1,172 likes, 49 comments - ginkgozee on January 29, 2025: "It’s the first day of Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake! I had the brilliant idea of printing my snake in gold on red paper for the occasion, because (an obvious fact to anyone of Chinese heritage) of course it has to be Red and Gold. I can’t be presenting a blue snake with white flowers, no, no.
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It took FIVE inkings/ presses to get gold saturation. Delicata ink pads don’t lay down much ink in a single sitting. And then came the challenges of photographing gold ink.
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Chinese Zodiac Animals and LNY has become commercialized in US pop culture. I assume it’s like how I see Valentine’s, Easter (I’m non religious), July 4th. I DO love that so many folks are celebrating snakes, because snakes are awesome! And I do love that aspects of some (because not all Asian cultures celebrate LNY) Asian cultures are being embraced by American mainstream.
Of course, there’s so much more to lunar new year.
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I’m Chinese American, and I grew up in 80s heyday British Hong Kong, where I called it Chinese New Year (in HK I was not aware that anyone else celebrated it). It’s a multi week celebration, not just one day. Over those weeks, families prep their homes with thorough cleanings and decorate with seasonal botanicals (chrysanthemum, peach blossom, gladiolus, narcissus). Adults stock up on new, freshly minted cash of different bill amounts. I remember folding those carefully for my mom, and sliding money into laisees (red envelopes). Laisee had different designs, and my mom would remember the different amounts of money in each - less money was given to kids of folks we didn’t know that well, and more money for those that were close family friends. Laisee were also given to our apartment caretaker and our community bus driver.
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Continued in Comments".
Douglas
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