Chinese New Year is the biggest vacation celebrated among Chinese people. It is frequently referred to as the spring festival because it signals the beginning of spring. It is a clip when households and friends get together to state adieu to the old and welcome the new. It originally lasted for 15 yearss. but now merely lasts for 5 to 7 yearss. The exact beginning of this Chinese New Year vacation is excessively old to be traced. but many accounts still exist. One thought is that the vacation originated when a animal named Nian ( which means twelvemonth in Chinese ) came out the dark before the new twelvemonth and started to feed on the people in the small towns. Of class. the people were really frightened by this monster and so a brave old adult male went up to the animal and said to him that alternatively of eating the people of the small towns. he should eat the other animals that frightened these people. Nian followed the old man’s petition and all of the animals were chased into the wood. The old adult male rode off on Nian’s back. and as it turns out. the adult male was an immortal God. The people of the small town were really thankful to the old adult male for giving them a peaceable life.

Before the old adult male left for good. he told the people to set up ruddy paper ornaments on their Windowss and doors at the beginning of each new twelvemonth because the colour red scared the animal. They besides set off bangers to frighten away the atrocious animal. This is merely one thought about how Chinese New Year began. there are many other thoughts about how this jubilation began. Most people merely observe the vacation without truly cognizing why. Another interesting thing about Chinese New Year is that really few people know when this vacation is celebrated without looking at a traditional Chinese calendar because it ne’er falls on the same twenty-four hours. Chinese New Year dates alterations every twelvemonth. and many are still non certain why. I asked myself the same inquiry and eventually I figured out. This is because Chinese New twelvemonth follows the Chinese Lunar Calendar which is different with the western calendar which is the Gregorian Calendar. The first twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year starts on the New Moon closest to spring.

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The Chinese calendar is really different from the Western calendar. The primary difference is that the months of the Chinese calendar are straight tied to the stages of the Moon. These stages. nevertheless. make non suit in with the length of the twelvemonth as measured by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun. The Western calendar is fixed in the sense that each New Year begins on Solar or in other words. the Western calendar day of the month January foremost. Because the Chinese New Year must correlate with a Moon stage. it falls every bit early as January 22nd and every bit tardily as February 19th on the Western calendar. This has important deductions for Chinese Astrology. First. nevertheless. it’s of import to understand the primary difference between Chinese and Western star divination. Chinese star divination focal points on the twelvemonth mark. and Western star divination focal points on the month mark such as Libra. Virgo and etc. However. Chinese Astrology. have month marks. This can be really confusing because the month marks have the same name as the twelvemonth marks.

Furthermore. when we say a Chinese mark corresponds to a Western mark. an illustration will be an Ox to Capricorn. it does non intend the individual was born in a Capricorn month. Rather. we mean the person’s Chinese year-sign traits approximately correspond to the traits of that Western mark. Adding to the confusion is the fact we can’t cognize a person’s Western mark merely by cognizing the person’s Chinese month mark. Let me give you an illustration. a individual born on the first twenty-four hours of the 7th month which means July 1 in Western nomenclature of the Chinese calendar twelvemonth 1979 was really born on August 23rd of the Western calendar. Since July 1st is Cancer and August 23 is Leo. it’s easy to see the confusion. As with the months. neither do Chinese and Western old ages match precisely. Thus. even though we might cognize a person’s Chinese mark. we still can non be certain of their twelvemonth of birth. Conversely. if we know a person’s twelvemonth of birth. we can non be certain of their Chinese mark.

Let’s say person was born in 1978 ( Chinese twelvemonth of the Horse ) on the Western calendar. They would merely be the Horse mark if born after February 6th. Since. Chinese New Year was February7th by the Western calendar. The Chinese Horse twelvemonth 1978 really has the Western calendar day of the months included in the period February 7. 1978 through January 27. 1979. This is particularly of import when measuring compatibility. Signs most compatible with the Horse ( Tiger and Dog ) are non about so compatible with the Snake. which is the mark of people born in 1978 but earlier than February 7th on the Western calendar.

