For more than 2,000 years, the Chinese Lunar New Year has been a commemoration of family, faith and ancient mythology.

The Chinese Student Association (CSA) will host its 41st annual Lunar New Year Show tomorrow night to commemorate the holiday, which begins Feb. 7 and lasts 15 days.

“This is our biggest event of the year,” said Ruolan Liu, internal vice president of CSA and coordinator for the event.

The show will present performances from the Seattle Chinese Orchestra, the Beijing Opera, the Hengda Dance Academy, as well as Jay Chou, a famous Taiwanese singer and actor. There will also be tai chi, wushu and lion dancing demonstrations and a performance from the Flying Sneakers Crew, a local Asian break dancing group.

The story behind the Lunar New Year involves an ancient Chinese legend in which a man-eating beast named Nian (Chinese for “year”) came from the mountains once a year to prey on humans. People later learned that the monster was fearful of loud noises and the color red, so they fought him off by lighting fireworks and painting doors and window frames red.

Unlike the Western New Year on Jan. 1, which lasts only one night, the Chinese continue to celebrate for fifteen days after the first official day of the new year. Each day has special significance and rituals that people abide by, such as abstaining from meat, visiting close relatives the first day and visiting graves of kin who have died in the past three years on the third day.

All attendees of the CSA event will receive traditional red gift envelopes and a raffle ticket. Throughout the evening, gift certificates and coupons will be given to audience members with winning tickets.

Liu hopes that students, especially Chinese students far from home, will be encouraged to come.

“It’s not only a way for people to come and see our traditions but for Chinese students to come and celebrate who can’t go back home and see family for the holiday,” she said.

[Reach reporter Ben Schock at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]