The One that Dragged-On

I’m not an advocate of Valentine’s Day and instead turned my attention to Chinese New Year.

It just so happened I saw Disney’s Mulan was on TV and well, here’s the result.

The kanji on the left reads as ‘tiger’, which is this year’s animal. The kanji on the board reads “Xin Nian Kuai Le” in standard Mandarin, which can be mistaken as ‘Happy New Year’, but more accurately reads as ‘Congratulations and be prosperous’. No idea what the stamp says at the bottom; I just thought it looked cool.

It’s too ironic that Mushu is red. According to Chinese New Year myths, the Nian (a sort of draconic monster) is meant to be terrified of the colour red and loud noises, hence why fireworks go off and red envelopes are so present in Chinese New Year traditions: to scare off the beast of bad omens. It’s a bit of a pun, as “nian” or ‘年獸’ the monster sounds exactly the same as ‘年’, for year. So depending on the Chinese context, you’re either saying ‘new year’ or ‘passing of the beast’.

Finally, the item in Mushu’s mouth is Nian Gao (年糕) or ‘year cake’, a sort of sticky cake that can sometimes have red beans in it. Another bit of a pun in Chinese as eating one, or ‘年年高升’ “nian-nian gaoshen”, can mean “to raise yourself this year”, meaning to improve your prospects.

Phew. Enjoy!

Mushu © Disney