春聯 Spring couplets (chūn lián)

A big thanks to the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission in Taiwan that we were giving away some spring couplets and calendars this year for your doors and your walls.

The wording on the spring couplets were:

國 泰 民 安， 龍 騰 虎 曜

guó tài mín ān ， lóng téng hǔ yào

I found it very hard to translate these perfectly and it means to wish its country and people to have a peaceful year. The dragon and tigers are leaping and shine.

I did a quick copy of my own red paper and realised I need to sharpen my calligraphy.

Chinese Calligraphy

We had mini workshops with children for the Chinese calligraphy on strips of red papers which also used as Spring couplets 春聯 (chūn lián). This activities were well received.

I am very proud of them also that they learnt the New Year songs so quick and so well!

The word dragon 龍 （lóng) is quite unique and it is quite complex. Personally I think the traditional characters work well and look beautiful for calligraphy. I asked the children to imaging this dragon is crouching over the moon and they can be as creative as they want.

The year 2012 could also be a dragon so here're their arts!

Paper Cutting art 剪紙 jiǎn zhǐ

Older children did paper cutting art (剪紙 jiǎn
zhǐ) today. This word “春 chūn“ we were cutting means Spring. You will see a lot of 春 on red paper displayed during the period of CNY.
The papercuts are very popular as a decoration on the
windows so they are also called “窗花 chuāng huā”, it means window flowers.

The Dragon is coming! 龍年來了！ lóng nián lái le ！

Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese
would like to wish you all a very prosperous and peaceful Year of Dragon!

The Chinese New Year is coming up
shortly and is landing on Monday 23rd Jan. this year.

We are planning some fun arts & crafts
for children to do as well as some fun games and story.

The younger children are learning a traditional
song for the CNY called “恭喜恭喜 gōng
xǐ gōng xǐ “. You would hear this a lot during the CNY period as everyone say gōngxǐ gōng xǐ to everyone.

The older children are learning a new song for CNY called ”賀新年
hè xīn nián”.

Here're the lyrics:


賀新年 祝新年
hè xīn nián zhù xīn nián
新年啊年連年
xīn nián ā nián lián nián
爆竹聲聲催人想幼年
bào zhú shēng shēng cuī rén xiǎng yòu nián
賀新年 祝新年
hè xīn nián zhù xīn nián
新年啊 年連年
xīn nián ā nián lián nián
歲月悠悠光陰如箭
suì yuè yōu yōu guāng yīn rú jiàn
回首往事如煙痛苦辛酸
huí shǒu wǎng shì rú yān tòng kǔ xīn suān
寄望從今萬事如願
jì wàng cóng jīn wàn shì rú yuàn
賀新年 祝新年
hè xīn nián zhù xīn nián
新年啊 年連年
xīn nián ā nián lián nián
願大家都過個太平年
yuàn dà jiā dōu guò gè tài píng nián


恭喜恭喜
每條大街小巷　
měi tiáo dà jiē xiǎo xiàng 　
每個人的嘴裡　
měi gè rén de zuǐ lǐ 　
見面第一句話　
jiàn miàn dì yī jù huà 　
就是恭喜恭喜
jiù shì gōng xǐ gōng xǐ
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀　
gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ ya 　
恭喜恭喜恭喜你
gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ
冬天一到盡頭　
dōng tiān yī dào jìn tóu 　
真是好的消息　
zhēn shì hǎo de xiāo xī 　
溫暖的春風　
wēn nuǎn de chūn fēng 　
就要吹醒了大地
jiù yào chuī xǐng le dà dì
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀　
gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ ya 　
恭喜恭喜恭喜你
gōng xǐ gōng xǐ gōng xǐ nǐ

Here’re the urls and lyrics for the youtube links.

gōng xǐ gōng xǐ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8xurIQuU0Q
hè xīn nián
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBWDNN0cYwE