During the Chinese festivities associated with their New Year, a countless number of things exist, which the Chinese avail of, to bring fortune and joy for the coming year. With regard to the gala surrounding the spring festival, an extensive variety of foods are available that are recognized as happiness symbols.
It is widely acknowledged that this New Year of the Chinese people denotes merriment and is a festivity where all the family comes together and share some good times. To the Chinese, this occasion brings with it joy, fortune and well-being to each family member.
Obviously, the food, which is cooked, should be in harmony with the intention or goal, which the family is directed towards. Following is the list of mandatory food items at the time of the New Year festivity, which symbolize happiness:
1) The Hot Pot
This steaming hot pot, also called Chinese fondue, filled with vegetables, meat, and seafood is compulsory. The hot pot is considered to usher in fortune and growth.
2) The Fish
Especially the fish known as yu is a popular dish, which is regularly served at Chinese New Year festivities. The fish is supposed to represent profusion or excess. Generally, the fish is steamed and served on Chinese New Year eve for the get-together dinner. A further belief that is associated with the fish states that the bones, tail, and head should be retained in one piece when it is served.
3) The Shrimp
Now the shrimp is associated with welfare and joy for the beginning of the New Year of the Chinese people.
4) The Boiled Dumplings
Fashioned like gold bars, boiled dumplings are an essential item of Chinese New Year festivities. The dumplings signify the hour at which the New Year changes over. In the extreme north of China, these dumplings are stuffed with meat and consumed so as to fetch riches and good fortune during the coming year.
Occasionally a coin is inserted into a few dumplings and there is this belief that the individual who sinks his teeth into it will receive riches in the coming New Year. In addition, dumplings and yellow noodles when prepared in combination represent "golden filaments through gold bars". In Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, egg dumplings are attractively served and consumed, as they appear very similar to gold bars.
5) The Oyster
Wonderful tidings are what the oyster signifies. It is a common custom in the southern China, to serve oysters with rice noodles, which are very fine.
6) The Green Vegetables
These green vegetables signify strengthening of intimate family bonds because they denote closeness or intimacy.
7) Sticky Rice Cake
Made from rice flour and topped with red dates, the steamed cake is a sign of getting additional wealth and status for the forthcoming New Year of the Chinese.
8) The Noodles
Chinese noodles are forever linked with prolonged existence.
Is it not true that the Chinese lifestyle revolves around good luck? While some of us are not Chinese by faith or birth, there is no harm in pursuing the custom of serving these eatables as symbols of happiness for New Year. Now happiness cannot be wholly ascribed to fortune. It is just coming up with successful ways to attain happiness. However, you should in no way rely on these foods for finding happiness. They are simply but enrichments.
It is an old tradition to associate a symbol with happiness, and that Japanese way has kind of caught on in modern English society, or should we say American society. Over the years, our society has taken to Chinese and Japanese symbols to portray happiness. We often see household shelves portraying trinkets and statues of all kinds, and we barely give a second thought as to where they come from or as to what their origins are. We often dismiss them as just things people keep!
Signs and symbols have been a part of every society that man has known. Some may call them old fashioned or even prehistoric, while others take them seriously enough to put them up around their living area. The Japanese took their symbols very seriously and associated every emotion with one symbol, if not a combination of two or more. Now, we all know that wide spaces are associated with unending glory. But it is the Japanese who still give testimony to this by making their unfolding fans.
Maybe even the modern Japanese do not know this, but this is the story behind those Japanese fans. Taking things a little further, Japanese brides carry fans as a symbol of their undying capacity to make their husbands happy through out life. And when some Japanese gets a folding fan as a wedding gift, it only means that the person gifting it hopes for the undying love between the couple.
In this day and age we all know that it is not lifeless objects that can exuberate goodness. On the other hand, the beliefs that people have in these can very well make the world of difference in their lives. This is as simple of feeling positive when positive things are around you, or should we say, things you believe are positive.
On the contrary, the reverse is true for negativity. Especially when things are looking bad, an object that you believe is of goodness can make you feel positive and give you comfort in times of sorrow. Even in these fast paced days, people still remember to place a statue of the laughing Buddha on their desks or on the mantle pieces at home. Just one look at the smiling face is sometimes enough to make people realize that there is a higher power taking care of tem.
Another example of a symbol of happiness is the Lotus flower. This can give you peace and happiness in the most troubled situations. Why it happens is beyond what we are trying to say here in this article. The point is these symbols do succeed in giving us peace, if only sort lived.
Abhishek Agarwal has sinced written about articles on various topics from Surveys, Camping and Camping. Abhishek is a self-proclaimed Personality Development Guru and has written several books on this topic! Visit his website and Download. Abhishek Agarwal's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.