Saturday 25 January 2020

Gung Hey Fat Choy!


Today is the Lunar New Year, so welcome to the Year of the Rat, everyone! Gung hey fat choy!

What can we expect in a Rat Year? According to Susan Levitt and Jean Tang in Taoist Astrology, the Year of the Rat is:

. . . a time of plenty, bringing abundance and good fortune. In this auspicious year, some of Rat's prosperity can influence everyone, regardless of one's birth animal. Expect a powerful year, when people are firm about their goals, passions and aspirations. Although there may be fluctuation in world economies, it is an excellent time to start a business, buy property, invest in long-term plans, or accumulate wealth. But it is not a time for foolish risks . . . . Rat loves the pack, so it is also a time for socializing, entertaining, and enjoying ourselves.

Okay, then! Sounds good!

Here's a fun little traditional ritual to encourage prosperity and abundance for the upcoming year. Exchange a coin with another person while wishing them Gung Hey Fat Choy (Happy New Year)! Make sure each of you brings your own coin of equal value to give to one another -- don't just pass the same coin back and forth. You don't want prosperity to simply swirl or circle around -- you want it to come and stay with you!


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43 comments:

  1. anne marie in phillySaturday, January 25, 2020

    I imagine lunar new year in china this year is filled with fear due that virus going around. my company's reps in singapore & china have the week off to celebrate.

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  2. DEZMONDSaturday, January 25, 2020

    It is a sad New Year for the poor Chinese, hope their problems with the virus end as soon as possible. They've even cancelled all the massive movie premieres and closed the cinemas.

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  3. Infidel753Saturday, January 25, 2020

    Shouldn't that be "Dung, Hey, Rat Chow"? Ghastly scuttling things. Why do they get a whole year?

    when people are firm about their goals, passions and aspirations.

    I can think of one rather rat-like individual who is very firm indeed about those things. However, we have mostly survived so far.

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  4. ^.^Saturday, January 25, 2020

    Happy Chinese New Year Wishes for you, friend D. Love, cat.

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  5. pam nashSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Very cool! I'm all for giving that a try. Gung Hey Fat Choy - to you also!

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  6. Doctor ZSaturday, January 25, 2020

    YAY! My birth animal!!! Gung Hey Fat Choy!!!

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  7. ParnassusSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Hello Debra, Happy Year of the Rat to you! I just had Chinese New Year dinner with my friends last night, and we had the ritual exchange of cash, but paper money in red envelopes. Few people here still say gong xi fa cai (the Mandarin equivalent of gung hay fat choi), they just say Happy New Year (xin nian kuai le). I also added little mouse-shaped bells for fun.
    --Jim

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  8. LL Cool JoeSaturday, January 25, 2020

    "bringing abundance and good fortune". Hmm, let's hope so because January sucks.

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  9. coffeeontheporchwithmeSaturday, January 25, 2020

    My daughter is a "rat". Most of what we know about Chinese New Year has been from the paper placemat at a local Chinese food restaurant. Kind of pathetic. I like how the year of the rat is described - I'm in for that! -Jenn

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  10. LeannaSaturday, January 25, 2020

    David and I went to our neighbor's home and we exchanged coins this morning. We had already talked about doing this last weekend and they thought it was silly but decided it would be fun. We are having lunch out with them this afternoon. Something new to do.

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  11. Bob JohnsSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Heres to the rat! We sure could use him right about now.

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  12. FrankSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Have a coin, but it's just me in the house with the dog....not sure if that will work.

    So how my mind works: this reminds me of those really buff muscle guys with tats; a lot of them had Chinese characters tattooed on on their torsos or wherever. I always think that they might actually say "Kung Pao Chicken" or "Moo Goo Gai Pan"

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  13. BobSaturday, January 25, 2020

    I'd like a little shared prosperity!

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  14. Fundy BlueSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Gung hey fat choy to you, Debra! It sounds like the Year of the Rat will be a good one. Terry returned from his last trip to Vegas a week or so ago and brought me a darling jeweled rat in honor of the Chinese New Year. Yes a rat can be darling ~ fake jewels of course!

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  15. AnonymousSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Hung Hey Fat Choy!

