Ａ Ｃｏｍｐａｒａｔｉｖｅ Ｓｔｕｄｙ ｏｆ Ｓｐｒｉｎｇ Ｆｅｓｔｉｖａｌ ａｎｄ Ｃｈｒｉｓｔｍａｓ

1.Introduction

Every society regulates its people’s living rhythm and pattern with a timeframe of certain cultural significance. The festival is a forceful means dividing the continuous and dull passage of time. By observing festivals， people try to weaken some mysterious disturbance and fear， and to strengthen normal order of nature and society(Chen， 2000:333). Every nation has its traditional festivals. Different festivals have different celebrating ceremonies， different diets， different entertainments， different offers of sacrifices to god or ancestors， and so forth， which transmit different nation’s respective cultural connotations(Ju et al， 2001).

Spring Festival is to the Chinese what Christmas is to the people of English-speaking countries. The Spring Festival， from the eve of lunar January to the lantern festival 15th of lunar January， is the most important festival for the Chinese people featuring bidding farewell to the outgoing year and making wishes for the New Year. It is a big occasion for family reunion. However， Christmas， beginning from December 24， and ending on Jan. 6， is the most significant festival in English-speaking countries， commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Church attendance on Christmas is much higher than at any other time of the year (Childs et al. 1999:156). The two festivals are rich in cultural ferments but different in many aspects. This paper presents a comparative study of the Chinese Spring Festival and Christmas， especially in Britain and America， with the aim to understanding the two festivals in deeper level and from a new perspective.

2.Comparison and contrast of Spring Festival and Christmas

2.1 The origins of Spring Festival and Christmas

Spring Festival originated from the Yin Dynasty(1600 B.C.)， and is also called “Guo Nian”. The word “Guo” in Chinese has both the meaning of “pass-over” and “observe”. The word “Nian”，which in modern Chinese solely means“year”， was originally the name of a monster that started to prey on people in the night before the beginning of a new year. There is a legend about“Nian”， monster with antennae， which was very rude and lived at the bottom of the sea. It went ashore on lunar New Year’s Eve to devour people and animals. People were scared of it. On every lunar New Year’s Eve， in order to keep themselves safe， people fled to the mountains， bringing along the old and the young. Now， people observe it for abolishing the old year to welcome the New Year.

Christmas， as is generally accepted， started from 336 A.D. The name Christmas is short for “Christ’s Mass”. A Mass is a kind of Church service. Christmas is a religious festival， observed as an anniversary of the birthday of Jesus， but the religious aspect is almost lost to the lay world amidst all the commercialization and human excitement of it.

2.2 Greeting cards

Greeting cards are like messengers transmitting wishes and blessings. The Chinese people are more practical， attaching little importance to cards， they send greeting cards to relatives or friends， but not so many as the people of English-speaking countries do， some British people send hundreds of cards for each Christmas. Besides， after appreciating the greeting cards， the Chinese tend to put them in drawers or just throw them away. However， the British who have a high regard for greeting cards， set them upright and wide-open on tea tables or decoration counters， regarding them as Christmas decorations and put them away after the 12th day of Christmas. Americans also have a high regard for greeting cards as the British do， but they keep these card exhibitions as long as they want. However， they are used to taking the cards away before Valentines’ Day.

2.3 Decorations

For Spring Festival， people put up spring couplets on doors and New Year’s paintings on walls. A typical spring couplet is “Spring wind， spring rain and spring flowers; New year， new age and new scenes”，which indicates Chinese people’s love for spring and their wish for everything new. A typical New Year painting is a big Chinese character “?！?(meaning “happiness”) put upside down， indicating that happiness is coming. And all these are kept during the year， the longer， the more fortunate.

For Christmas， the best decorations are Christmas trees， usually spruces or fir trees， representing spring， placed in town squares， outside churches， in university libraries， stores， hotels， restaurants and in many homes， with colored lights and with a large star or an angel at the top. The Christmas tree is a reminder that winter will eventually pass and life will once again be born anew-green and vibrant. People decorate their houses with holly， mistletoe， candles and colored paper chains or lanterns. In Britain， the decorations have to be removed after the 12th day indicating the end of Christmas. It is believed if the decorations were kept longer， there might be misfortune. (It was reported that 90% of Christmas decorations in international markets are made in China. Every year， China gains $ 1.5 billion by exporting Christmas decorations. During President Clinton’s reign， the Christmas trees in the White House were manufactured in Shenzhen， China.)

2.4 Mascots

For Spring Festival， each year has a different mascot， one of the 12 symbolic animals representing the 12 Earthly branches and associated with a 12-year circle， used to denote the year of a person’s birth(the 12 animals are: rat， ox， tiger， hare， dragon， snake， horse， sheep， monkey， cock， dog and hog). Everyone has his/her symbolic animal as mascot every 12 years， fully revealing fairness and reasonableness.

But typical Christmas mascot is Santa Claus， usually represented as a jolly fat old man with white beard and in red suit， assumed to run down chimneys and bring children presents after they are asleep. This reflects the Christmas spirit—giving presents， especially to children.

2.5 New Year’s Eve feast and Christmas Eve feast

Both New Year’s Eve feast and Christmas Eve feast are big occasions for family reunion. The New Year’s Eve feast is the most important and sumptuous one during the season， featuring meatballs(symbolizing family reunion)， fish (symbolizing abundance)， sweet dishes (symbolizing happiness) and dumplings(symbolizing fortune). Nevertheless， Christmas meal features turkey or goose， followed by Christmas pudding soaked in brandy and set alight. The table is specially decorated， usually with Christmas crackers， containing paper hats and riddles. Before eating， people pull crackers， put the hats on heads and tell jokes to each other.

