Title: All about Chinese New Year
1 All about Chinese New Year
2 Chinese Lunar Calendar
- 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."
3The Origin Of Chinese New Year
- The Origin of the lunar New Year Festival can be
traced back thousands years, involving a series
of colorful legends and traditions. One of the
famous legend is Nian, an extremely cruel and
ferocious beast that the ancients believed would
devour people on New Years Eve.
4To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are pasted
on doors, torches are lit and firecrackers are
set off through the night, because Nian is said
to fear the color red, the light of fire ,and
loud noises. Early the next morning, as
feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at
successfully keeping Nian away for another year,
the most popular greeting heard is gong si, or
congratulations.
5Chinese red envelopes
- Monetary gifts are usually presented in red
envelopes during festive occasions, like
weddings, birthdays, and the New Year. While
their main task is to bear gifts, their second
duty is to shower the recipient with luck, joy,
and prosperity
6Big dinner on New Years Eve-- Fish
- Fish are considered lucky creatures.
- This is because the word fish in
- Chinese also sounds like the word
- meaning surplus or something left over.
- The owners believe it will help to bring in a
surplus of money. - People hope these practices will bring extra
wealth in the coming year.
7 couplets
- Spring couplets are paper scrolls and squares
inscribed with blessings and auspicious
words,such as good fortune and springtime. - The paper squares are usually pasted upside down,
because the Mandarin word for upside down, dao,
is a homonym of the word arrival. - Thus, the paper squares represent the arrival
of spring and the coming of prosperous times.
8Taboos
- Its unlucky to sweep the floor during the
first five days of the Lunar New Year because one
might accidentally sweep ones good luck and
wealth out of the house. - Bad language and talk of death are severely
frowned upon. - If a dish is broken,its vital to say suei
suei ping an means every year will be safe and
secure.
9On the first day of the Lunar New year
- Offering ritual homage to ones
- ancestors. Reverence is then paid
- to the gods.
- new clothes are worn,and visits are made to
friend, neighbor and relatives to exchange good
wishes of gong si fa cai, which means
congratulations and prosperity.
10- All of Taiwans temples are usually very busy
during this time of year as large numbers of
people crowd into them with elevated incense
sticks to pray for good luck. - The first day of the Lunar New Year is also "the
welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth.
Many people abstain from meat on the first day of
the new year because it is believed that this
will ensure long and happy lives for them.
11The Dragon And The Lion Dance
- One of the most spectacular sights during the
Lunar New Year Festival is the dragon and lion
dance. The heads of these fearsome beasts are
supposed to ward off evil, and the nimble
movements of the dancers provide a grand
spectacle enjoyable to everyone.
12What do we do on the ninth day of the Lunar New
year?
- Finally, on the ninth day, numerous offerings are
set out in the forecourt or central courtyard of
temples to celebrate the birthday of the Jade
Emperor, who was believed to have been born
immediately after midnight on the ninth day.
13Chinese New Year Calendar
- Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008
- Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009
- Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010
- Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011
- Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012
- Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013
- Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014
- Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015
- Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016
- Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017
- Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018
- Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019