Chinese New Year 2012 in Flushing
Flushing Town Hall - Building Cultural Bridges
Click Chinese New Year in Flushing Queens 2013 for times & viewing locations
Flushing Town Hall presents many exhibits and programs, which nurture an environment of cross cultural understanding. They are also an important location for innovative theater performances, jazz, and world music, of which you can read more about by using the search function on this site.
One of the reasons for Flushing Town Hall's emergence as an Asian cultural center is that Flushing is the home to the largest Chinese community in New York, equaling – if not surpassing - Chinatown in Manhattan. And New York City is home to the largest Chinese community outside of China.
This year is 2012 AD in the western world, but to the Chinese this is the lunar year 4709 and the year of the lucky dragon. Steve Chen of Crystal Window & Door Systems in Flushing [current exhibit sponsors], speaks about the Antique Chinese Windows and Doors collection currently on exhibit at Flushing Town Hall.
Click here to read more about the upcoming Chinese New Year Parade 2012 in Flushing Queens and Chinese Culture.
Chinese New Year 2012 in Flushing
Continued. January 25, 2012 / Flushing / Ethnic & Religious Culture / Queens Buzz. I arrived at Flushing Town Hall in time to hear many of the remarks being given by a group of community leaders about the Chinese New Year 2012. The speakers included representatives of several Chinese and Korean community / business groups, as well as a Korean musician and a Chinese master of calligraphy and other ancient Chinese arts.
Ellen Kodadek, Executive and Artistic Director of Flushing Town Hall, opened the ceremony by greeting everyone and commenting on the lucky year of the Dragon, as well as the exhibits and events that the Flushing Town Hall will be presenting over the next month.
Flushing Town Hall Celebrates the Year of the Dragon 4709
Steve Chen, of Crystal Window and Door Systems, [see photo in the story introduction] spoke about the age of the items included in the exhibit, which date back between a hundred years to hundreds of years ago. The doors pre-date modern manufacturing processes and are hand carved, and hence unique. The ornamentation on the doors depicts animals as well as patterns from everyday life at the time.
This is the Year of the Lucky Dragon - Chinese New Year 2012
Steve Chen had previously shared an anedote with us, to highlight cultural misunderstandings. On a recent trip to China, he had asked a representative what her birth sign was. She didn't answer, which left him wondering why. He later found out that it's impolite to ask such a question in Chinese culture, because by knowing somebody's birth sign, one can generally figure out how old they are. Following this event, I did a bit of research into the Chinese birth signs and found that the twelve Chinese birth signs appear to share some similarities to the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Each birth sign exhibits certain personality characteristics and is associated with another living creature.
Feng-shui, Taoism, Yin Yang - Cultural Elements of Current Exhibit
The Flushing Town Hall Master Teaching Artist, Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou, gave a brief talk about some of the meaning inherent in the windows and doors on display. He talked
Historically Lao Tzu is attributed to have started the Tao philosophy / religion, which is believed to have originated as a core body of knowledge about 2400 to 2600 years ago. In Taoism, it is important to be aware of the positive and negative energy forces in life in order to live in harmony with nature. It's also worth noting, as a point of reference, that about 100 years ago, western science discovered / proved that the energy foundation of the planet, is based upon electrons and protons, which are negatively and positively charged particles.
Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou went on to tell us that each of the ornaments on the windows and doors contained signficance [see photo]. The large one standing behind the podium signified luck. He then pointed to the panels hanging on
Fred Fu of the Flushing Development Center, talked about the importance of Flushing Town Hall as a cultural center to help foster an environment of understanding. And Ellen Kodadek returned to the podium to introduce Paul Yeon Lee, a Korean Flushing Town Hall resident composer.
Korean Culture In Flushing & Queens - Music & Dance
Meanwhile upstairs in the theater, a Korean dance group and a Korean drum group were performing for literally hundreds of school children. Included in the performance was a discussion about the history of dance and music in Korea. I caught a bit of the discussion which included talking about things like how to breathe while dancing.
