This past week marked the start of the Year of the Snake, with the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and the University of Pittsburgh joined in on the celebrations taking place around the world to mark the day.
Lunar New Year is a holiday that marks the beginning of springtime and a new calendar year according to the lunisolar calendar. The holiday is widely celebrated throughout much of East Asia, most commonly in China. It typically occurs between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20, and lasts from the new moon period to the full moon period, or about 15 days. While the holiday started in Eastern European countries, it is widely celebrated in countries with large Asian communities, especially in the United States.
The University of Pittsburgh and its surrounding community celebrated this new year through the unveiling of an archival gallery exhibition as well as a gathering of students in Posvar’s Global Hub.
“Beyond the Page: Exploring East Asian Book Culture and Printing Technology”
The University Library System Archives and Special Collections ushered in the Lunar New Year this past Wednesday by opening the exhibit “Beyond the Page: Exploring East Asian Book Culture and Printing Technology.”
On Jan. 29, Runxiao Zhu, the head of the East Asian Library, and Hiroyuki Good, the Japanese Studies librarian, co-hosted a gallery talk that gave audience members a comprehensive look into the archival materials on display in Hillman Library.
The East Asian Library was founded by the University Library System in 1965 to house Chinese and Japanese archival materials and has since expanded to also include Korean materials. EAL is home to one of the most premier collections of East Asian materials, ranking 14th in North America.
Zhu and Good unveiled the curated collection of East Asian printing technologies and historical texts ranging from the 12th to 20th centuries and explained the cultural significance that these pieces had on the way knowledge was shaped and produced in these cultures. The exhibit features a blend of original materials, with pieces dating as far back as 1375, as well as reproductions of original materials.
Zhu, who began working at Pitt in September of 2023, wanted to find a way to display East Asian archival pieces to the wider university community since starting her role with EAL.
“When I came to Pitt, I thought [the library] should do something to teach students and the community about how East Asian books were made,” Zhu said. “I worked with my coworkers to acquire materials, many of which were gifts from the National Central Library in Taiwan, and now we have this exhibit here in the library.”
Jay Gilmore, a digital preservationist for the University, was invited by Zhu to attend the talk and came out of personal interest in East Asian studies.
“I really like the Lunar New Year, so I was really excited to come and get to see the exhibit,” Gilmore said. “I’ve done some work on the back end for some of the pieces in the exhibit, so it’s really nice to get to see them on display here.”
The “Beyond the Page” exhibit materials can be found on display in the Hillman Library, floor 3, Archives and Special Collections Exhibit Cases.
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Posvar Global Hub’s Lunar New Year’s Celebration
Red lanterns, fragrant dumplings and laughter filled the Posvar Global Hub on Jan. 22 as participants took part in the annual Lunar New Year celebration. Hosted by the Asian Studies Center, the event celebrated the start of Lunar New Year and togetherness in the Pitt community.
The event was held in the center of the Posvar Global Hub, its doors open for all members of the Pitt community. Red lanterns adorned the ceiling, complete with riddles hanging for participants to read and try to solve, a common tradition for the celebration. Food and hot tea lined a long wooden table at the edge of the hub, drawing in all who passed by with the scent of steamed pork and fried vegetable dumplings. Sauce and chopsticks accented the food, alongside fliers for upcoming Asian Studies events and a place for attendees to sign in and note their interest in Asian Studies certificate information.
Linda Lieu, one of the event organizers and assistant director for partnerships and programming at the Asian Studies Center, spoke to the crowd at the Posvar Global Hub about Lunar New Year and the zodiac calendar. She told the crowd about the wood snake, this year’s zodiac, and the harmony created from the contrast of the snake and wood characteristics.
The Asian Studies Center hosts collaborative events like one between the Asian Studies and the Film and Media Studies departments called the Screenshot Asia Film Festival, where films are shown on campus and throughout Pittsburgh. Kirsten Strayer, the Screenshot Asia program coordinator, spoke on Screenshot Asia and the content of the festival.
“All the shows are free for students … It’s downtown at the Harris or here on campus, and we show films from all over Asia and Asian American films, so we show films from Japan, Korea, India, China, Taiwan, many Southeast Asian countries,” Strayer said.