Although the Year of the Ox started off here with a ring (fire alarms at the JDUC) rather than a bang, the celebration hosted by five Chinese cultural clubs at Queen’s was a success. Sunday evening marked the first time that these associations had come together to create one large Chinese New Year event.
The traditional meaning behind the Year of the Ox indicates it’s an auspicious time for students. As our school encourages us to become strong leaders and citizens, the Ox represents prosperity through fortitude and hard work.
The Ox is intelligent, self-motivated, and has many friends–President Barack Obama was born in the Year of the Ox, and he’s been doing pretty well so far this year.
The festivities held at Queen’s were the result of much Ox-like effort on the part of the organizers. Carrol Zhou, ArtSci ’11 and one of the evening’s hosts, stressed that the celebration was about togetherness.
“In previous years, the clubs would all hold separate events,” she said “We worried that students wouldn’t know which one to choose.” She mentioned that next year they would be merging into one united association for both graduate and undergraduate students.
The sheer size of the event and the contributing clubs was a reflection of the importance of Chinese culture in the Queen’s community. Zhou said people outside the university often underestimate the presence of Chinese students.
“We may be about 13 per cent of the population, which is smaller than at other schools, but we are definitely playing a role here,” she said. With the four emcees speaking in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, the event was clearly focused on inclusivity.
Zhou said another goal for the evening was to provide a homey atmosphere for students, “because Queen’s itself is like one big family.” This was an especially important concern because Chinese New Year is traditionally celebrated at home with relatives.
“We tried to make it welcoming by preparing foods from many different regions of China,” she said, adding that dishes from varying locales are not often found in restaurants in Kingston. They also re-interpreted the Chinese tradition of giving monetary gifts in red packets by holding a raffle with door prizes.
Many students chose to celebrate the occasion in red clothing. The tradition of wearing red comes from the mythology behind the holiday. According to tradition, a beast called Nian would appear in villages in the New Year to feast on crops, livestock and even humans. When he was scared off by a child wearing red, people realized Nian was afraid of the colour, and it has remained a central aspect of Chinese New Year ever since.
For the Queen’s celebration, Wallace Hall was converted into a banquet area where over 130 guests came to enjoy a buffet dinner and a variety of entertainment.
The evening started off with a traditional Lion Dance by martial artists from Grizzly’s Gym, who provide the service for all the Chinese New Year Celebrations in the Kingston area. Other presentations included a performance by Queen’s Break Dance Crew, an origami lesson on creating a paper Ox’s head and some outstanding musical and dancing performances by students.
Even though he’s studying away from his family in China, Yuan Li, ArtSci ’09, said he felt the event captured the spirit of the holiday.
“Of the three years that I’ve been here, this celebration was the best,” he said. “It was really well organized, the food was delicious, and the collaboration between the clubs was a marvel. They did a really good job.”
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