More than 150 students welcomed the “year of the tiger” on Thursday at San Jose State’s 7th Street Plaza by enjoying colorful boba drinks and watching cultural performances.
The year of the tiger refers to the Chinese zodiac calendar which assigns a new animal to each year, according to a February 2 CNN travel article. Although the Chinese zodiac assigns the year’s animal, Lunar New Year (sometimes called Chinese New Year) is celebrated by many Asian cultures on different days annually and lasts up to 15 days, according to a Dec. 1, 2021 Britannica article.
Christopher Yang, director of the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center said Lunar New Year is an important holiday for many Asian cultures.
“It symbolizes the passing of the New Year, it symbolizes new birth, the restoration of crops, being able to feed your community, being able to take care of your community,” he said.
The SJSU celebration was co-hosted by the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Task Force (APID/A) and Associated Students.
The SJSU APID/A Task Force is a campus group dedicated to supporting Asian, Pacific Islanders and Desi American students, according to their Instagram biography.
Once students walking down 7th Street Plaza noticed the free boba tea, a long line formed as speakers greeted them and informed them of the Lunar New Year celebration that began at 4 p.m.
Yang said SJSU APID/A Task Force wanted to receive feedback from the community about student needs through a survey.
A survey, which was a QR code posted on the table by the free boba, was used by the APID/A Task Force to gather information about students’ backgrounds and needs so they can host similar events and find an answer to the age-old question “should dragons have legs?”
One hope is that with more information about what students want to see, APID/A can make celebrations like the Lunar New Year celebration an annual event and introduce celebrations from other Asian cultures such as the Hindu celebration of Holi or Diwali, Yang said.
Yang also said A.S. members wanted to have a lion dance on campus.
In Chinese culture, the lion dance is performed at special occasions such as weddings, business openings and festivals, including Lunar New Year because traditionally the dances are said to chase away evil spirits and welcome good fortune, according to a February 1 Al Jazeera article.
“The lion dance is always invited during the Lunar New Year celebrations because it’s an auspicious traditional cultural act performance that helps ward away evil and bring good luck,” Kevin Nguyen, SJSU alumnus and captain of the San Jose Rising Phoenix Dance Association, said.
Dancers in these celebrations traditionally wear large red and white lion costumes and jump into the air. They circle around a plate of two small red tiger plush animals that represent luck and tangerines that represent wealth, according to a Jan. 29 New York Times article.
The eyes, ears and jaws of the two lions flutter in sync with a beat of a traditional Chinese drum called a tanggu, cymbals and a gong.
Although the dancer in the front is holding onto the head of the costume and the dancer in the back is holding onto the hips of their partner, the feet of the lion dancers at the event never broke from the rhythm of the drum.
Nguyen said lion dancing requires stamina and technique. He said it can take dancers months or sometimes years to perfect their skills.
The lion dance was performed in the middle of a crowd and ended with the dancer in the tail holding up their partner who rolled out a scroll-sign that read “wishing you happiness and prosperity.”
Freshman dance major Jasmine Afalla said she saw the performance as she was walking through campus.
“My sister and I were actually walking together to go to the Student Union. . . but then we heard the gong and we were like, ‘oh, we know what that is, let’s run over there to watch the show,’ ” she said.
Afalla said she loves watching lion dances because as a dance major, she appreciates the artistry.
A.S. President Anoop Kaur said her hope is that SJSU continues to celebrate cultural holidays.
“My hope would be that San Jose State would foster this multicultural environment such that students are learning inside the classroom and outside the classroom,” Kaur said, “broadening their understanding of other cultures because our society itself is diverse.”
