Far East Tour
This page is about a particular player-run or community-hosted event.
The contents of this page are player-managed and do not represent official Guild Wars lore or canon. |
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Event Summary [edit]
Come celebrate the Canthan New Year with the Descendants of Honor Alliance and Blade Radio as we partner up to bring you the best possible coverage of the Canthan New Year. This is the year of the Water Dragon! The year of the dragon is fifth in the cycle. The dragon's year follows the Rabbit and recurs every twelfth year. The Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which each Dragon Year actually begins.
More about the Canthan New Year & The Chinese New Year |
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Canthan New Year also known as Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Chinese Ney Year - Year of the Dragon[edit]New Year is a special time in China. It is a time when the festive spirit is high and there are all kinds of celebrations going on. As has been the ancient tradition of the country they have animal signs associated with the change of time. There are twelve animals that are repeated after every twelve years. So the year of the dragon returns with all its might and power after every twelve years. The Chinese New Year of the dragon represents great power. As it is the image of the dragon is taken as a symbol of auspicious power and anger if you will. The anger of the Chinese dragon is somehow always justified hence it has to do with correcting the erring. In that sense the angry dragon is not exactly evil. Rather the symbol is meant to be inspiring for society. They say the streets have rights upon you. If you hang around on the streets and see some evil you then it is upon you to stop it with your hands if you have the might. If you don’t then at least make an attempt to stop it with your tongue. And if you cannot even do that then at least in your heart know that the act is evil and this is a very low level of faith. The image of the angry dragon seeks to suppress the wrong doers. It does not represent wrong doing. Rather quite the opposite. The best of deeds is to avoid evil and discourage it while engaging in good deeds and encouraging them. Hence the Chinese New Year of the Dragon is all about brining about a revolution through peaceful and festive means. Chinese New Year[edit]It is sometimes called the "Lunar New Year" by native English speakers. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as chú xī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve". Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most. The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known as "new-year visits" (Chinese: 拜年; pinyin: bài nián). New clothes are usually worn to signify a new year. The colour red is liberally used in all decorations. Red packets are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. See Symbolism below for more explanation.
The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before. For Buddhists, the first day is also the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva (better known as the more familiar Budai Luohan), the Buddha-to-be. People also abstain from killing animals. Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers. Not only the married, Companies and Boss also give red packets to employee for good luck and wealth. While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards, which have resulted in increased number of fires around New Years and challenged municipal fire departments' work capacity. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain premises of the city. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience.
The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Traditionally, daughters who have been married may not have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently. On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs. Business people of the Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer to start their business on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. The prayer is done to pray that they will be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business for the year.
The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends due to the following schools of thought. People may subscribe to one or both thoughts. 1) It is known as "chì kǒu" (赤口), meaning that it is easy to get into arguments. It is suggested that the cause could be the fried food and visiting during the first two days of the New Year celebration. 2) Families who had an immediate kin deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead, but people may visit them on this day. Some people then conclude that it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead.
In northern China, people eat jiǎo zi (simplified Chinese: 饺子; traditional Chinese: 餃子), or dumplings on the morning of Po Wu (破五). This is also the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on this day, accompanied by firecrackers. It is also common on the mainland, that on the 5th day locals will shoot off firecrackers, in the attempt to get Guan Yu's attention, thus ensuring his favor and good fortune for the new year. Seventh day The seventh day, traditionally known as renri 人日, the common man's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older. It is the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten. This is a custom primarily among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore. People get together to toss the colourful salad and make wishes for continued wealth and prosperity. For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat, the seventh day commemorating the birth of Sakra Devanam Indra.
Another family dinner to celebrate the eve of the birth of the Jade Emperor. However, everybody should be back to work by the 8th day. All of government agencies and business will stop celebrating by the eighth day. Ninth day
Ninth Day The ninth day of the New Year is a day for Chinese to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven (天宮) in the Taoist Pantheon. The ninth day is traditionally the birthday of the Jade Emperor. This day is especially important to Hokkiens. Come midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Offerings will include sugarcane as it was the sugarcane that had protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago. Incense, tea, fruit, vegetarian food or roast pig, and paper gold is served as a customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person.
Tenth day
Thirteenth day On the 13th day people will eat pure vegetarian food to clean out their stomach due to consuming too much food over the last two weeks. This day is dedicated to the General Guan Yu, also known as the Chinese God of War. Guan Yu was born in the Han dynasty and is considered the greatest general in Chinese history. He represents loyalty, strength, truth, and justice. According to history, he was tricked by the enemy and was beheaded. Almost every organization and business in China will pray to Guan Yu on this day. Before his life ended, Guan Yu had won over one hundred battles and that is a goal that all businesses in China want to accomplish. In a way, people look at him as the God of Wealth or the God of Success.
The fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as yuán xiāo jié (元宵节), otherwise known as Chap Goh Mei in Fujian dialect. Rice dumplings tangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns. This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities. |
Prizes [edit]
Blade Radio is Co-hosting this event with the Descendants of Honor Alliance. The two groups plan to give out a min of the following:
Prizes Descendants of Honor Alliance Has Provided/Giving Away
- Coffer of whispers
- Miniature Mallyx
- Armbrace of truth
- Obsidian armor (The following towards an Obsidian armor 120 Ectoplasm, 120 Obsidian Shards & 75 Platinum)
- 200 Zaishen Keys
- Vabbian armor (The following towards a Vabbian armor 16 Rubies, 16 Sapphires & 20 Platinum)
- 20 Consumable sets, 100 lock picks, Dungeon maps & 150 Summoning stones
- Miniature Mallyx, Miniature Black beast of Arrgghh! , 10 Scrolls of the Lightbringer & 5 coffer of whispers.
- Oppressor's Shield, Oppressor's Spear, Miniature Salma (or Miniature Evennia) & 5 Royal Gifts
- Destroyer Spear, Destroyer Shield, Destroyer Gauntlets, Fiery Unguent, Fiery Gladius & Fiery Blade Axe.
- Elite Kurzick armor (The following towards Elite Kurzick Armor 80 amber & 75 Platinum)
- Elite Kurzick armor (The following towards Elite Kurzick Armor 80 amber & 75 Platinum)
- Elite Luxon armor (The following towards Elite Luxon Armor 80 Jadeite Shards & 75 Platinum)
- Elite Luxon armor (The following towards Elite Luxon Armor80 Jadeite Shards & 75 Platinum)
- 1 Everlasting Kuunavang Tonic
- Everlasting Ooze Tonic
- Miniature Ooze
AND THAT JUST TO BEGIN WITH! (For a chance to win the Obby Armor & Chaos gloves you must tune into - Blade Radio)
In Game Contact / How you can help [edit]
If you have questions, concerns, comments, feed back or just want to help with the event then please feel free to message Blades Haze or Dj Alimar in game. However you may also contact Alimar@bladeradio.com or Bladeshaze@bladeradio.com via email.
Location / Times / Districts [edit]
Feb 2nd - Feb 5th
Co-Guilds / Event Coordinators / Useful links [edit]
COMING SOON