JiaYing Grygiel – Special to The Seattle Times (thanks to Marilyn W.)
Jan. 1 has come and gone, but Lunar New Year is right around the corner, celebrated by some 2 billion people around the world.
The Year of the Snake begins Jan. 29. It’s the first time Lunar New Year is a legislatively recognized (though unpaid) holiday in Washington state, thanks to a bill signed into law last March.
State Rep. My-Linh Thai, D-Bellevue, a Vietnamese refugee, proposed the bill to recognize and celebrate the Asian American community. “During the pandemic, we took the biggest brunt of hate crimes and continued to be viewed as others, and not as part of the fabric of America,” she said.
Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, across Southeast Asia and anywhere there is a large diaspora community from those countries — like in Seattle. It goes by different names: Chūnjié (or Spring Festival) in China, Tết Nguyên Đán in Vietnam, Seollal in Korea.
For those of Korean heritage, “it’s also called the Korean Thanksgiving,” said Sara Upshaw, owner and head chef of Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe in Pioneer Square. “It’s the holiday you celebrate at home with family. A big part of it is paying respect to your elders, even ones that have passed. Everyone’s dressed up in hanbok. There’s a bowing ceremony for the younger people to the elders. And just like Thanksgiving, food is very important.”
Here are some things to know about Lunar New Year. And even if it’s a holiday you grew up celebrating, you might not know the reasons behind some of the traditions. (Guilty.) We reached out to cultural experts to find the answers.
