Chinese New Year and the Architecture of Obedience

 

Photo by Darth Liu on Unsplash

Today is the Lunar New Year, a big day for people who follow the lunar calendar.

I am not sure why it is called Chinese New Year. Perhaps it’s because the majority of the population celebrating this day are Chinese, or because the lunar calendar was named by the Chinese. No matter what, this has become a big day for most Chinese people.

It is big because there are so many things you should and should not do during this period.

For example, on Chinese New Year’s Eve, or a few days prior, you need to clean your house and workplace thoroughly. Then you worship your ancestors, deities, or local gods with food and wine in the evening. After that, you get together with your family for a good feast. Then you can set some firecrackers at midnight to mark the start of the new year.

On Chinese New Year’s Day, you are not supposed to wash your hair or clean your house. According to popular sayings, “good fortune” would be washed away too.

Then on the second day of the Chinese New Year, you are not supposed to wash your clothes. On the following day, you are supposed to get up late.

Oh, I forgot. You are not supposed to use scissors or nail cutters during the Chinese New Year period because doing so might cut off the good fortune coming to you.

So you ask yourself, should you follow the rules?

Then you remember there were a few years when you followed all the rules, but you didn’t get a promotion nor an extra bonus. There were also other years when you broke the rules, yet you won a small lottery. So this is just a game, you tell yourself.

Yet, the elderly in the family keep telling you that you should not do this or that.

Have you ever considered, perhaps…

Chinese New Year is actually the most extensive domestication program run by the administrators?

From a sociological perspective, all these rules that people have learned generation after generation can be seen as a programmed annual cultural event.

By setting up a conceivable storyline related to “bringing in good luck” or “not cutting off good luck,” members of society are reminded to follow the same set of rules.

It is not necessarily about the financial benefits of the ruling organization, obviously — indeed, asking people not to wash their clothes would not benefit the chief of the village — but setting up and encouraging people to practice these rules helps build the authority of the rulers.

Invisible, word-of-mouth rules often function far more effectively than laws written in black and white. Especially when these invisible rules are closely tied to “good fortune,” they become even more persuasive.

Once people become compliant with certain behaviors, they are gradually conditioned, and those behaviors quietly turn into habits.

In other words, these alleged taboos become effective conditioning tools for administrators, and people obey them faithfully without realizing they are participating in a constructed system.

This was particularly evident in ancient China, where most people were illiterate and could only follow what they were told.

Such “domestication” programs are mostly redundant, especially the ones related to personal hygiene. Not using scissors or nail cutters, or not washing hair on certain days, feels like an overreaction.

Some have special considerations — for example, not washing clothes on the first day of the Chinese New Year. This obviously grants those poor washing ladies (mainly the wives, daughters, or daughters-in-law in the household) one day off. After busy cooking in the kitchen the day before, they can rest for a day.

Some of them, such as worshiping ancestors and deities — showing gratitude for blessings on an annual basis — are good practices that teach people to be humble and grateful for whatever they have received or encountered.

Perhaps domestication is not always malicious.

Perhaps every civilization needs an annual script — Christmas, Ramadan, National Day parades are examples.

The question is not whether the program exists. The question is whether you are aware that you are participating in it.

Once you are aware of your position, you can choose your script.

The rules of the Chinese New Year are negotiable.