The rabbit symbolizes fertility and prosperity not only in Chinese culture. Bugs Bunny, Jeff Koons' “Rabbit” and Playboy: we take a look at famous long ears in pop culture.
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Chinese New Year customs and traditions
Lion Dance
The traditional lion dance goes back to the legend of the monster Nian. Every year on New Year's Eve it attacked a village. The villagers built a large lion puppet to drive the beast away. One dancer carries the lion's head during the performance, while another moves the lion's torso. Accompanied by drums, cymbals and gongs, the lions fight each other. The dance is said to bring luck and wealth.
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Customs and traditions for Chinese New Year
Yusheng Salad Toss
Yusheng actually means “raw fish” but sounds similar to “in abundance.” As soon as the salad is on the table, the whole family throws parts of it in the air with chopsticks and calls out certain lucky phrases. The amount of the litter reflects the increase in wealth in the new year. This tradition is also practiced in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
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Chinese New Year customs and traditions
Meat as a sign of prosperity
Rising meat consumption in China is related to the increasing wealth of the Chinese middle class. In 2020, the Chinese consumed an average of almost 23 kilograms of pork. Pork is an important ingredient in many Chinese New Year dishes – whether fried, braised or in dumplings, which are considered a symbol of wealth.
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Chinese New Year customs and traditions
Lucky Rice Cake: Nian gao
Nian gao means “sticky cake” but sounds like “high or big year”. In China, it is believed that eating it on New Year's Day can increase income, promote a job, or help children's financial well-being. “Nian gao” promises a golden future. The dessert is also available as “mochi” in Japanese or, as here, as “tikoy” in the Filipino version.
Chinese New Year Customs and Traditions
The Golden Fruit
Tangerines are a symbol of gold in China or money. They are often taken as a souvenir to invitations – as a sign of respect and courtesy or as a thank you for a favour. Since the Chinese believe that good things always come in pairs, they only give each other an even number of fruits. They are also used for decoration.
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Chinese New Year Customs and Traditions
Red Envelopes
Probably the most popular New Year's custom among young people: receiving red envelopes full of money. They are called “Hong bao” or “red packets”. Married people should distribute the envelopes and only unmarried people are allowed to receive them. The closer you are to the giver, the more money there is usually. So it pays to have a lot of married relatives!
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Chinese New Year customs and traditions
Fireworks: a tricky tradition
Now a symbol of good luck and joy, according to legend loud rockets and firecrackers were once used to scare off the monster Nian. Later, they simply became an indispensable part of the celebrations. However, due to the extremely high number of injured and dead, they were severely restricted a few years ago and are now banned in many places.
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Chinese New Year customs and traditions
celebrations around around the world
According to the International Organization for Migration, around 60 million Chinese and their descendants live outside of China. Chinese New Year means a four-day holiday in countries like Singapore, where 75% of the population is of Chinese descent. Singapore celebrates with lots of light and performances, like here in front of the Marina Bay skyline.
- Chinese New Year customs and traditions
Lion Dance
The traditional lion dance goes back to the legend of the monster Nian. Every year on New Year's Eve it attacked a village. The villagers built a large lion puppet to drive the beast away. One dancer carries the lion's head during the performance, while another moves the lion's torso. Accompanied by drums, cymbals and gongs, the lions fight each other. The dance is said to bring luck and wealth.
- Customs and traditions of Chinese New Year
Yusheng Salad Toss
Yusheng actually means “raw fish” but sounds similar to “in abundance.” As soon as the salad is on the table, the whole family throws parts of it in the air with chopsticks and calls out certain lucky phrases. The amount of the litter reflects the increase in wealth in the new year. This tradition is also practiced in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
- Chinese New Year Customs and Traditions
Meat as a sign of prosperity
Increasing meat consumption in China is linked to the increasing prosperity of the Chinese middle class. In 2020, the Chinese consumed an average of almost 23 kilograms of pork. Pork is an important ingredient in many Chinese New Year dishes – whether fried, braised or in dumplings, which are considered a symbol of wealth.
