By Isabel Ovalle
The 6,000-plus Chinese residents in Doha got the opportunity to celebrate the Spring Festival here. Also known as the Chinese New Year, it is the most important festival for the Chinese, when all family members get together.
The origin of Spring Festival can be traced back thousands of years through a series of colourful legends and traditions. According to one of the most famous legends, there lived in ancient China a horned monster named Nian (Chinese word for year), who was extremely ferocious.
The monster lived at the bottom of the sea all year round and surfaced only on New Year’s Eve to devour cattle and kill people. Legend says that citizens always hid in their houses before sunset to escape the monster. Until one year, unexpectedly, an old man in red came to the village. Nian appeared as usual, but was flustered by something crackling: firecrackers set off by the old man.
Seeing the old man’s red clothes and hearing the crackling sound, Nian fled back to the sea. After that, people knew that the ogre was scared of the colour red and firecrackers. Ever since, on the eve of every new year, families have worn red, hung red lanterns, set off firecrackers and beat drums and gongs to scare Nian until the midnight has passed, and the monster has never returned to the shore again. Over time, this practice developed into a festival, finally becoming the most important celebration in China.
The festivities, which begin on the first day of the first lunar month, often a month after the Gregorian new year, started on February 10 this year. To mark the occasion, Qatar National Theatre hosted the show, ‘The Joy of Spring Festival 2013, Chinese Folk Songs and Dances’, last Wednesday and Thursday.
The show was presented by My Beautiful Land Folk Music Ensemble under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
This group was founded in 2002 by several folk musical instrument players of the Chongqing Opera House. The group mixed Chinese traditional folk instruments, like Erhu, lute, flute and cymbalo, with traditional and classical music in both modern and diversified styles.
In ten years of performances, they have toured more than 20 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, and given over 200 performances. They not only create original music and songs, but also adapt local classical music.
Founded in 1950, Chongqing Song and Dance Troupe is a comprehensive ensemble performing dance, vocal music, orchestral pieces and folk music. The troupe has created and performed music and dances with diverse themes and styles, including Chongqing styles.
The programme of the show included performances like the dance ‘Happy Time in Red’, female dance ‘Zhu Zhi Ci’, male solo ‘An Ode to Yangtze River’, group dance ‘Colorful Impressions of the Sichuan Opera’, and a Chinese folk song.
The other pieces were a solo dance, ‘Dream of a Young Girl’, which, in classic style, tells the story of a young girl dreaming about her lover, and bamboo flute solo ‘New Song for Herdsman’. The bamboo flute is an ancient musical instrument, and the newly composed piece describes the picturesque scenes on the Inner Mongolia plateau of China with a cordial tune and vivid melody, and introduces to the audience the lively and hardy herdsmen living on the plateau.
Other Spring Festival customs include a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck from the past year. The custom is an expression of the wish to put away old things to begin a new life. Just before the Spring Festival, every house gets a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new one. The Chinese also set off firecrackers and fireworks on the occasion.
On the first day of the lunar new year, everybody puts on their best clothes and pays ceremonial calls on their relatives and friends, wishing them luck in the coming year. Technology has changed the way the new year’s greetings are conveyed. Now it’s common for people to send greetings by telephone, email or text message.The Peninsula
