Year of the snake, Chinese lessons on living in post-Americana

Written by Otiato Opali

On January 20, China brought their New Year celebration to Nairobi, marking the 'year of the snake'. It was a week-long celebration that lit the capital’s dull geopolitics after the Americans had shut down their Embassy to commemorate Martin Luther King Day on President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Chinese nationals living in Kenya held their New Year gala at Nairobi’s Two Rivers Mall a curtain raiser for the new year that officially turns tomorrow, on January 29 of the Gregorian calendar we inherited from the British.

Unlike the rest of the world, the Chinese stick to their ancient traditions which include their ancient calendar. Owing to this, the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as they call it, changes each year because it's based on the lunar calendar, which is based on the moon's orbit around the Earth.

The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac and represents wisdom, intuition and strategic growth.

By having their own traditional new year celebrations, the Chinese are able to observe this season of rest, renewal and rejuvenation in a uniquely Chinese way.

Chinese soft power

During the Spring Festival Gala at Two Rivers Mall, Kenyans from all walks of life joined Chinese citizens to appreciate their new year, keen to watch live performances and sample delicacies from the Asian country.

The Chinese used this opportunity to indulge Kenyans in their cultural activities like learning how to eat using chopsticks, writing Chinese characters and learning about Chinese arts like the Peking Opera, Dragon Dance and Kung Fu.

Chinese influence is looking to grow in this era of US President Donald Trump's American first policy. China is already exporting its deflation with Kenya's fastest-growing retail chain store 'China-Square' spreading across major towns.

With a growing population of the Chinese in the country, the event also served as an opportunity for the local Chinese to touch base with their culture as they participate in the greatest festivity on the Chinese calendar.

Lost tribes

New year is supposed to be the most important cultural event for a people marking the cycle one year ends and another begins. This is usually timed to the lunar cycle and marked around the seasonal cycles unique to peoples and their geographies.

In Africa, Ethiopia is known to celebrate its New Year's Day in September, which is different from the Gregorian calendar used by the rest of us. I believe that the Ethiopian calendar, which serves as an unofficial customary cultural calendar in Ethiopia and Eritrea, is the only indigenous calendar on the African continent.

The rest of the continent adopted the Gregorian calendars from European masters and have continued to use them, despite the fact that this means celebrations are not held around the lunar cycles and harvesting seasons like in the ancient past. Instead, we celebrate the new year during the Christian Christmas break, by decorating cypress trees with fake cotton for snowflakes to symbolize winter in often blazing dry seasons.

Answers in our local dialects

During the recent holidays when all my siblings and I were back at home for the festivities, we managed to stray a little during one of our drinking sessions to talk about our place in this universe. After putting the little ones to sleep, we set up our mini-bar on our father’s open lawn deep in the village and between sips of drinks, we could not help but marvel at the stars which were bedecking the clear night sky above us.

One interesting point that was put across during this impromptu baraza was the fact that the African day starts in the morning while the Western day starts at midnight.

The proponent of this theory further explained that this is the reason why an African’s first hour of the day comes in the morning as in saa moja asubuhi, while the Western first hour comes after midnight as in 1 am. By the time an African is counting his saa moja, the Westerner is already seven hours in and refers to the same time as 7 am.

Future of time

The concept of time is such a complex topic but the fact that different cultures perceived time from different standpoints cannot be gainsaid.

Africans, have largely adopted Western viewpoints in appreciating concepts like time, religion, politics and even communication.

These are cultural legacies of colonialism that are not guaranteed to stand the test of time. Pax-Americana is approaching sunset, Africans can look East to remember how we celebrated the new year that provided actual renewal.

As we step into this new year with hopes and prayers, we should not forget to inquire whether our seasons, outlooks, and rhythm of life flow in tandem with our spiritual realms as Africans.

The famous Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever.

Happy New Year of the Snake!!