I hope you will acquire a clearer position about the differences of the Chinese Lunar Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar. And now. Now lets talk about the zodiac marks in the Chinese star divination. which are the 12 animate beings. Similar with Western star divination. it has besides 12 marks. but alternatively of altering every month. they change every twelvemonth. Each zodiac animate being recur every 12th twelvemonth. Each animate being in the Chinese zodiac has its ain alone qualities that affect everyone. if you believe in this kind of thing. which I wholly do. On February 10th. 2012. we enter the twelvemonth of the Snake. which means we’re all in for a twelvemonth of pounding our caputs into things. registering our hooves. and being competitory for no ground.

Even with merely 12 marks. Chinese star divination tallies on a 60-year rhythm. Elementss come into drama. There are 5 chief elements which are Earth. Fire. Water. Wood. and Metal. every bit good as our old friends Yin ( female ) and Yang ( male ) . So as we leave 2012. the twelvemonth of the Yang Water Dragon. we enter the 2013 and will be the twelvemonth of the Yin Water Snake. and so on.

Let’s talk about what mark you are!

If you’re born in October like me. and you think you already cognize your birth mark because you read it on a placemat in a Chinese eating house when you were a child. opportunities are it was incorrect. Placemats ever say something like “1997 = Rat” when it would be more accurate to state. “February 19. 1996 to February 7. 1997 = Rat” because Chinese New Year comes a month after Western New Year. So if you’re born in January of 1996. you’re non a Rat. you’re really a Pig. That might come as a alleviation to you. because Pig are amazing but. as we’ll see. Rats have their appeals excessively. Below is the zodiac following with its several twelvemonth and features. See which zodiac belongs to you.

RAT ( 1924. 1936. 1948. 1960. 1972. 1984. 1996. 2008 ) – If you’re born in a rat twelvemonth. you’re retentive. charming. and clever. Remember Templeton in Charlotte’s Web? Who turned out to be a good cat after all. even though he hoarded rotten eggs? You make a good friend. being loyal and generous to those in your battalion. You might be avaricious. covetous. and manipulative. though. so watch it.

OX ( 1925. 1937. 1949. 1961. 1973. 1985. 1997. 2009 ) – The ox is powerful. composure. goal-oriented. and patient. which is a nice manner of stating obstinate as snake pit. You can besides be introverted. and sometimes lonely and insecure.

TIGER ( 1926. 1938. 1950. 1962. 1974. 1986. 1998. 2010 ) – You are one sexy animate being. tiger. every bit good as being make bolding. restless. unpredictable. warm. and sincere.

RABBIT ( 1927. 1939. 1951. 1963. 1975. 1987. 1999. 2011 ) – Aw. you’re a bunny! Me. excessively. Soft. gracious. elegant. shy. lucky. and sort of a pushover. you like to be around friends and household but you hate it when people try to pick you up by your ears. Or cut off your pes for good fortune.

DRAGON ( 1928. 1940. 1952. 1964. 1976. 1988. 2000. 2012 ) – Dragons are dignified. fiery. warm-hearted. competitory. and do good leaders. They can besides be bizarre. chesty. and they will blare people who annoy them with some chilling verbal fire. That can truly scour the enamel off your dentitions. Dragon. so seek to maintain your cool and see your tooth doctor on a regular basis.

SNAKE ( 1929. 1941. 1953. 1965. 1977. 1989. 2001. 2013 ) – Snakes are deep. mystical. good with money. a small unsafe. gregarious. and intuitive. They can besides be leery. cold ( unless they stay under their heat lamps ) . and smothering ( if they decide they want to maintain you everlastingly and/or eat you head-first ) .

HORSE ( 1930. 1942. 1954. 1966. 1978. 1990. 2002. 2014 ) – Horses need to roll. which some people think makes them fickle. unmoored. and dying. But Equus caballus lovers know that all that musculus. mental and otherwise. demands to be used or else it goes soft! Cheerful and popular. overworked Equus caballuss have besides been known to fall asleep standing up. Just throw a cover over them. they’ll be all right.

SHEEP ( 1931. 1943. 1955. 1967. 1979. 1991. 2003. 2015 ) – Sheep are diffident. peaceable lone wolfs who love nil more than fussing the heck out of person. This besides means that they worry a batch. so if you have a Sheep for a parent. they’ll freak out excess if they haven’t heard from you recently. They merely necessitate a small reassurance to maintain them warm and downy.

