While many UW-Madison students rang in the new year at midnight on Jan. 1, others had to wait to celebrate their new beginning with the Chinese New Year. University Staff hosted an event Thursday in honor of this holiday at Union South.
The Chinese New Year is the “longest, grandest and most important” holiday celebrated in the Chinese culture, according to Shuwen Li, a Chinese/English translator, interpreter and trainer.
Dating back four thousand years, the holiday—which lasts for fifteen days—honors the renewal of the Lunar calendar. This year’s festivities will begin on Jan. 28 and last until Feb. 11.
Li said each of the 15 days involves a unique activity or celebration. The purpose of the holiday is for families to spend time together and to honor ancestors and different gods.
“We have inherited a lot of customs and traditions from old times, but with the new generations, sometimes they evolve into something new, but the idea is the same,” Li said.
The event at Union South was the first official university-sponsored celebration of the holiday, according to Li. There she gave a presentation regarding the history and significance of the Chinese New Year in addition to food and music relevant to the holiday.
“We try to let other people who are not familiar with Chinese culture to get to know our Chinese culture so we can have a better understanding of each other, because we’re trying to promote diversity and inclusion on the whole campus,” Li said.
According to University Staff Secretary John Lease, the event was part of University Staff Shared Governance’s work in building awareness and sponsoring cultural events.
“University Staff, on campus, is the most diverse staff if you compare it to, say, the faculty and the academic staff, and so we thought it was an important outreach event to do,” Lease said.
Both Li and Lease were pleased with the success of the event. Lease said the turnout was “beyond expectations.”
“People are interested,” Li said. “They came here because they want to learn, they want to know about different cultures because we are all working in this whole community, and getting to know each other will promote its atmosphere that is inclusive and diverse.”
According to Lease, University Staff plans to continue sponsoring cultural events such as this. Previously, the group has hosted a Hmong New Year celebration, Black History Month events and plans to hold an African Liberation Day event in May.
