Tonight signals the last day or, to be more precise, night of the Chinese New Lunar-Solar Year celebrations. Celebrators would like to round up the 15 days & nights, from the new to full moon of the first lunar month, of hectic, enjoyable though expensive festival, with a final romantic night of opportunities for the yang to pair up with the yin.
As a kid, I was taught the following rhyme for Chap Goh Meh (literally '15th Night' in Hokkien, but specifically only the '15th Night' of the 1st moon of the Chinese new Lunar-Solar Year):
Chap goh meh (15th night)
Huoi kim chnair (bright with fireflies)
Chnea lu ay kuwa (invite your brother-in-law)
Lai cheah teh (for tea)
… and then ...
Teh seo seo
Bay keng cheo
Keng cheo bay kee peh
Bay cheh
Cheh bay kee t’ark
Bay bark
Bark bay kee bwua
Bay chua
Chua bay kee liah
Bay kar kiah
Kar kiah bay kee ch'eng
Bay kar leng
Kar leng kong
Kar leng poh
Chnea lu ay knia soon
Lai t’eet t’oh
T’eet t’oh eeay
Bay karm chea (buy sugar cane)
Karm chea tnee (sugar cane is sweet)
Bay leng chee
Leng chee p’ong
Bay tom bong
Tom bong kh'aw
Bay low kaw
After the first 4 lines, the rhyme for Chap Goh Meh reduces to just a nursery ditty for kiddies, where it calls up a banana [don’t ask me why], book, Chinese brush ink stone, snake, clogs, mynah, etc. But the mention of sugar cane in the rhyme could perhaps be linked to its Hokkien cultural-historical origin – see my post Hokkien salvation in sugar cane fields.
Hope you Penangites know the above, wakakaka.
In China the people celebrate tonight as the Festival of Lanterns where thousands of lanterns are lit, with some even set to ascend aloft by the principle of hot air (employed by today’s hot air balloons), but Penangites being Penangites (and not China’s Chinese wakakaka), they celebrate Chap Goh Meh in their own special Penang way.
According to Chinese legends (there exist several on today’s celebration but all having the same outcome), a heavenly crane flew down to earth and landed at a village, where it was killed by the villagers. In the Far East (China, Japan, Korea) the crane has been considered since time immemorial as a bird closely associated with gods and immortals, and accordingly, to be respected just as much as the sacred phoenix. The tale tells us that the Jade Emperor (Lord of Heaven) was pissed off by the senseless and wanton destruction of his favorite fowl.
Th’nee Kong (Jade Emperor) decided to destroy that village on the fifteenth lunar day with a storm of fire. However, His compassionate daughter warned the inhabitants of her Divine Father’s intention to nuke their village. Naturally everyone pressed the panic button, but a wise man from a neighbouring village suggested creating an illusion of the village being already on fire so as to render the Jade Emperor's plan for them unnecessary and thus escape the drastic fate. Every family was instructed to hang red lanterns around their houses, light bonfires everywhere in and around the village and explode firecrackers on the 14th, 15th and 16th days of the new year.
How the village managed to deceive the Lord of Heaven and His heavenly generals and soldiers with such an illusion was never explained but WTF, it worked, and from that day on, the Chinese people celebrate the fifteenth day of a new lunar-solar year with lanterns, firecrackers and fireworks.
But Penangites don’t bother with lanterns on Chap Goh Meh though of course that's not prohibited in any way. Instead, being the kuai lan* people that they are wakakaka, they transfer the festive use of lanterns instead to the Mid Autumn Festival (Tang Chek or Mooncake festival), not that there has ever been an autumnal season in Penang wakakaka.
* a Penang Hokkien phrase which may mean ‘cheeky’, ‘mischievous’ or ‘bastard’, depending on the context in which the phrase is used.
As mentioned, it is the night that Penangites believe to be most perfect for match making. Thus, Chap Goh Meh would be the night for a woman to wish for a good husband, and a man to seek a good wife. The traditional place for such 'Encounters of the Flirt Kind' in Penang is the Esplanade, subsequently extended to also Gurney Drive.
Traditionally, young Penang sweeties desirous of marriage throw mandarin oranges into the sea, but more symbolically, to the image of the full moon (thus Moon Goddess) in the sea, each wishing for a good husband.
