians in the United States and in other foreign lands usually use the Occidental Gregorian calendar to keep track of their lives and to find out when to celebrate a new animal year. The prediction is based on a lunar calendar synchronized to sun time by addition of extra months at the proper times. Lunar time is based on a 29-day, 12-hour, 44.05-minute month. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Soo Linweng, 76, center, matriarch of the Lam family in Nags Head,
will be joined by three generations to celebrate the Chinese New
Year Monday.
by CNB