Kung Hei Fat Choi!!
In China, as well as those countries outside of China with large populations of Chinese, one event is celebrated with much preparation, and even more funfare – the Chinese New Year, also called as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. It is a festival much anticipated by many people, not all of them Chinese. The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar cycles. The lunar cycle takes about 29.5 days and in order to sychronize with the traditional solar calendar, the chinese have a leap year every few years (usually, seven years out of a 19-year cycle). It’s the same concept as having a leap year every four years for the traditional Gregorian calendar. This would explain why the Chinese New Year falls on a different day (in the Gregorian Calendar) every year.
The holiday is celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and family ancestors.”
Dragon dance
The Chinese Zodiac
Animal | Branch | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Rat | Zi | February 19, 1996 | February 7, 2008 |
Ox | Chou | February 7, 1997 | January 26, 2009 |
Tiger | Yin | January 28, 1998 | February 14, 2010 |
Rabbit | Mao | February 16, 1999 | February 3, 2011 |
Dragon | Chen | February 5, 2000 | January 23, 2012 |
Snake | Si | January 24, 2001 | February 10, 2013 |
Horse | Wu | February 12, 2002 | January 31, 2014 |
Sheep | Wei | February 1, 2003 | February 19, 2015 |
Monkey | Shen | January 22, 2004 | February 8, 2016 |
Rooster | You | February 9, 2005 | January 28, 2017 |
Dog | Xu | January 29, 2006 | February 16, 2018 |
Pig | Hai | February 18, 2007 | February 5, 2019 |
Taboos & Superstituions
Here are some taboos and superstitions for the Chinese New Year:
House Cleaning – the entire house must be cleaned before the 1st day of the new year. At the same time, cleaning equipment must be put away, and there is to be no sweeping or dusting during New Year’s day. After New Year’s day, sweeping may be done but dust and rubbish must never be swept out of the house by the front door – to avoid good fortune being “swept away.” Also, the dust/rubbish should never be taken out until the fifth day. There is a belief that if you do this, you are actually “sweeping one of the family away.”
Firecrackers – welcoming in the New Year and sending out the old one. At midnight, all doors and windows have to be open so that the old year can go out.
Debts – all debts had to be paid before New Year’s day and there is no lending to be done at all on this day.
New Year at Glorietta 4
Sources:
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_new_year
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(zodiac)
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/taboos.html
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