Xian Nian Fai Lok! Happy Chinese New Year!
Today is one of my favorite days of the year. A day of prosperity and wealth, and a genuine feeling of new beginnings. Chinese New Year is when I truly feel like a new page has turned.
This holiday is a pivotal part of my culture, and it’s become a trend online. I’ve seen so many “I’m in a very Chinese time of my life” videos and posts about people integrating Chinese practices into their lives, and it irks me. Trust, I am all for cultural appreciation, like the way my friends wish me a happy new year and ask about my traditions to celebrate with me, but at the same time, I want to gate-keep my culture.
It’s easy to participate in a holiday that comes once a year and signifies good luck and prosperity. It’s palatable to a Western audience, and it makes them feel good about themselves and the possibility of individualistic good fortune. But what about the other 364 days of the year?
Do they even know why each “rule” or tradition exists? Do they understand the meaning of what they are celebrating? Or even the fact that various Asians cultures celebrate the new year in different ways?
I struggle with deciphering the line between appreciation for my culture and appropriation. A non-Muslim person wouldn’t celebrate Ramadan on their own, and a non-Jewish person wouldn’t celebrate Hanukkah, so why do we cherry-pick cultural holidays to celebrate and not?
As a proud Chinese woman, descended from immigrants who paved the way for me to be a second-generation American with a future they worked to give me, I am happy to share my history within the bounds of understanding that others can turn off their “Chineseness” after today, and I cannot.
So, to any non-Asian person who is celebrating Chinese New Year or a different Asian new year holiday, appreciate the culture, educate yourself, and don’t forget that you are entering a space that is sacred, and it is your duty to take a back seat.