- Chinese New Year Customs and Traditions
Auspicious Rice Cake: Nian gao
Nian gao means “sticky cake” but sounds like “high or big year”. In China, it is believed that eating it on New Year's Day can increase income, promote a job, or help children's financial well-being. “Nian gao” promises a golden future. The dessert is also available as “mochi” in Japanese or, as here, as “tikoy” in the Filipino version.
- Chinese New Year customs and traditions
The golden fruit
Tangerines are a symbol of gold or money in China. They are often taken as a souvenir to invitations – as a sign of respect and courtesy or as a thank you for a favour. Since the Chinese believe that good things always come in pairs, they only give each other an even number of fruits. They are also used for decoration.
- Chinese customs and traditions Lunar New Year
Red Envelopes
Probably the most popular New Year's custom among young people: receiving red envelopes full of money. They are called “Hong bao” or “red packets”. Married people should distribute the envelopes and only unmarried people are allowed to receive them. The closer you are to the giver, the more money there is usually. So it pays to have a lot of married relatives!
- Customs and Chinese New Year traditions
Fireworks: a tricky tradition
Now a symbol of good luck and joy, according to legend loud rockets and firecrackers were once used to scare off the monster Nian. Later, they simply became an indispensable part of the celebrations. However, due to the extremely high number of injured and dead, they were severely restricted a few years ago and are now banned in many places.
- Chinese New Year customs and traditions
celebrations around the world
According to the International Organization for Migration, around 60 million Chinese and their descendants live outside of China. Chinese New Year means a four-day holiday in countries like Singapore, where 75% of the population is of Chinese descent. Singapore celebrates with lots of light and performances, like here in front of the Marina Bay skyline.
The first day of Chinese New Year falls on January 22 this year. In China and other East Asian countries, it marks the start of two-week celebrations: the festival is also known as the Lunar New Year – and since it marks the beginning of spring, it's also called the Spring Festival.
Traditionally coming the families then get together for a sumptuous feast. Children are often given money in red envelopes called “hong bao”.
With the beginning of the lunar year, the rotation of the Chinese zodiac begins. It covers a twelve-year cycle and is represented by an animal. Legend has it that the Jade Emperor – an important Chinese deity – invited all the animals to a “great race”. He chose the fastest twelve for the signs of the zodiac. It is based on the order in which they appear: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Famous “rabbits”
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People born in the year of the rabbit – like soccer player Lionel Messi – are known to be alert, witty, perceptive and inventive.
Anyone born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 or 2023 is a rabbit. This applies to the US film stars Elliot Page and Eva Longoria, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi, the recently deceased Pope Benedict and the physicist Albert Einstein. Likewise to the Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez († 2014) and the French singer Édith Piaf (†1963).
Each animal year is also assigned to one of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal or water. So, strictly speaking, 2023 is the sign of the Water Rabbit. In China, the rabbit is considered the lucky charm among the twelve signs – in other cultures, however, it does not fare quite as well. Native Americans associated him with a tendency to deceit, while Aztec mythology associates him with drunkenness and promiscuity. However, there is agreement across cultures that the rabbit symbolizes abundance and fertility – the latter probably because the animal reproduces diligently.
In the service of the moon
A possible relationship between rabbits and the moon is discussed in some cultures
Interestingly, in some cultures the rabbit is also closely associated with the moon in Associated – as its signs visible from Earth are said to resemble a rabbit or a hare.
In several East Asian cultures, the rabbit with a mortar and pestle is said to be seen in the moon. In Chinese folklore, the jade rabbit, often depicted as the companion of the moon goddess Chang'e, crushes the elixir of life. There are similar legends about moon rabbits among some native peoples in North and Central America.
From cute to scary: The rabbit in comics and films
Bugs Bunny's most famous quote is, “Eh, what's up doc?”
