4-H Wizard Space

Happy New Year!

“Happy New Year!” 

“Why do you say Happy New Year!?”

“What!? Why? Because today is the First Day of the New Year! Happy Happy New Year! to everybody!”

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The Year of the Pig!

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Intro to Lunar New Year!Chinese New Year is popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Beginning of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coordination with the changes of Nature). Chinese New Year, also celebrated by Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians, etc. It is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays (The second most important one is the Moon Festival). The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival.
Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as Chúxì ( ??). Chu literally means “change” and xi means “Eve”.
Celebrated internationally in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese and non-ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for Chinese and has had a strong influence on the New Year celebrations of its neighbors. These include Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians, the Nepalese and the Bhutanese.

(——From Wikipedia)

HistoryIt is unclear when the beginning of the year was celebrated before the Qin Dynasty. It is possible that the beginning of the year began with month 1 during the Xia Dynasty, month 12 during the Shang Dynasty, and month 11 during the Zhou Dynasty in China^{[citation needed]}. We know that intercalary months, used to keep the lunar calendar synchronized with the sun, were added after month 12 during both the Shang Dynasty (according to surviving oracle bones) and the Zhou Dynasty (according to Sima Qian). The first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang changed the beginning of the year to month 10 in 221 BC. Whether the New Year was celebrated at the beginning of month 10, of month 1, or both is unknown. In 104 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established month 1 as the beginning of the year, where it remains.

(——From Wikipedia)

New Year Dates

Main article: Chinese Astrology

This year’s Lunar New Year is on February 18. It is the year of the pig^[1]. The Chinese New Year dates are determined by the lunisolar Chinese calendar, which is also used in countries that have adopted or have been influenced by Han culture, notably the Koreans, the Japanese, the Filipinos, the Thai, the Vietnamese and the pagan Bulgars.

Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon (some sources include New Year’s Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days in duration. In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, on a date between January 22 and February 20. This means that the holiday usually falls on the second (very rarely third) new moon after the winter solstice. In traditional Chinese Culture, Lichun is a solar term marking the start of spring, which usually falls on either February 4 or 5…..

The dates for the Spring Festival from 1996 to 2019 (in the Gregorian calendar) are listed below, along with the year’s presiding animal zodiac and its earthly branch. The names of the earthly branches have no English counterparts and are not the Chinese translations of the animals.

Many non-Chinese confuse their Chinese birth-year with their Gregorian birth-year. As the Chinese New Year starts in late January to mid February, the Chinese year dates from 1 January until that day in the new Gregorian year remain unchanged from the previous Gregorian year. For example, the 1989 year of the snake began on 6 February 1989. The year 1990 is considered by some people to be the year of the horse. However, the 1989 year of the snake officially ended on 26 January 1990. This means that anyone born from January 1 to 25 January 1990 was actually born in the year of the snake rather than the year of the horse.

Many online Chinese Sign calculators do not account for the non-alignment of the two calendars, incorrectly using Gregorian-calendar years rather than official Chinese New Year dates.

See Chinese astrology for a list of Chinese New Year dates for every year from 1900 to 2020, covering one full sexagesimal cycle (1924–1983) and portions of two others.

(——From Wikipedia)

Reunion DinnerA reunion dinner is held on New Year’s Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration. The venue will usually be in the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year’s Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish. Fish (?, yú) is included, but not eaten up completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase ???? (nián nián y?u yú), which means “may there be surpluses every year”, sounds the same as “may there be fish every year.”Buddha’s delight (Traditional Chinese: ???; Simplified Chinese: ???; pinyin: luóhàn zh?i), an elaborate vegetarian dish traditionally comprising 18 ingredients, is sometimes served by Chinese families on the eve and the first day of the New Year. A type of black hair-like moss, pronounced “fat choy” in Cantonese, is also featured in Buddha’s delight and other dishes, since its name sounds similar to “prosperity.”. Hakkas usually serve kiu nyuk (??) and ngiong tiu fu.Most Northerners serve dumplings as the main dish in this festive season and many Chinese around the world do the same. It is believed that dumplings (??, ji?ozi) resemble ancient Chinese gold ingots (???, pinyin, j?n yuán b?o). Mandarin oranges are the most popular and most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year — jin ju (???) or kam (?) in Cantonese.Red packets for the immediate family is sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. These packets often contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability.

(——From Wikipedia)

First Day of the New YearThe first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them.

Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time where families will pay a visit to their oldest and most senior member of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

Some families may invite a Lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises.

(——From Wikipedia)

(An excited kid, RAISING HER LANTERN:)

GreetingsThe Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, often referred to as ??? (Jíxiánghùa), or loosely translated as auspicious words or phrases. Some of the most common examples may include:

Happy New Year!Simplified Chinese: ????; Traditional Chinese: ????; pinyin: X?nnián kuàilè; Hokkien POJ: Sin-nî khòai-lo?k; Cantonese: Sun nin fai lok. A more contemporary greeting reflective of western influences, it literally translates from the greeting “Happy new year” more common in the west. But in northern parts of China, traditionally people say Simplified Chinese: ???; pinyin: Guo Nian Hao instead of Simplified Chinese: ????, to differentiate it from the international new year. And ??? can be used from the first day to the fifth day of Chinese new year.

Congratulations and be prosperous!Simplified Chinese: ????; Traditional Chinese: ????; pinyin: G?ngx? f?cái; Hokkien Keong hee huat chye (POJ: Kiong-hí hoat-châi); Cantonese: Gung hei fat choi; Hakka: Kung hei fat choi, which loosely translates to “Congratulations and be prosperous”. Often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with “Happy new year”, its usage dates back several centuries. While the first two words of this phrase had a much longer historical significance (legend has it that the congratulatory messages were traded for surviving the ravaging beast of Nian, although in practical terms it may also involve surviving the harsh winter conditions), the last two words were added later as ideas of capitalism and consumerism became more significant in Chinese societies around the world. The saying is now commonly heard in English speaking communities for greetings during Chinese New Year in parts of the world where there is a sizable Chinese-speaking community, including overseas Chinese communities that have been resident for several generations, relatively recent immigrants from Greater China, and those who are transit migrants (particularly students).

(——From Wikipedia)

Other Greetings (all Four-Character Words)

???? ???? ???? ????
???? ???? ???? ????
???? ???? ???? ????
???? ???? ???? ????
???? ???? ???? ????

Displaying of Spring Couplets

It’s a Chinese custom to display banners in red colour with lucky wordings like ‘Advance in Career’, ‘Advance in Studies’, etc. This custom derived from the legend of “Nian”, that the display of red colour expels the beast.Couplets means pairs of banners, usually written in vertical format consisting of two relating phrases.

Music of New Year

People love playing joyous music during Chinese New Year. All the songs carry joyful messages like “good health” etc.

Below are some joyful songs. Enjoy! ^o^

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am by Rouchang and is filed under Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.