Chinese New Year
Well its Chinese New Year on the 22nd of January this year. The date of the Chinese New Year is determined by the lunar calendar. Each year is named after one of the 12 symbolic animals in sequence. This year, 4702 is known as the year of the Monkey.
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The public holiday for New Year lasts 3 days in China. The 15th day of the New Year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a large parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every seven years out of their 19-yearcycle. This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honour of Heaven and Earth, the Gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals preformed during the new year celebrations, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honours the past and present generations.
Why is Chinese years named after Animals?
The
Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating
from 2600BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac.
Like the Western calendar, The Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the
start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore,
because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere
between late January and the middle of February. This year it falls on February
12th. A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years
each.
The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal.
Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him
before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a
reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese
believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound
influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your
heart."
What year of the animal was I born in?
Well
have a look at the table below to find out.
\/