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Happy Year of The Dragon!
Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays.
In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēng Yuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī (除夕) or "Eve of the Passing Year." Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Koreans (Seollal), and Bhutanese (Losar), Mongols (Tsagaan Sar), Vietnamese (Tết), and the Japanese before 1873 (Oshogatsu).
In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Australia Post, Canada Post, and the US Postal Service issue New Year's themed stamps.
Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.
Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, outside China its years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year beginning in 2012 AD the "Chinese Year" 4710, 4709, or 4649.
Animal Branch New Year dates
鼠 Rat 子 Zǐ February 19, 1996 February 7, 2008 January 25, 2020
牛 Ox 丑 Chǒu February 7, 1997 January 26, 2009 February 12, 2021
虎 Tiger 寅 Yín January 28, 1998 February 14, 2010 February 1, 2022
兔 Rabbit 卯 Mǎo February 16, 1999 February 3, 2011 January 22, 2023
龍 Dragon 辰 Chen February 5, 2000 January 23, 2012 February 10, 2024
蛇 Snake 巳 Sì January 24, 2001 February 10, 2013 January 29, 2025
馬 Horse 午 Wǔ February 12, 2002 January 31, 2014 February 17, 2026
羊 Goat 未 Wèi February 1, 2003 February 19, 2015 February 7, 2027
猴 Monkey 申 Shēn January 22, 2004 February 8, 2016 January 27, 2028
雞 Rooster 酉 Yǒu February 9, 2005 January 28, 2017 February 13, 2029
狗 Dog 戌 Xū January 29, 2006 February 16, 2018 February 3, 2030
豬 Pig 亥 Hài February 18, 2007 February 5, 2019 January 23, 2031
The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year. The calendar is also used in countries that have adopted or have been influenced by Han culture, notably the Koreans, Japanese and Vietnamese, and may have a common ancestry with the similar New Year festivals outside East Asia, such as Iran, and historically, the Bulgars lands.
According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian (Chinese: 年; pinyin: nián). Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the colour red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.
Celebrations take place in the preceeding days to the New Year Day and for 15 days afterwards.
This information comes from the good people who wrote this on Wikipedia.
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