Chinese new year

Chinese Calendar: It is difficult to determine when Chinese New Year is each year, without referring to a Chinese calendar. A Chinese calendar is based on the Western Gregorian and an indigenous lunar-solar calendar system. The lunar-solar calendar divides a year into twelve months of 30 or 29 days, with a leap month every seven years. A Chinese calendar also has a twenty-four jieqi (solar terms) system, closely related to the seasons. There are also the Tiangan (Heavenly Stem) and Dizhi (Earthly Branch), a peculiar Chinese way of counting the years. A combination of 12 Tiangan and 10 Dizhi creates a 60-year cycle. Each of the 12 Tiangan has an animal associated with it. The animals are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.

Celebration of the Chinese New Year: The twenty-four jieqi each consist of fifteen days, of which the first is called Lichun (Beginning of Spring). The first day of Lichun is the Chinese New Year's Day and the entire jieqi is the Chinese New Year season. In 2006, the new year fell on January 29th, and in 2007, it was February 18th. 2005, astrologically the year of the rooster was February 9th. The celebration of Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of Spring, the first of the 24 jieqi. People usually start shopping a month or so before the celebration of the Chinese New Year. They buy gifts, decorations, food and clothing, and transportation systems are overloaded with travelers, who rush back home for a family reunion from all parts of the world. Traditionally, every family gives their house a thorough cleaning, also repainting and redecorating it, days before the New Year. New Year’s Eve is a time of feasting with all the family, and when the clock strikes twelve, fireworks light up the sky. At daybreak, children greet their parents and receive presents of cash in red paper packages. The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year season. On this day, you will see plenty of lanterns on display. It is a delight to watch the lion and dragon dances, while feasting on yuanxiao, which are ball-shaped sweet rice dumplings with stuffing. A few countries issue postage stamps or coins to commemorate the Chinese New Year. The tradition varies in parts, locally, but the spirit underlying the diverse Chinese New Year cultures is the same: a sincere wish of peace and happiness for all.

History of the Chinese New Year Celebration: Several versions of ancient lore agree that the word nian (year) was originally the name of a monster, which preyed on people on the eve of New Year. An old man challenged the monster to devour other animals of prey instead. Therefore, nian got rid of a number of beasts that preyed on people and their domestic animals, and drove the rest away. Then, the old man mounted nian and left, and turned out to be an immortal. The people burn firecrackers to scare away the beast, and use red decorations, as it hates that color. The New Year festivities are said to celebrate the freedom from this monster.