Chinese New Year

In traditional Chinese culture, heaven and earth mirror each other. A comet or a new star suddenly appearing in the sky could indicate that guests or intruders might show up somewhere in the empire. Each emperor had a team of astronomers to check the sky and to give advice, such as to greet guests or to fend off intruders. The emperor required an accurate calendar to distinguish between normal and abnormal events, and to rule in harmony with the heavens.

For over 3000 years, the Chinese calendar has combined cycles of the sun and the moon. The civil calendar used in China today “turns the yearly odometer” after the winter solstice, the occasion of the shortest daylight. This usually happens on December 21 in the western, Gregorian calendar, but in the Chinese calendar, the solstice occurs in the 11^th of 12 (occasionally 13) lunar months. The timing of the Chinese New Year, two (or sometimes three) new moons after the winter solstice, therefore varies significantly when compared to the western calendar.

In today’s Chinese calendar, each year is associated with one specific creature in a 12-year cycle based on Jupiter’s motion: Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, and Snake. Friday, January 31, 2014 marks the start of the year of the Horse. Interpreting the Horse’s impact on the year’s events depends on complex connections to other zodiacal animals, lunar and solar events, the five traditional elements (wood, earth, water, fire, and metal), and the alternating cycles of yin and yang.

The Corning Museum of Glass owns several Chinese artifacts featuring the Horse. The most significant is a warrior vase (1736-95) made during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The large size of this vessel, consisting of colorless glass speckled with white “snowflake glass” and then covered with red ruby glass, makes it an unusual example of its style; the technical difficulty of its production makes it one of the highlights of the Museum’s collection.

Just as noteworthy is its depiction of a legendary tale based in history and still retold today that celebrates qualities associated with the Year of the Horse: passion, fierceness, endurance, and freedom. The elaborate main scene (carved in both cameo and intaglio) commemorates an episode from the life of Yue Fei (1103-1141), a general of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Four Song horsemen, including the general’s son, each fight with (sledge) hammers against a single enemy, Lu Wenlong, a mounted soldier of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) armed with two spears. Surprisingly, the contest is a stalemate. Somewhat later, Lu Wenlong learns that he is actually the son of a Song general killed by the Jin, a dramatic revelation depicted on the neck of the vase. This revelation leads to Lu Wenlong’s return to the Song. Whether the Song should have regarded Lu Wenlong as a guest or as an intruder remains an interesting question.