When I was younger, I attended a Chinese school from kindergarten through 9th grade. Part of the curriculum was learning about Chinese culture, traditions, and festivals. We would take listening exams in which some of the questions asked: What day is the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated on? What traditions are done on this day? What is the history and meaning of this festival?
While I studied and memorized the facts about my heritage, at home, we would also celebrate these festivals in different ways. On Lunar New Year, my family would usually eat hot pot or have a big meal at a Chinese restaurant with family-style dishes. My parents would give us red envelopes. With my Chinese dance group and at Chinese school, we would have big gatherings to celebrate and eat, wear traditional clothing, and make related arts and crafts. For the Dragon Boat Festival, my dance group would always perform at a dragon boat racing event in Rhode Island, and I would eat sticky rice with family.
Celebrating these festivals with my family and community while studying my heritage and these traditions academically was a parallel that made me consider the nature of tradition. Although we are in America, where these festivals are not nearly as celebrated as where my parents grew up, I still find it meaningful to participate in these traditions. How come? These festivals seemed so distant, only widely recognized on the other side of the world. Sometimes, it felt almost like I was just performing these actions as I studied them on paper.
This last week was the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of Chinese New Year. Usually, my family will cook and eat tangyuan together to celebrate. But because I am on campus, I couldn’t go home to celebrate with my family, and I didn’t even know which day that it fell on. So when my mother texted me that I should eat tangyuan that night, I initially had no plans to celebrate. I considered staying in, but, it just didn’t feel right to not celebrate. I would be sitting in my dorm, doing homework, while my parents celebrated back at home. So, I dropped the rest of the day’s plans to go to Chinatown, buy tangyuan, and made plans with a friend to eat them together.
As I continue to learn about my roots and participate in traditions, I am starting to understand that culture can be something that we actively choose to take part in as well. It isn’t just something that I was given, or had to be born with. I am not “performing” culture, and rather, I choose to learn about it and incorporate it into my life. Traditions are just simply traditions, and none of us really have a reason to continue them, but they bring a sense of unity, familiarity, and comfort. It helps me feel more connected with my identity and my heritage. And as I grow up, they become a way for me to connect with others of the same heritage as well!
