Xin Nián Kuài Lè! Happy Chinese New Year!
February 3, 2011 – Chinese New Year of the Metal Rabbit
From Bangkok to New York's Chinatown, the Chinese New Year is the pinnacle celebration for billions of Chinese people around the world. The Chinese New Year is an important and elaborate holiday in Chinese culture. More than any other, the Chinese New Year stresses the significance of familial ties.
Chinese New Year 2011, the Year of the Metal Rabbit, begins on February 03rd and continues for 15 days until the full moon February 18.
Chinese Zodiac Animal Signs
The Chinese calendar is divided in a 12-year cycle of animal signs, which continually repeat themselves. These twelve signs are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram (Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar (Pig).
Each of the first seven days of the Chinese New Year is associated with the birthday of a specific animal.
The first day is the birthday of the chicken, the second is the birthday of the dog; the third is pig and the fourth is the sheep. The birthday of the ox and cattle is celebrated on the fifth day, while the horse's birthday is the sixth day. The seventh day is known as the birthday of man, on which all Chinese traditionally celebrate their birthday and become a year older.
Chinese New Year 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, begins on February 03rd and continues for 15 days, through the end of the full moon.
The biggest celebration during the two-week period is on the eve of the holiday. Much like New Year's Eve in the West, the Chinese celebrate their New Year with parties and fireworks displays. Communal feasts are held with a special place set at the table to honor the presence of ancestors. Their spirits, together with those still living, celebrate the New Year together as one community.
The color red is traditionally associated with luck and good fortune in the Chinese culture. In addition to the celebratory aspects of the holiday, the New Year is also a time for forgiving past hurts and reconciling with estranged friends or family members.
There are other significant holidays during the New Year period, including the Jie Cai Ceng, or Welcoming the Gods of Wealth and Prosperity. This special celebration falls on the fifth day of the New Year. Many people take vacations from the first through the fifth days and return to work after the conclusion of the Jie Cai Ceng. The last day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration is known as Yuan Xiao Jie, or the Lantern Festival marked by parades, parties and displays of lanterns.
The origin of the Chinese New Year can be traced by to ancient legend about a mythical beast known as Nien – a large-mouthed beast that would attack villages in the dead of winter, devouring animals, crops and even children in a single bite. Villagers would flee to the mountains every year, to hide. One year, an old man -- or, in some versions of the legend, an old woman -- refused to run and hid. He stayed behind and prepared for the beast's arrival. When Nien came to his home, the old man set of loud, red firecrackers, scaring away the beast for good.
From then on, Chinese families hung red banners and set of fire crackers -- now fireworks -- to keep the Nien away. Interestingly, the Chinese word for 'year' is Nian, and these traditional defense strategies came to be known as the Passing of Nian.
Year of the Rabbit People:
If you were born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 you are a Rabbit and this is your year until 2012 to shine and feel the strongest energy.
Traits of the Rabbit:
Rabbits are selfless, neat and tidy, and get along well with their brothers and sisters. Rabbits lead the good life and are the most fortunate of all animals. Rabbits live by the Golden Rule and wouldn't think of breaking it. You are well suited as a banker, lawyer, interior designer, or video-game player.
Famous Rabbits:
Albert Einstein, Orson Welles, Steven Segal, Lily Tomlin, John Dillinger, Brad Pitt, Jane Seymour, Cicely Tyson, Michael Keaton, Nicholas Cage, Michael Jordan, Fidel Castro, Vanessa Williams, Sting
Facts and lore about the Chinese New Year:
The Chinese New Year festivities are sometimes called the Lunar New Year.
The Chinese people age a year together. Tradition holds that on the seventh day of the New Year all people in China become a year older.
On the fifteenth and final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the Chinese Lantern Festival is observed. Almost all members of Chinese families walk the streets with lanterns marking the end of the festivities and eat traditional dishes.
The "tsujiura senbei" is a kind of fortune cookie associated with New Year festivities at Shinto Shrines. Its unique name comes from the fact that it contains a tsujiura (a writing that gives a fortune) inside a senbei (Japanese cracker). This Japanese food is centuries old.
During the Chinese New Year Festival only married couples give "Ang Pow" – red envelopes containing money to buy holiday treats to their children or relatives of their younger generations instead of giving presents. Money in red packets always total even numbered amount and never an odd numbered amount as the latter is usually associated with funeral money. The money should never add up to anything with the number 4 in it, because 4 in Chinese sounds like the word, death.
Every year, China Central Television (CCTV) holds a special on Lunar New Year's Eve featuring dances, songs, and short comedies.
In ancient China, bamboo stems filled with gunpowder were burnt to create small explosions in the belief that the loud sound drove away evil spirits. The burning of firecrackers in modern-day China still maintains this age-old custom.