MONKEY ( 1932. 1944. 1956. 1968. 1980. 1992. 2004. 2016 ) – Monkeys are discoverers and problem-solvers. They love facts and can acquire a small competitory ; they can be the type who ever needs to be right. and frankly they’re slightly conceited. What they truly need is to hold some merriment!

ROOSTER ( 1933. 1945. 1957. 1969. 1981. 1993. 2005. 2017 ) – You might believe a Rooster would be tittuping about. waking people up far excessively early in the forenoon. but really Cocks are orderly. organized. conservative. and a small spot proud of themselves.

DOG ( 1934. 1946. 1958. 1970. 1982. 1994. 2006. 2018 ) – Dogs can be. good. Dogs. Sure. they’re loyal. carnival. and unpretentious. but look out for those small white lies they tell you. girlfriend. They can be a small Moody and have problem happening true love unless they can remain in touch with their open-minded. fond side. and have regular baths to maintain the fleas off.

PIG ( 1935. 1947. 1959. 1971. 1983. 1995. 2007. 2019 ) – Pigs are the best. Always ready to assist out a friend and ne’er snobbish. a Pig will be happy to assist you travel that couch. every bit long as she’s decently thanked in return. A naif. fleeceable Pig will shortly be your worst enemy if you take advantage.

So which zodiac mark do you belong?

Image 2: Chinese New Year ornaments that normally used to hang around the house.

Image 3: Chinese New Year ornaments that normally used to glue in forepart of the door.

We Chinese people tend to believe in Feng Shui which means the pattern of conveying harmoniousness and peace into your life. In my household. during Chinese New Year. we will rearrange our furnitures and we will acquire rid of some of the old furnitures and acquire a new set. Before the start of Chinese New Year. we will clean our house an make certain everything looks new and clean.

After exhaustively cleansing the place. we will adorn the house with auspicious ruddy colour decor points transporting aureate letterings with the symbols of Happiness. Longevity. Prosperity. etc. Assorted flowers. . Lucky Bamboo. Plum Blossoms and others are used in the Chinese New Year place decor harmonizing to the specific significance of each flower. We will hang the decors around the house and we will besides lodge the decors in forepart of our house door. Image 2 and 3 are some of the Chinese New Year ornament images. Decorations of the entrance zodiac animate being are besides displayed. Red and gold are really popular colourss to adorn with. Red represents power felicity. verve ( and scares off animals ) . Gold represents wealth and good luck.

Image 4: The Jade Emporer Image 5: Kitchen God

Besides that. you will besides see the mysterious knot symbol used in legion decor points. every bit good as images of many ancient Gods venerated in Chinese civilization. such as Guan Yu. the God of War and Justice. the Jade Emperor. every bit good as the popular Kitchen God. Basically. all the attempts are directed towards making clean and harmonious energy in your place in order to welcome the approvals of the New Year.

Chinese New Year will last for up to 15 yearss. now let’s talk about what we Chinese do during the 15 yearss of Chinese New Year and the twenty-four hours before the start of Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Eve

Image 6: Fatt Choy Image 7: Sea Cucumber This twenty-four hours is where all relations will garner at the expansive parent house for reunion dinner. Family members will be seated together in one tabular array to eat the repast. Reunion dinner includes poulet. porc. sea Cucumis sativus. Cucumis sativus. fish and many more. Celebrated dishes of the reunion dinner which are White steamed poulet. Fatt Choy which means a type of black hair-like algae. Abalone and etc. Me and my household will drive back to our hometown which is in Ipoh. Perak and pass a twosome of darks there with my grandparents and relations.

