Gung hay fat choy

Chinese New Year, which was celebrated in February, is a time food and family.

The first day of the 15-day holiday traditionally begins with the serving of fruits, melons and vegetables to the immediate family, explained Janice Soohoo Nall, a member of the Yuba-Sutter Chinese community.

She said tradition requires that all cutting must be completed before the big day, so that the good luck isn't cut away.

To help illustrate Chinese food traditions, Janice was kind enough to put together a beautiful still life for me to photograph for this story. In it, she placed a variety of fresh and candied fruits on round plates in front of a backdrop with a painting of a crane, which symbolizes peace, hope, healing, longevity and good luck.

Each of the traditional foods Janice displayed has its own special meaning to help bring the new year in on a positive note. Many of those meanings have to do with having abundant children, good health, good luck and prosperity, she said.

The items and their meanings include:

Pomelo: Abundance, prosperity

Oranges: Wealth

Tangerines: Luck

Lotus seeds (or any seed item): Abundant children and male offspring

Flowers: Rebirth and new growth

Candied melon: Health and growth

Coconut: Togetherness

Water chestnut: Unity

Ginger: Success

Lucky money candy: Give good-luck gifts

"China had been an agricultural nation until the last few years, and it was important to have a large family because children were part of the family's workforce," Janice said. She added that's one reason why a new bride becomes part of her husband's family — so that she and her children add to his family's ability to farm.

Not only do the foods have meanings, the number of items are also important, Janice said.

The tradition of tying a meaning to a food or number often hinges on words that sound similar.

"Typically, families do eight or nine dishes, because they are lucky numbers," explained Grace Young, author of "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen." "The Chinese word for eight is baat (in Cantonese), which rhymes with faat, the word for prosperity."

"A lot of the foods are very symbolic," said Daria Ng, assistant curator of education at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas. She explained that some of the popular foods include dumplings, "because they look like golden nuggets," and oranges, "because they are perfectly round, symbolizing completeness and wholeness."

Symbolism is also shown in the way food is presented. Janice said food is served in either a round or octagonal box, because that shape symbolizes family and unity.

Janice said the number eight is important because its Chinese word ("ba") sounds similar to the word for luck ("fa"), which is also the Cantonese word for "prosperity," "making money" and "good fortune." The numeral itself (8) has a smooth shape and looks like the symbol of infinity (which is associated with immortality and longevity).

The number nine, she explained, is also a good number because its sound in Chinese ("jui") is similar to the word for longevity. The Chinese consider nine the luckiest number because they believe all odd numbers are of divine origin, and nine is the highest single-digit odd number.

Janice presented her candied fruits in an octagonal dish divided into nine sections.

Chinese New Year celebrations date back to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-25 C.E.) and originated as end-of-harvest celebrations, when people offer thanks to gods for good harvests and a plea for a good crop in the coming year, according to About.com.

Janice, who was born and raised in the Yuba-Sutter area, said that while she doesn't necessarily believe in all of the folklore behind the numbers or the foods, she is proud of her Chinese heritage and wants to honor those beliefs and traditions.

So, I wish you each of you Gung hay fat choy (may you become prosperous) and Sun nien fai lok (happy new year).

CONTACT reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhollis@appealdemocrat.com.