Warner Brothers' witty carrot-chewing Bugs Bunny and Disney's cheerful rabbit named Thumper from the cartoon “Bambi” represent the kind of animals that humans – after dogs and cats – like to keep as pets.
But rabbits weren't always so cute on screen. In the US-American science fiction psychological thriller “Donnie Darko” from 2001, Jake Gyllenhall played the eponymous character: He takes psychotropic drugs and encounters Frank in his hallucinations, a character in a rabbit costume who manipulates him and incites him to commit crimes .
And who can forget the unfortunate rabbit cooked up in the film 'A Fateful Affair' (1987) starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close – a cautionary tale of one night stands and obsessive love.
Rabbit or bunny?
Always Late: The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland
Okay, a rabbit is not a rabbit – but the two are definitely related. And the famous white rabbit – who was always late even though he had a pocket watch – plays a central role in Lewis Carroll's classic children's book Alice in Wonderland and is perhaps one of the most iconic rabbits in literary history.
The story even inspired Jefferson Airplane to write the song “White Rabbit” in 1967. The band were convinced they had spotted drug references in Carroll's 1865 novel: “'Alice in Wonderland' is a revelation,” said singer Grace Slick in an interview. “'Eat me!' She literally gets high, too big for the room 'Drink me!' The caterpillar sits on a psychedelic mushroom and smokes opium!”
The rabbit as a muse
Jeff Koons' “Rabbit” is considered one of the most iconic works of art of the 20th century
The “Rabbit” series created by American artist Jeff Koons in 1986 includes three identical sculptures made of stainless steel. One of the three copies sold in May 2019 for $91.1 million (€84.2 million), making it the most expensive work by a living artist to come under the hammer at auction.
“Look at 'Rabbit',” Koons once said in an interview. “He's got a carrot in his mouth. And what is that? Is it a vibrator? Is it a politician giving a speech? Is it the Playboy bunny? It's a bit of everything.” >
Another Kind of Bunnies
The Playboy bunny is another iconic reference to this animal's sexual nature. Playboy bunnies, the waitresses at Playboy clubs, wear bunny ears, a strapless corset, black tights, bobtails, bow tie, collar and cuffs.
The rabbit “has a sexual meaning,” said Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire, in a 1967 interview, “because it's a fresh animal, shy, lively, jumping – sexy. First it smells you, then it flees, then it comes back and you feel like stroking it, playing with it. A girl resembles a rabbit. Cheerful, joking,” said the controversial magazine publisher, who died in 2017 at the age of 91.
So cute: chocolate bunnies
Biting: chocolate Easter bunnies
Perhaps one of the “sweeter” stories about bunnies is the one about the Lindt chocolate bunny, which fills the supermarket shelves in Christian countries around Easter every year. The chocolate bunny wrapped in gold foil 1952.
The story goes that the daughter of one of the company's master chocolatiers saw a rabbit in the long grass while the family was having Easter breakfast. However, he disappeared when the girl approached him – she was left inconsolable. To cheer her up, the father came up with the idea of the chocolate bunny.
According to the company website, 150 million Lindt gold bunnies are produced every year and in over Sold in 50 countries. Of course, the supplier also advertises its rabbits on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.
This list could go on forever…
There are so many rabbit depictions in pop culture that this list could go on forever. We end it with the famous transatlantic battle of bunnies – that between battery makers Duracell and Energizer. Although the drum-playing pink Duracell bunny has existed since 1973, the company hasn't trademarked it.
Then in 1988, a lively pink Energizer bunny debuted in an advertisement , which eclipsed the “stamina” of the Duracell bunny with his battery toy that “runs and runs and runs”.
Some trademark lawsuits ensued, and after an out-of-court settlement in 1992, Energizer now has exclusive trademark rights for its rabbit in the United States and Canada, while Duracell owns exclusive rights in the rest of the world.
By the way, the rabbit is also a symbol of longevity in traditional Chinese culture.
Adaptation from English: Suzanne Cords and Verena Greb.