Day 1

The first twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year which means Xin Nian Kuai Le ( Happy Chinese New Year ) ! it is celebrated the most widely by the Buddhists. Many metropoliss across the universe see the first two yearss of Chinese New Year to be a public vacation. concerns and offices are normally closed. On the first twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year. Buddhists typically refrain from eating meat or killing animate beings. Fireworks. king of beasts dances. and parades will make full the streets. Senior members of the household are particularly honored. and younger people receive Ang Pao ( Money in Red envelopes ) and Sweets from their seniors. In my household. on the first twenty-four hours. me and my siblings will dress into our new apparels. And so we will hold an Ang Pao giving ceremonial. We will foremost recognize our parents by kneeling down on the floor. as a signifier of regard. And so we will wish our parents. we will get down our wants with Gong Xi Fa Chai which means wishing you to be comfortable in the approaching twelvemonth. and following with other wants. For illustration. Sheng Ti Jian Kang ( Good Health ) . Cai Yuan Gun Gun ( Good Wealth ) and many other more. And so. we will get down our twenty-four hours with sing or relations and friends.

Day 2

The 2nd twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year is considered as Cai Shen. besides known as the God of Wealth’s birthday. Some consider this twenty-four hours to be of import for Canis familiariss and honor them with dainties! Friends and household members are typically visited. because the undermentioned twenty-four hours is considered a bad twenty-four hours to socialise away from place. Me and my household members will foremost travel to the temple for praying intent. in order to acquire approval by the Gods above to hold a good life in front. After that. we will go on to make sing.

Day 3

In direct contrast with the first two yearss of Chinese New Year. twenty-four hours three is considered a bad twenty-four hours to see friends and household. Superstitious and Orthodox followings choose to stay at place. or travel to hold their lucks told at a temple dedicated to the God of Wealth.

Day 4

Although Chinese New Year traditions and superstitious notions persist. concern returns to normal on the 4th twenty-four hours in many topographic points. Corporations may hold
section dinners or societal events for their employees.

Day 5

Dumplings are consumed in mainland China on twenty-four hours five. Some groups shoot bangers to hopefully convey approvals from Guan Yu — a celebrated Chinese general considered the Taoist God of War.

Day 6

Offices reopen and concern returns to normal in topographic points that observe the first five yearss of Chinese New Year as a public vacation. Again. more bangers are thrown to maintain off malicious liquors who may interfere with concern.

Day 7

Day seven is Ren Re. Means its everyone’s birthday. it is considered by many to be the twenty-four hours that everyone grows one twelvemonth older. Buddhists do non eat meat. and Chinese communities in Southeast Asia consume natural fish salad to guarantee prosperity.

Day 8

The 8th twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year is the Eve of the Jade Emperor’s birthday ; particular household dinners are held to honour Yu Huang. the Ruler of Heaven. Many employers will thank their employees with nutrient.

Day 9

The birthday of the Jade Emperor is considered excess of import by the Hokkien Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore. Prayers are offered and incense is illuminated. Sugarcane is considered a traditional offering. Sugarcane will be the chief offerings because back in the yesteryear.

Day 10

Recognition and offerings continue to be offered to the Jade Emperor on twenty-four hours 10.

Day 11 – 12

Aside from household dinners. these yearss are comparatively quiet on Chinese New Year.

Day 13

After a gluttonous 12 yearss of eating. everyone converts to vegetarian on the 13th twenty-four hours as a peace offering to weary digestive systems. Day 13 is largely dedicated to Guan Yu. the God of War. Although everyone is long since back to work. concerns will offer particular thanks to the celebrated general.

Day 14

Day 14 is spent resting and fixing for the Lantern Festival — the concluding
Chinese New Year runaway. Day 15

Considered by many to be the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day. the fifteenth and last twenty-four hours of Chinese New Year brings another unit of ammunition of pyrotechnics. shows. and jubilation. Most romantic of the Chinese New Year traditions. individual adult females one time wrote contact information on oranges. so threw them into the river. Men would roll up the oranges and find if they would take a opportunity with contact based on the sugariness or tartness of the orange! Not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival. which is sometimes besides referred to as the Lantern Festival. tapers are lit everyplace to pull friendly liquors. Large emanations walk the streets with tapers and lanterns.

During the Chinese New Year’s jubilation. people participate in many traditional activities. The Chinese believe that as they enter a new twelvemonth. they should set behind them all things of the yesteryear. They clean their houses. pay off debts. buy new apparels. paint their doors and window window glasss. and even acquire new haircuts. These activities symbolize new life and new beginnings.

