Editor’s note: Vanessa Hua Author of the forthcoming novel “forbidden city,” and “Fraud and other possibilities” and “star river” He is a former columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and has written for many publications about Asia and the diaspora. The opinions expressed here are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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According to tradition, on Lunar New Year, you have to dress up with new clothes from inner to outer layer. If they are an auspicious red, all the better. You can never have too much luck.
But when you turn 12 – 24, 36, 48, 60 and so on – the ritual lengthens: red underwear every day of that lunar calendar year.
When I first heard about the practice years ago, I dismissed it as nonsense. It also seemed extravagant to buy so many pairs in a bright color under light clothes. My pragmatic immigrant Chinese parents, an engineer and scientist, did not pass this tradition on to their children.
In the eastern suburbs of San Francisco, our family ate symbolic meals—such as noodles for longevity and a generous serving of fish—and elders stuffed new bills in shiny red envelopes. We cut our hair and cleaned the house, swept away the old, and embarked on prosperity like millions of people around the world.
Adding another superstition seemed like a hassle I could do without. But as I approach the “Year of the Rabbit” for my fourth time turning the wheel, which dawns on Sunday – known as the “Ben Ming Nian” or Threshold Year – I’m reflecting on the milestones of that past gap: puberty at 12, puberty at 24. Moving across the country for a job and having my twins at 36.
Famous bunnies include football phenoms Lionel Messi, actress Kate Winslet and director Quentin Tarantino. Your sign is based on your birth date and year, the 12 lunar zodiac animals that move in a cycle.
Concerns have grown over what is shaping up to be another year of uncertainty, transition and change A looming recessionContinuous epidemics and Anti-Asian hatred — talismans take on a greater urgency. Heaven and Earth are in turmoil, and so to save my family, I want all the help I can get.
According to Google Trends, “Searches forRed underwear is Chinese New Year” usually increases in the weeks leading up to the holidays. It is one of the most important celebrations in China, Vietnam (as Tết), South and North Korea (as Seollal), Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Asian diaspora.
For the New Year, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba offers a large selection of red colors High waist granny panties And boxer briefs wrapped in gold letters for luck and wealth. Shopee, an online retailer from Southeast Asia and Taiwan, sells boxers featuring smiling rabbits dressed in traditional clothing and surrounded by golden toes.
The gods are so distracted by red that they forget to strike you, Chinese American astrologer Alice is the sparkly cat explained
The more I looked into the practice, the more I realized the extent of its popularity.
On Twitter, Ana Alouette, A Virtual YouTuberrecently ask for Advice for relatives born in the year of the rabbit.
Her fans enthusiastically suggested wearing red underwear, socks and string bracelets. “People in my house have to wear red underwear year round,” wrote one. Another added, “Not a big fan of red underwear. But my mother always insisted me to wear it.”
Posts on Facebook, TikTok, Reddit and elsewhere on social media refer to this practice across the diaspora.
In fact, if you choose any year of your life, surely you can find moments of grace and adversity. In the last few weeks – before the rabbit has come out of its hole – I’ve had a dental crown come out of my mouth, and thieves have made off with my car’s catalytic converter, proof that an accident could happen at any time.
And yet, after a broken engagement at age 24 and deep misfortune at age 36, the author Christine H. Lee In her 48th year, decided to wear a pair of red underwear every day in 2021.
“Every day I wear them makes me aware of the sensitivity of that year; I’ve heard that it can be bad, but it can also bring solutions,” says Lee, a Korean American writer of memoirs.Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember“Putting them on has forced me to do a small meditation every day and has empowered me.”
Compared to typical New Year’s resolutions — exercise more, eat healthier — this one appeals to me because it focuses on what I can control while acknowledging what I can’t.
Eastern and Western concepts of the 12-year cycle — though both are based on the length of Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun — differ, Sparkly Cat says.
In the lunar zodiac, you take precautions every dozen years. “It’s a disastrous year if you don’t check yourself and hide yourself from power,” says its authorPostcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets Through Capital, Power and Labour”
In contrast, Western astrology’s “Jupiter returns” are times of transition in various life stages. “A sense of growth,” said Sparkly Cat. “You’re growing up. It can be confusing when you’re in the middle of it.”
As an American-born Chinese, I have always adopted and adapted what resonates from the diaspora and my birthplace.
At 48, Joanne Kong, president of New York City’s venerable Pearl River Mart, told me she feels more confident than ever, ready to tackle whatever comes her way. me too
Even now, the fellow bunny plans to outfit himself with red underwear — which his store will sell in addition to red socks, belts, bracelets, earrings, nail polish and more. holiday.
“At this point in my life, I’m a little more superstitious,” said Kong, who is Chinese American. “It doesn’t hurt, and it’s nice to hold on to your culture. And the underwear thing is a fun and festive thing to do.”
Many in Italy And spain Can agree: On December 31, believers wear red for luck and love in the year ahead.
It makes me happy to see that marking time and setting intentions with a ritual transcends cultures and borders.
Logically, I know it doesn’t matter whether I wear red or not, but we often live at odds with logic. For me — for now — this shared heritage is solidifying, connecting me to the diaspora. (Though in a weird technicality, you’re not supposed to buy your own underwear, so a friend and my husband provided me with different styles in solids, stripes, and heart-shaped polka dots.)
My twin boys – who were also born under the sign of the Rabbit – turned 12 this year. What they want to take from their heritage is up to them. Together, we are on the same journey of cyclical change.
So often, life boils down to scrambling to catch the school bus, or scrambling to meet deadlines at work. Days turned into weeks, months, years, and suddenly a dozen years passed. My newborns have turned into tweens and I’ve changed so much from middle age to now.
As the Lunar New Year begins, I value an opportunity to reflect on my past struggles and how I found a way.
It’s a mindset we can all benefit from in 2023.
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