2.6 Present-giving

The custom of giving presents to one’s family members and friends is a very pleasant one as long as one remembers that it is the spirit behind the gift that matters most， but not the gift itself(Yu， 2000:150). For Spring Festival， the Chinese people usually give children yasuiqian (money indicating that the child has gained one year in age)， as little as one hundred， and as much as one thousand or even more， indicating that children have gained another year and that they will be healthy and happy in the new year. As far as presents to relatives or friends are concerned， the Chinese usually send expensive high-quality nourishments embodying their priority to diet. Nevertheless， the British and the Americans tend to give children things instead of cash， as small as a box of chocolates， or as big as bikes or checks for cars. The British， who love nature more， like to send natural flowers or plants to relatives and friends to beautify their houses.

2.7 Sacrificial rites

The Chinese people have deeply rooted family concepts， so Spring Festival sacrificial rites are usually family-oriented and they offer sacrifices to ancestors and Buddha. By recalling the moralities of the ancestors and the blessing of gods， the Chinese pray for blessing and happiness for their family members. Christmas services are characterized by social consciousness， and the Christmas pray is not only for specific individual’s or family’s happiness or health， but for expressing thanks to God and praying for all the people. This can be seen from the Christmas Pray at Nottingham University (of the U.K.) Christmas carol service(Dec， 2002):

We pray for peace on earth and good will amongst all people.

We pray for presidents， prime ministers and those in authority in governments.

We pray for the poor， the hungry， the homeless， the oppressed.

We pray for orphans， asylum seekers and refugees.

We pray for those who are sick or who mourn the loss of loved ones.

We pray for those who are apart from friends and family， including international students at our university.

We pray for colleagues or friends who may be struggling for some reason and cannot share our joy this Christmas.

We pray for those who do not know the Lord Jesus.

We pray for our world， our countries， this city and our university

2.8 Blessings and wishes from government leaders

Chinese Central Government leaders are close to ordinary people. During Spring Festival， they express regards to common people either at celebrating ceremonies or at working sites. In Britain on Christmas Day at 15:00 p.m.， the Queen gives her Christmas message to her realm over the television or radio for 5 minutes. She usually talks about the year that has passed， expresses her hopes for the future， and also declares her stand. For example， in 2002， the Queen ended her Christmas message with the words “…I live my life to do what is right. I put my trust in God.” But in America， since there are a lot of religions， if the president gives a public statement at Christmas， people like Jewish and Muslin will be offended. However， on Christmas Eve， the President and his wife go out of the White House to light on the Christmas tree and the light is on till the New Year.

2.9 Stores and public transportation

On Spring Festival day， stores are open and always crowded， people either buy things or go window-shopping. And there is extra public transportation to meet people’s needs. However， in Britain on Christmas Day， all the stores are closed and there is no public transportation; in America， though all the stores are closed on Christmas day， public transportation is active， there is much heavier public traffic on that day than usual since many people who have no car will take public transportation to church for worship.

2.10 Emotions affected by the festival atmosphere

In the cheerful and merry Spring Festival atmosphere， even those who have family problems or psychological problems can， to some extent， enjoy themselves and some even get their problems solved through the lively festival atmosphere. Whereas， in Britain and America， to those who have family problems and psychological problems， the lively Christmas atmosphere sharpens their problems. That’s why the rates of crime and suicide increase during Christmas.

2.11 Festival taboos

The Spring Festival taboos can’t be neglected. The Chinese is not a superstitious nation， but the Spring Festival taboos exist， especially among old people and in rural areas. On the Spring Festival Day， it is impropriate for people to say such unlucky words as:po(broken)， huai(bad)， si(death)， gui(ghost)， sha(kill)， bing(ill)， shu(loss or be defeated). When carrying easy-broken things such as glass， bowls， plates， people should be extremely cautious. Breaking things would be indicative of bad luck ahead. Rice barrels shoud be full to indicate abundance in the New Year. Creditors should not ask debtors for the return of the money; otherwise， they would be unfortunate all the year round. People should not take medicines; otherwise， it is believed that they would be ill the whole year. Yet， on Christmas Day， there is no taboo such as these in the Chinese Spring Festival. But in the United States， there is now a new official rule: in order to show more democracy in the U.S.， the expression of “Christmas season” in government offices has been changed to “holiday season” because many people are not Christian.

3.Conclusion

Every nation abserves its festivals in its unique ways. While the Spring Festival and Christmas differ in many aspects， transmitting different cultural connotations， such differences are neither superior nor inferior to each other. This comparative study of the Spring Festival and Christmas contributes significantly to the understanding of the two festivals and their cultural connotations.

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Chen Shulu. Well-rounded Argument for Chinese Culture. Nanjing: Nanjing Normal University Press. 2000:333

Childs Peter， Mike Storry. Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London and New York. 1999:156

Ju Yushi， Zhai Mingan. Symbolic Culture of China. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Press. 2001.

Yu Zhiyuan. Survey of English-speaking Countries. Beijing:Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning Press. 2000:150

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Nottingham University (of the U.K.)Christmas carol service:Dec，2002