Chinese New Year
Originated from Africa
I would like to share with you a rather
interesting observation on the origins of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The origins seem to have started in Africa. Is that shocking to you? Just hang on and read on.
The mythology about the Chinese New Year has it
that on the New Year eve, a
monster called "Nian" lurks outside your house waiting to devour you
when you come out. That is why you are
supposed to stay at home and partake the "Family Reunion
Dinner". On the exterior doorposts you paste "Red Paper
with Words of Blessing" and a "Red Cloth over the lintel(upper frame)
to frighten Nian away, because Nian is fearful of red colour. Then at midnight, "Nian will pass
over" or go away from your house.
The people then come out of their house to celebrate the “passing over
of Nian” by praying to the God of Heaven and burning crackers. The crackers will frighten Nian further
away. The event of Nian passing over is
called "Guo Nian ", marks the beginning of the New Year.
Now if you go back to the Bible in the time of
Moses when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt; Moses was called by God to tell
the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go the desert to worship God. Each time the Pharaoh refused, God would
punish Pharaoh and the Egyptians by sending plagues. Finally God gave Pharaoh the ultimatum that
if Pharaoh refused one more time, God will send his angel of death to visit
Egypt at midnight and all the firstborn including the animals in Egypt would
die.
But God prescribed the antidote for the Israelites
with the following instructions:
1.
You are to stay indoor, kill a male lamb in each family and roast the
lamb and eat every part of it with bitter herb. (And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and
unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.) Ex:12:8
2.
The lamb’s blood is to be painted on the doorposts and the lintel, so
that when the angel of death visits Egypt at midnight and seeing the blood
painted doorposts and lintel, he will pass over your house and you and your
household will be saved.
(And they
shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper
door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.) Ex:12:7
3.
And it came to pass, that at
midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive
that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. Ex:12:29
4.
Tomorrow you will pack up your belongings and depart for the desert and
worship God. (We will go three days'
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall
command us.
And Pharaoh said, I
will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness;
only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.) Ex:8:27,28
Now can you see the parallel?
1.
The reunion dinner and the eating of the lamb in the house.
2.
The red paper and cloth and the lamb's blood on the door post and lintel.
3.
Nian passing over at midnight and the death angel passing over at
midnight.
4.
The Chinese came out to pray to the God of Heaven at midnight, while the
Israelites the following day left for the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD
God.
The Jewish Passover Feast is a celebration of
liberation from their slavery in Egypt.
There is a great possibility that the Chinese New Year was borrowed from
the Jewish Passover. And since the whole
story begun in Egypt and Egypt is in the African Continent, it follows that the
origins of the Chinese New Year is from Africa.
ChunJie and Passover
Spring Festival
The Chinese New
Year is known as ChunJie which means Spring Festival in Mandarin. But the New
Year usually takes place some time during late January or middle of February.
This year it falls on 23 January.
What I find
anomalous is that neither the end of January nor beginning of February is
anywhere near Spring, and yet it is called the Spring Festival. This year the
Passover is 6 April to 13 April. Could it be that the ‘Spring Festival’ term is
borrowed from the Jewish term, ‘Hag HaAviv’ meaning ‘the Spring Festival’,
which is the Passover.
And whilst the
Jewish Passover is celebrated beginning on the 15th day of the
month, the Chinese celebrate their New Year for 15 days, culminating with the
Lantern Festival. Again, the similarity of 15th and 15 days. Could
ancient communication suffered some distortions, when 15th day was mistaken
for 15 days?
Reference:
Passover has
several different names in the Torah. The name Hag HaAviv, “the
spring festival,” refers to the holiday's agricultural roots. The term Pesach
refers to the paschal offering on the fourteenth day of Nisan. The lamb
was eaten on the first night of the holiday, which today is the night of the
first seder. The term Hag HaMatzot, “the matzah festival,” refers
to the entire holiday during which leavened bread is not eaten.
Ex:12:18: In the first month, on the fourteenth
day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and
twentieth day of the month at even.
De:16:1: Observe the month of Abib, and keep the
passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought
thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Nu:9:11: The fourteenth day of the second month at
even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Nu:28:17: And in the fifteenth day of this month
is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