Activities like cleaning the house must be done before the start of Chinese New Year. If a individual who use broom during the Chinese New Year period. he or she will be said to hold bad fortune in future. Homes are decorated with flowers and paper ornaments saying wants of prosperity. good fortune. felicity. good luck. wealth. and length of service for the approaching twelvemonth. Decorations of the entrance zodiac animate being are besides displayed. Red and gold are really popular colourss to adorn with. Red represents power felicity. verve ( and scares off animals ) . Gold represents wealth and good luck.

One really of import tradition of the Chinese New Year is interchanging gifts. A traditional gift that is given is little ruddy envelopes filled with “lucky money” . These envelopes are given to kids by their household and friends. The ruddy colour is used to convey good luck. and the money interior is used by the kids to purchase holiday dainties. These envelopes symbolize the giving of good luck.

Food is besides really of import to New Year’s jubilations. Families and friends get together for big banquets. Before they eat. they place their nutrient on alters and do offerings to the Gods. The nutrients served at these banquets vary. but what is served is ever a tradition for that household.

The firedrake is another popular symbol for Chinese New Year. It is a symbol of strength. goodness. and good fortune. and supernatural forces. The firedrake is said to be a fabulous combination of many animate beings. During New Years. one of the chief events is a big parade down the metropolis streets. As portion of this parade. people dress up in firedrake costumes and dance down the streets. These costumes are made of brilliantly colored silk and decorated really abundantly. Some of the firedrakes are 100 pess long! Work force and male childs perform intricate firedrake dances with one individual pull stringsing the caput of the firedrake and the remainder traveling the organic structure.

A Chinese New Year jubilation would non be complete without pyrotechnics. There are many beliefs about why pyrotechnics are used. One is that the noise wakes up the firedrake who will wing across the sky to convey the spring rain for the harvests. Another belief is that the noise of the pyrotechnics is supposed to frighten away all evil liquors and bad lucks. forestalling them from coming into the new twelvemonth. In fact. gunpowder was invented in China over 1000 old ages ago for that really purpose. Firecrackers are thrown at the pess of the firedrakes in the parade to maintain them wake up for the jubilation. The firedrakes are believed to kip the remainder of the twelvemonth.

The Eve of the New Year is the most purely ascertained portion of the vacation. It starts out with a late dark banquet with members of the household. Ancestors are honored and offering of nutrient and incense are made to the Gods. At the work stoppage of midnight. the observing truly begins. The sky is filled with pyrotechnics and the streets are filled with people wishing each other a happy new twelvemonth. The following forenoon. gifts are exchanged among household members and friends. During the staying yearss of the jubilation. clip is spent sing friends and wishing them luck in the new twelvemonth. New Years Eve and the first three yearss of the new twelvemonth are officially observed as a vacation. During this clip the bulk of concerns ( with the exclusion of film theatres and eating houses ) shut down for the celebrating. Peoples return to work someplace between the fifth and eight twenty-four hours of the new twelvemonth. but the spirit of jubilation stopping points through the Festival of Lanterns on the fifteenth twenty-four hours of the new twelvemonth. After this. life takes on it’s normal modus operandis once more.

It is of import to retrieve that Chinese New Year is non merely celebrated in China. Anywhere there are Chinese people. there is a Chinese New Year jubilation. The specific activities of the jubilation frequently vary depending on the part. but the basic rules are the same.

Mentions:

Cech. M. ( 1991 ) . Globalchild: Multicultural Resources for Young Children. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Chinese New Year Celebration Box Guide. ( 1993 ) . Lakeshore Learning Materials.

Singing. R. ( 1992 ) . Chinese New Year’s Dragon Teacher’s Guide. In Multicultural Celebrations. Cleveland. Ohio: Modern Curriculum Press.

Santino. J. F. ( 1990 ) Calendar. In The New Book of Knowledge ( Vol. 3 pp 11-17 ) Nutmeg state: Grolier Inc.

Tan Nan Junior College of Technology. ( 1996 ) . Chinese New Year. [ On-line ] . Available: hypertext transfer protocol: //peacock. tnjc. edu. tw/NEW/new twelvemonth. hypertext markup language.

Warren. J. & A ; McKinnon. E. ( 1988 ) . Small World Celebrations. Everett. WA: Warren.

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