    My husband and I went for dimsum last week. At the end of lunch, I opened my fortune cookie and it was empty, which legally means that I can write my own future for the year of the rat. It's going to be a good year.

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  16. Ol'BuzzardSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Hopefully this is the year we will get the rat out of the White House.
    the Ol'Buzzard

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  17. Rain Saturday, January 25, 2020

    That is a cool little ritual! :)

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  18. Tundra BunnySaturday, January 25, 2020

    Gung Hey Fat Choy, Deb!

    Have you seen The Year of the Rat stamps from Canada Post? They're really cute.

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  19. Brian JosephSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Happy Chinese New Years! May the upcoming year be happy and healthy for us all.

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  20. MikeSaturday, January 25, 2020

    "Socializing?" That's what I'm doing right now.

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  21. Miss Val's CreationsSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Happy Year of the Rat! I guess I should start looking into a great investment or 2 this year!

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  22. Marie SmithSaturday, January 25, 2020

    I look forward to the year!

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  23. GuillaumeSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Totally forgot that it was the Chinese New Year today (well, yesterday for me actually). My brother's ex-wife is Chinese, so we once participated in a Chinese wedding.

    On a side note, I hate rats.

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  24. Sooo-this-is-meSaturday, January 25, 2020

    Rats! Where? Where? Anyway, Merry Month after Christmas! Only eleven more months to go! Hahaha!

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  25. BeaSaturday, January 25, 2020

    'Gung Hey Fat Choy' is apropos for us 'round here as Cantonese is the dominate language among our Chinese language speakers.

    Happy Year of the Rat!

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  26. Moving with MitchellSunday, January 26, 2020

    Happy Year of the Rat! I just discovered my brother is a Rat. Wait until I tell him! I myself am a Horse... of course.

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  27. mxtodis123Sunday, January 26, 2020

    It poured here yesterday but they say they went along with the festivities anyway. I was stuck in, sick, so I missed it all this year.

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  28. TravelSunday, January 26, 2020

    Wishing everyone a good year!

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  29. MarthaSunday, January 26, 2020

    Happy year of the rat! That is a really nice ritual.

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  30. Magaly GuerreroSunday, January 26, 2020

    Gung Hey Fat Choy, Debra! Now, I'm imagining my coin landing on your hand and your coin landing on mine. Let the prosperity roll in...

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  31. ashokSunday, January 26, 2020

    Happy new year!

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  32. ForsythiaSunday, January 26, 2020

    Adorable looking rat at the bottom of your post. The US post office stamps commemorating the year of the rat are a little scary.

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  33. AdamSunday, January 26, 2020

    I'm glad I'm a dragon

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  34. Liz HindsSunday, January 26, 2020

    And a very Gung Hey Fat Chow to you too!

    Not sure how the forecast will relate to Britain post Brexit.

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  35. Insomniac's AtticSunday, January 26, 2020

    Gung hey fat choy, you two! Sounds like it's going to be a great year. I'm excited!

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  36. This N ThatSunday, January 26, 2020

    I hope the rat is good to all of us...Interesting information..Gung hey fat chop to you.!!!

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  37. yellowdoggrannySunday, January 26, 2020

    does that mean we can get rid of the rat in the white house/?

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  38. Sixpence NotthewiserMonday, January 27, 2020

    Happy year of the rat!
    I'm going to try the coin thing. Now, if only my pronunciation of the phrase is accurate and don't wish the person something terrible...

    XOXO

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  39. eMonday, January 27, 2020

    I was lucky enough to have my daughter visiting for the Lunar New Year, so that brings a positive outlook to my year. :^)

    Happy Lunar/Chinese New Year, Debra!

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  40. Busy Bee SuzMonday, January 27, 2020

    I love that traditional ritual!!

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  41. The CaptainTuesday, January 28, 2020

    We celebrated by having Chinese food (actually it was a coincidence but I like to think the gods directed me to celebrate)

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  42. Magic Love CrowThursday, January 30, 2020

    Happy Year Of The Rat Debra!!! Let it be amazing!!!!!

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  43. bailiSaturday, February 01, 2020

    Happy new lunar year dear Debra

    i wish Chinese people a safe healthy start of new year

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