Chinese Cultural Diffusion in Queens - Chinese Calligraphy & Tai Chi
Hsing-Lih told me about the history of calligraphy, which is an ancient Chinese writing system that originated about 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. The Chinese used to inscribe calligraphy on ox bones and turtle shells, so many of the early texts survived thousands of years and remain intact today. In comparing current calligraphy to ancient texts, the system remains relatively unchanged.
Chinese Culture In Queens - The I-Ching Book Of Changes
The hexagram symbols in the book chart [in the photo to your left], match the symbol in a section of the book which contains several paragraphs of ancient wisdom. The I-Ching is based on Taoism, yin and yang, but much of the commentary was written by the Confucianists and Neo-Confucianists. Generally the Confucianists didn't subscribe to the Tao system, but nonetheless are believed to have kept the teachings intact.
Chinese Culture - Taoism & Confucianism In Ancient China
Hsing-Lih told me that in ancient China when Confucius was asked about god, religion and the after-life, he responded,
"If you don't know how to live, why do you need to know what happens to you after you die?"
The Confucian Analects, which are the teachings of Confucius, instruct their readers about how to conduct themselves in this world. The analects include instruction with regard to discipline, ethics and studying hard.
Scholars were among the most revered people in ancient China, because obtaining a good education was expensive, which meant that someone invested in you. Scholars had to have many skills, including calligraphy, musical talent, poetry and teaching skills. Teachers were given great respect, and education was an important profession. When someone taught you well, I was told, "you respect them like a parent for the rest of your life".
Chinese New Year 2012 In Queens - The Lantern Festival
Hsing-Lih gave us a demonstration of calligraphy. He showed us the caligraphy for 'longevity' in the
As a last note, Hsing-Lih told us that celebration of the new year in ancient China used to go on for the first month of the new year. It ended with the Lantern Festival, which was the culmination of the new year celebration. The Lantern Festival was the only day during which children were allowed to use fire in ancient China. Today the celebration in China lasts two weeks. I can't confirm this as a fact, but I got the sense that the Lantern Festival, at least here in Flushing Queens, is celebrated more on a personal / family level than publicly.
The Flushing Town Hall has a web presence on this site which includes much of its events schedule for the remainder of the first half of the year. Click here to view a schedule of events in Flushing at Flushing Town Hall.
Speakers At Flushing Town Hall - Chinese New Year 2012
In the photo to your left are: Kyung Ha Lee, President of the Federation of Korean-American Association of Northeastern USA; Fred Fu, President of the Flushing Development Center; Paul Yeon Lee, Composer, Arranger & Conductor [and resident musician at Flushing Town Hall]; Peter Tu, Flushing Chinese Business Association; Veronica Tsang, Senior Vice President of the Cathay Pacific Bank. See photo to your left.
Ellen Kodadek, Executive & Artistic Director of Flushing Town Hall officiated the event [2nd from left in photo to right]. And Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou, the Master Teaching Artist at Flushing Town Hall, gave a brief talk on some of the meanings inherent in the windows and doors [see Hsing-Lih in the calligraphy photo above]. It's worth mentioning that Dr. Chou is also the Director of the NY Institute of Culture and the Arts and producer of the Dance Sampler at Flushing Town Hall.
Chinese New Year Parade 2012 in Flushing
Parade Route & Starting Time in Flushing Queens
The Chinese New Year Parade generally begins at Queens Crossing Mall Parking Lot and then winds its way south along Union Street. It turns west at Sanford Street and then winds its way back north up along Main Street ending between Queens Crossing and Northern Blvd.
The parade generally ends about two hours after it starts, although NYC cutbacks last year shortened the length of all parades, so we're not sure what to expect this year. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people marched in the parade last year, and we estimated that upwards of 10,000 people came out to see the parade. As this is Flushing, there's plenty of space to find a good viewing location so the kids can generally snatch a bit of the candy handed out by the marchers in the parade. Happy New Year 4709 - the lucky year of the dragon.
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