Obviously the seas at Penang’s Esplanade and Gurney Drive allow for the convenient casting of mandarin oranges. Incidentally, the activity also sends a practical message to men looking for a wife, that each thrower has indicated her status as an eligible bachelor-girl.
In the old days, before the scandalous manner ;-) in which today’s men and women are so daring and brazen [including a grownup kaytee wakakaka] as to approach each other directly and confess such silly emotions as love and got-the-hots-for-you-babe, a man, after spotting a woman of his heart, would send a professional match-maker to inquire, investigate and initiate marriage proposals with the woman’s family.
The proposed marriage negotiations that followed could be very smooth-going, amicable and harmonious, though at times those negotiations could assume complexities and difficulties greater than those involved in the interpretation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 or 1441.
Once I saw a girl with a dozen or so oranges at Gurney Drive. I wondered whether she was seeking more than one prospective match or just over-insuring herself to receive the Moon Goddess' blessings? Though I was a bit thirsty I didn't have the guts to approach her for one of her fruits. She certainly was good looking but seemed rather formidable, one of those Xena type.
Penangites, being of the romantic type of Chinese, double-facilitate the harmonious balance of the two components of the Taijitu (yang & yin, man & woman) by celebrating Chap Goh Meh in a big way.
Something unique to Penang and which you won’t ever see in China would be the Dondang Sayang troupes, all complete with baba-nyonya orchestras, songs and recital of cheeky pantuns (blasted to the public via loudspeakers), each making its way on highly decorated and well-lit chartered bus around Georgetown and the Pulau Tikus suburbs. Their musical extravaganza processions through the Chap Goh Meh core locations of Esplanade and Gurney Drive would be guaranteed.
The Perakanan Resource Library explains that … Peranakans of yore loved lavish and merry making. […] Dondang Sayang consists of 2 persons singing of a prose of songs sang individually until all 6 lines of the prose are completed. Dondang Sayang also consists of a Dondang Sayang Band that plays the tunes which are in turn sung by the 2 persons involved.
The Penang version would be most prominently demonstrated during Chap Goh Meh on mobile platforms, namely, the mentioned well lit and gorgeously decorated buses. Most participants are Chinese Penangites with the principal performers being the ‘Auntie’ type who would be ‘cross dressed’ wakakaka in brilliant sarung kebaya.
These wonderful Dondang Sayang troupes have through the years enhanced the festive and romantic mood of Chap Goh Meh, and really, should be heritage listed as one of Malaysia's living treaures.
Indeed, tonight is certainly a night for romance. Somehow a full moon does that emotionally to us, just as it would stimulate the occult-psycho-physiological transformation of men into werewolves. Yes, tonight there’ll be many werewolves prowling around who like to ‘sink their fangs’ into SYT’s [Sweet Young Things].
After all, humans are reputed to be made up of 98% water, and nothing attracts or influences the behaviour of water than the full moon. By the moon do tides rise and fall, dogs howl, women have their … er … you know … er … that ‘thingy’, etc.
Ancient civilizations knew it was the Moon that reigned supreme. They prayed to Her and counted time by Her. Even the patriarch Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai [Mountain of the Moon].
I have more to say about the moon, on stuff such as white and black magic. But tonight it shall only be the magic of love. Enjoy, fall in love [which I will every 13 minutes – 13 is the number associated with the moon] and see if you can find the one of your heart ... er ... but don’t look for me wakakaka.
So good luck, you werewolves and throwers of mandarin oranges ;-) -
And over at KTemoc Komposes, kaytee’s amateurish ode to Chap Goh Meh is as follows:
Arising from the distant sea,
She casts her silvery beams
on us all below, and the sea
smiles back at her, it seems;
one bright eye, high above,
with her glow bathing us all,
the other eye floating on the
sea as the waves rise and fall;
the girl casts a golden orange,
to the moon goddess in the sea;
praying for Her kind blessing
to grant her blessed matrimony.
Tonight is when yin and yang
are in perfect sweet harmony,
to bring a good man and good
woman together in joyous unity.
Note: Some photos borrowed wakakaka from Naughty Nyonya - thanks ;-)
